Article highlights
Public safety agencies need to be able to adjust and adapt quickly to meet today's challenges. Mobile workforce management software solutions can help in achieving those goals.
Mobile workforce management software helps your agency meet the demands of the modern world by providing responders with tools that help them operate quickly, smoothly, and efficiently. The right workforce management software also reduces agency liability and the chance for dangerous and critical errors.
In this article, you’ll discover ten ways public safety agencies benefit by using mobile public safety software that meets responders wherever they are in the field.
Why mobile workforce management software?
Mobile workforce management software provides your responders with the tools they need to succeed from wherever they are. It keeps your agency ahead of the technological curve, up-to-date with the latest advances, and keeps you from falling behind by getting buried in paper and manual processes.
Mobile workforce management solutions improve responder performance with the ability to easily find critical information and automate task management with just a few keystrokes. Instead of monopolizing staff resources to deal with easily automated tasks, you can free up staff to focus on higher-priority tasks.
Ultimately, it helps your agency maintain effective operations, remain compliant, and protect itself at all times. Your team members can make informed decisions, streamline processes, and achieve better outcomes.
1. Maintain operations during outages
In times of emergencies and crises, mobile public safety software plays a vital role in ensuring uninterrupted services from public safety agencies. By leveraging cloud-based technology, this software keeps your operations up and running when they’re most needed, providing much-needed support even during an on-premise outage, disaster, or emergency.
Your responders can access critical data and information in the field, including policies and SOPs. They can even build schematics as long as they’ve been uploaded prior.
2. Streamline scheduling
Mobile workforce management tools allow first responders to access their schedules anytime, anywhere, and on any device, including mobile phones, tablets, laptop computers, and mobile data terminals.
Staff can make time-off requests from their location and receive real-time updates, rather than waiting to come back into the office. An accessible, real-time view of the schedule makes maintaining minimum staffing requirements a lot easier, and audit trails enable you to have an accurate record of all schedule changes.
3. Make compliance easier
Compliance is an important issue for first responders as they have to keep up-to-date with new laws, regulations, and policies. It can affect an agency's liability risks and insurance costs.
Mobile workforce management software enables both responders and administrators to easily review new policies, sign their acknowledgments, and track electronic signatures to show compliance.
New and updated policies can be sent directly to responder devices, and built-in version control ensures that responders always see the current information and policies rather than relying on outdated policy manuals in 3-ring binders. The software also provides help for first responders by giving them access to all schedule changes, form submissions, and approvals.
4. Keep accurate records
Mobile workforce management solutions also ensure accurate record-keeping through comprehensive audit trails. That way, you can show a document's complete history, including making automatic updates to public-facing documents. You can also show side-by-side comparisons of policies and standard operating procedures so it's easier to identify any changes and updates.
Additionally, you can map policies and proofs of compliance for better organization and accessibility, making it a lot easier for compliance auditors to find the necessary information.
5. Easy on-site reporting
With mobile workforce management tools, responders can accurately document training at the moment, which minimizes recency bias in training evaluations and also reduces paperwork and overtime.
Shifting the focus from time-consuming documentation to providing practical and effective training improves the readiness of trainees and enhances your training program.
6. Real-time visibility and communication
With mobile public safety software, you can instantly keep responders informed of critical updates agency-wide. You're able to provide text and email updates and also provide one-click visibility into real-time training dashboards that let managers monitor trainee progress.
With automated alerts and workflows, trainers and trainees can stay informed and on track without manual effort that monopolizes their time. And with real-time scheduling updates, responders can access accurate schedule information whenever they need it.
7. Increased efficiency
One of the biggest benefits of mobile workforce management software is the ability to recognize and eliminate bottlenecks in your processes. With visibility into compliance, training, scheduling, and community engagement, and the data to make informed decisions, you can recognize inefficiencies before they become critical mistakes.
Upon logging in, employees see a to-do list with a clear list of tasks they can complete right then and there. Responders can also sign documents and complete forms from wherever they are, and with this increased mobility comes increased efficiency.
Software can also help with community relations and public safety by automating communications with citizens. This enables you to strengthen the community relationship without additional manpower and also provides easy data gathering to share positive results.
Finally, real-time scheduling and training reporting eliminates time-consuming paper documentation processes, which streamlines operations and saves valuable time.
8. Data collection and analytics
Mobile workforce management software allows agencies to collect and analyze data that inform better decision-making in compliance, training, and citizen engagement. User-friendly ways of analyzing compliance data and producing reports help even those with little technical knowledge to gather important insights that help you better manage employees.
The robust analysis engine lets you collect and compare training data by phase, year, trainer, trainee, and activity type. You can also dig into the measurable insights into citizen/public satisfaction to show the positive reality, which helps officers see the positive effect they're having on their community at large.
9. Enhanced community engagement
Effective communication helps build stronger bonds with your community. Mobile public safety software helps improve communication by automating text updates, which keeps citizens informed without burdening staff.
You also have the capability to conduct automatic text surveys to measure citizen satisfaction. These digital surveys receive much higher and faster response rates than traditional survey methods using phones or postcards.
When your community feels informed and engaged, it leads to stronger support and appreciation for your responders. You can boost morale and provide a consistent reminder to your responders of why they entered public safety in the first place.
10. Future-proofing
Technology is here to stay. Public safety mobile solutions can help you keep up with an ever-evolving tech landscape and equip your responders to meet future challenges. With real-time updates and communication, anywhere access to critical information, and data-driven insights, your responders and your agency have what you need to adapt and succeed.
Adopting mobile workforce management technology ensures your responders have tools that meet them wherever they are. With the capacity to be more flexible, more adaptable, and better prepared to pivot in dynamic environments, they can confidently meet future challenges. Even as technology and computing power change, mobile workforce management software can ensure you stay prepared.
Final thoughts
Mobile workforce management software provides significant benefits to public safety agencies. It helps agencies maintain operations during outages, simplifies compliance, and streamlines scheduling. They're able to keep accurate records, easily conduct on-site reporting, gather valuable data, enhance community engagement, and future-proof their operations.
PowerDMS is a leading provider of mobile workforce management software. We help public safety agencies leverage the power of technology to improve their responsiveness, reduce liability risks, and enhance the safety and well-being of their communities.
Visit our homepage to learn more about how PowerDMS mobile workforce management software can benefit your agency. Or take the first step towards modernizing your operations and use the button below to schedule a free consultation with a friendly PowerDMS team member today.
