Control works (FOI ref: 1395A/24)

Request

May I ask you to disclose a number of matters around your operation of Controlworks as a call management tool?

1) Could you advise on the percentage failure or errors / failures / issues rate attributed to the Controlworks system?

2) Could you advise how that is measured?

3) Can you advise how such errors are detected?

4) In respect of cancelling alerts in error - how often or what percentage of errors apply to this?

5) How are identifiable errors addressed?

6) Is there a required response time with Controlworks - or is a ticket issued to address the matter in first come first served.

Response

Please find attached our response.

Could you advise on the percentage failure or errors / failures / issues rate attributed to the Controlworks system?

Over the past 6-month period we have experienced 3 x P2’s and 0 x P1’s. 

P2 is defined as Degrade of service

P1 is defined as Service outage

These stats have been taken from our Major Incident log which records events across all systems within West Midlands Police.

Could you advise how that is measured?

These are measured by our call logging tool (ITX) with issues and errors being raised by the users.  If an error or issue is deemed to be severe it will be raised as a P1 \ P2.  All calls are dealt with by the IT Department and raised with the supplier (if applicable).  These jobs will be discussed during a regular service review meeting with the supplier.

Can you advise how such errors are detected?

As an enterprise policing application, ControlWorks has various alert monitors to showcase system health, all information is fed into the technical support teams to support this critical service.

From an end user perspective all errors or faults are reported to our internal Service Desk to triage accordingly.

In respect of cancelling alerts in error - how often or what percentage of errors apply to this?

We do not have a specific system in place that can extract false alerts or alerts in error all underpinning infrastructure is pro-actively monitored by West Midlands Police IT Department.  Errors and alerts are handled either by individual teams or there are technologies in place that have the ability rectify the errors depending on the error or fault. 

How are identifiable errors addressed?

Errors within the system are investigated within IT Department and resolved accordingly, in the rare occurrence we cannot determine a resolution for the error the supplier will be engaged.

Is there a required response time with Controlworks - or is a ticket issued to address the matter in first come first served?

ControlWorks is managed using the below SLA for all Incidents, as each issue or error is raised it is triaged by our Service Desk and actioned accordingly.