Largest non-metro police force in England cuts travel, improves communication with HD video
Thames Valley Police, one of the largest Home Office police services in England, selected Lifesize Communications, the global leader in high definition video communications, to provide high definition video conference & telepresence solutions to connect the service’s 16 police stations, improve force-wide operations and increase community security.
“Lifesize has really proven itself by expanding our ability to communicate with the right people at the right time,” said Mick Walsh, Systems and Information Supervisor for Thames Valley Police. “There has been lots of mileage saved and the uses for the technology continue to grow.”
Thames Valley Police covers an area of over 2200 square miles and a population of 2.1 million. The force currently employs over 8,000 people and is made up of 16 police stations split into five Basic Command Units (BCUs) – Oxfordshire, Berkshire West, Berkshire East, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
With the large number stations and staff, three to four daily briefings between locations is an absolute necessity to keep operations running smoothly. A limited video conferencing system was deployed nearly a decade earlier, but due to the poor video quality, choppy audio and overall unreliability, the systems went virtually unused. Thames Valley contacted local authorized reseller Quadrant Visual Solutions Ltd to demonstrate the Lifesize HD video conferencing solution.
Using high definition, easy to use Lifesize systems, Thames Valley conducts routine operations briefings over video, plus numerous ad hoc meetings throughout the day. And through the use of the built-in H.239 data sharing capability, documents and evidence can be shown to a solicitor of the court for a case involving an accused party being held at the police station, eliminating the need for high-risk, labor-intensive prisoner transfers.
“Lifesize is honored to be chosen by the Thames Valley Police as their provider of high definition video communications systems,” said Craig Malloy, CEO, Lifesize Communications. “When public safety officials put Lifesize products to work in daily mission-critical operations, it demonstrates confidence in the quality and reliability of our products and showcases the value and utility of HD video. The true power of video is realized when it can be deployed widely and used easily, and with more than 20 Lifesize systems installed, the Thames Valley Police are at the leading edge of the HD video revolution.”
A complete case study detailing the Thames Valley Police implementation of Lifesize high definition video conferencing equipment can be found here.
About Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police is the largest non-metropolitan police force in the UK. Covering the 2,200 square miles of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, Thames Valley patrols 196 miles of motorway – the largest stretch of motorway in Britain – and serves a population of 2.1 million, plus six million visitors every year. These areas are policed by approximately 4,165 police officers, 250 Special Constables, 500 volunteers, 3,150 police staff, and over 500 Police Community Support Officers. For more information, visit: http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk.
About Quadrant Visual Solutions Ltd.
Quadrant Visual Solutions Ltd is a leading reseller, designer and installer of audio-visual communications solutions in the UK. For more information, visit: http://www.quadrantsolutions.com
