KOVA is excited to announce the launch of its latest new product: InsightCenter, Remote Edition!

The InsightCenter has always been a vital and valuable element in our Audiolog For Public Safety recording system, allowing users the ability to recreate an incident using audio, video, and even text recordings, all in one place. But now this same functionality is available in the mobile environment!

 

What Does the Insight Center Remote Edition Offer?

This innovative new management tool allows users to oversee everything going on in the field, all at once, and all within one convenient application on a tablet. Created specifically for public safety use, our Insight Center Remote Edition offers the following capabilities:

These functionalities allow users to completely reconstruct a public safety incident from all angles, by listening to a series of audio recordings, watching recorded videos, and even viewing saved text messages, in chronological order, even if some of them overlap. The timeline provides context for the recordings, and the data grid gives details about each media item recorded. If media items include data on the latitude and longitude of their location, a map will also appear to show the location of each recording.

Even the smallest details have not been overlooked in providing for the needs of public safety officials. Users can zoom in and out, homing in on items that might otherwise have been missed. Recordings can be muted while others play, or played simultaneously for the full effect. Playback speed can be altered for both videos and audio recordings, in order to make speech or images more clear. And recorded text messages can even be read aloud by the application, in order to allow for a completely auditory experience.

The Benefits of the Insight Center Remote Edition

Just imagine the new possibilities that the Insight Center Remote Edition opens up for public safety management! Now, essential data can be reviewed in the field, as needed, instead of only at a desktop, leading to new opportunities for insight and immediate action.

Even in the middle of an ongoing incident, recordings can begin to be collected, organized, and analyzed by public safety officials on-scene, so that they have a clear picture of every aspect of the event, and can make the most informed decisions possible as the incident unfolds.

Vital information can quickly and easily be shared via email with others who need it, but who do not have access to the application itself. The Insight Center Remote Edition is the ultimate mobile communication tool for public safety management.

For more information about this exciting new public safety technology, as well as the Audiolog for Public Safety recording system, contact KOVA today!

 

The hectic pace of a contact center, not to mention dealing with customers on the phone that may not have your best interests in mind, can make for a stressful workday. While there are many different ways you can de-stress at your desk, meditation can help calm you down in a couple of seconds, not to mention refocus your brain so you can get back out there on the phone. Meditation does not have to be hard; there are many ways to feel less stressed with simple meditation techniques. Here are four different types of meditating you can do quietly and easily at your desk to de-stress at work.

Zen

You may be wondering, “How do I start meditating?” There are several different techniques that can be used to calm down and clear your mind, and Zen is one of them. Set a timer, make sure you’re relaxed in whatever position you’re in, and start breathing. Continue this, just focusing on your breathing, until the timer tells you you’re done. It’s important to note that while quiet background music sounds like a good idea, it’s better left until after you’ve been practicing Zen for a while. If you start with music right away, it’s likely to distract you from your breathing and have less of a calming effect.

Guided Meditation

There are many different apps on the market these days that help with guided meditation - some free, and some you have to buy. Download one of these apps and turn it on when you get stressed. You’ll mentally retreat into your happy place with the app’s help, and soothe whatever stresses or anxieties you have for the day. You may not have an epiphany, but it will calm you down halfway through a stressful day.

Rock Garden

You surely have seen a small rock garden sitting on one of your coworkers’ desks and wondered what that was for. The garden is inspired by traditional Buddhist principles used in Zen meditation. It will both look great on your desk and give you a quick second of meditation whenever you need it. If you’ve bought the rock garden and aren’t sure what to do with it to feel less stressed, here are some tips:

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

You may want to use an app to do this as well, or just learn which muscles should be relaxed at what times. Focus on each muscle of the body, starting from your toes, first tensing, then relaxing. Do this three times, and then move to the next muscle. Make sure you incorporate breathing into this practice, as breathing helps the mind and soul just as much as a relaxed body. This can even be done while dealing with a challenging customer - you don’t have to wait until you get off the phone.

Keeping calm, cool and collected can be hard at work, especially when dealing with outside influences, like at a contact center. With these quick and easy at-work meditation tips, though, you should be answering calls like a de-stressed pro in no time. Have your own meditation tips? Leave a comment below!

As a dispatcher in a public safety answering point, you know that there are some seasons when you receive more calls from people experiencing emergencies, like the holidays and the summer. Here are some public safety tips that you can both use yourself, and pass on to the people you know, to prevent summer emergencies, and hopefully reduce the number of calls you receive about them.

1.      Know proper water safety

You may have been swimming since you could walk, but freak accidents can happen to anyone. Try to always swim with a buddy, so that if an emergency does strike, you will have someone there to help. Never leave a young child unattended near the water, and if they will be swimming make sure they have the proper protective gear on. Avoid alcohol use and listen to the warnings if you will be swimming during a time when there could be inclement weather. There will always be risks associated with swimming, but when you take the right precautions, you will be doing what you can to ensure your safety.

2. Watch out for the heat

Heat related illness does not just affect children and the elderly; it can take its toll on anyone. If you are going to be outside for long periods of time, make sure you bring an adequate amount of water and try to take breaks sitting down, or inside an air-conditioned or shaded area every once in a while. Also make sure you are applying sunscreen before you go outside to avoid sunburn, and try to not do high energy activities during the hottest part of the day.

3. Know your creepy crawlers

During the summer, you are probably taking vacations or visiting places you have never visited before. In these unfamiliar locations, you may not realize it if the creepy crawler sitting on your dashboard is not a common house spider, but instead the most deadly spider known to mankind. Now, it probably will not be that extreme, but you will want to be able to remember if it’s red next to black or black next to yellow. Being aware of the creatures in an area that do have the potential to harm you will help you be more prepared if an emergency does arise, because you will have read up on how to respond to the situation. Also make sure you are wearing bug repellent when you venture outside to combat some of the creepy crawlers that think stinging you is in your best interest.

By taking these precautions and passing them on to others, you will be ready to stay safe yourself, to help others stay safe, and to help those who may not have been listening to the tips the first time. What are the most common summer emergency calls you receive in your public safety answering point? If you have any summer public safety tips of your own, be sure to visit our Facebook page and tell us about them!

We here at KOVA are excited to be able to say that our groundbreaking new public safety app, SilentPartner, has been chosen to move on to the next level of competition in the National Institute of Justice’s 2014 Ultra High Speed App Challenge: Using Current Technology to Improve Criminal Justice Operations. For more information about this competition and KOVA’s participation in it, check out our previous blog post.

The SilentPartner app is an all-in-one tool that allows emergency responders to capture, organize, and transmit data securely from the scene of a crime using their smart phones, as well as giving law enforcement officers the ability to play the Miranda rights to a subject in any language, while recording the subject’s response.

As the proud creators of this app, we were thrilled to receive a glowing review from the panel of distinguished judges responsible for making the decision that allowed us to advance, and we’d love to share with you what they felt to be its strongest features. A panel of judges evaluated entries based on the following categories:

• Contribution of the application towards improving the effectiveness and/or efficiency of criminal justice services (60%).
• Ease of implementing the application by state and local criminal justice agencies, including considerations of platform, and time and cost requirements (15%).
• Practicality of data set selection in terms of relevance, ease of acquisition, and ongoing access (15%).
• Feasibility of evaluation methodology and impact measurement (10%).

Here’s how SilentPartner did!

Improving Effectiveness/Efficiency of Criminal Justice Services

The judges recognized the fact that SilentPartner is helpful in multi-lingual situations, as well as in situations where data needs to be recorded for future court proceedings. They declared truly “worthwhile” our app’s ability to drastically decrease the amount of time an officer must devote to collecting crime scene data from disparate sources and then manually uploading it all into a database. They also stated, “The integration of photos, voice recordings, and cases number on a single platform has significant value,” and repeatedly described each aspect of the app as a “good idea” or a “good concept.”

Ease in Implementation by State/Local Criminal Justice Agencies

The judges noted SilentPartner’s ability to be quickly implemented by local agencies, and stated that it would “provide immediate benefit to law enforcement” once in place. It also stated how the application considered factors such as platform, time, and cost requirements.

Practicality of Data Set Selection

Here is what the judges had to say about SilentPartner in this category: “This is a practical solution and promotes managed data at the user level without the data having to be managed by the user. The information that is to be managed exists today, and this solution provides a mechanism to better document the activities that the law enforcement officer experiences. It may also allow for better use of the law enforcement officer’s time as the documentation of the audio and video data may remove the need for the officer to appear in court and testify to his experience in the field. The documented data from this solution may lead to more patrol time for the law enforcement officer and less time in the courts.”

Overall Methodology and Impact

According to the judges, “this proposal is feasible and can be implemented with direct benefit to the law enforcement officer.”

The judges had an overwhelmingly positive view of KOVA’s SilentPartner app. If you would like more information on the ways in which this exciting new app can help your law enforcement agency, read our SilentPartner FAQ sheet!

 

Exciting news! KOVA is thrilled to announce that our public safety app, SilentPartner, has been chosen to be one of only ten competition entries to advance to the next level of the National Institute of Justice’s Ultra High Speed App Challenge!

SilentPartner is a ground-breaking new mobile app that allows emergency responders to use their smart phones to capture data ranging from audio to photos to video while on-scene, to organize and classify that data so it’s easily retrievable, and then instantly and securely transmit it to their office database.

In evaluating the SilentPartner app, as well as its competitors, the judges – a panel of experts in the fields of criminal justice, public management, application development, emergency management, and network management – took the following criteria into account:

We here at KOVA are beyond excited to be able to say that SilentPartner satisfied each of these points, and that the National Institute of Justice found our app worthy of advancement to the next level of the competition.

The National Institute of Justice is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and handles the research, development, and evaluation needs of that department. Their stated mission is to use science to improve the nation’s understanding of crime- and justice-related issues.

Together with the National Science Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Institute of Justice promotes the development of criminal justice apps that are compatible with Ultra-High-Speed (UHS) networks. In order to encourage and support organizations who develop such apps, the NIJ created its Ultra High Speed App Challenge.

This challenge calls for organizations to submit their designs for “UHS-compatible apps that measurably improve the efficiency and/or effectiveness of criminal justice and public safety services and operation.”

The National Institute of Justice explains the reasoning behind their competition in this way: “The expansion of UHS networks offers increased opportunity for the development of ‘disruptive’ criminal justice apps – apps that actually change the way services and information are delivered to criminal justice and other public safety practitioners.  New UHS apps now have the potential to provide ubiquitous, real-time, individually tailored information and decision-support for criminal justice and public safety practitioners in rapidly evolving emergency situations, and the increased capacity of UHS systems now makes it possible to merge and manipulate data allowing for the development and use of powerful analytical and management tools.”

Apparently, the NIJ thinks that our SilentPartner app is exactly the kind of ‘disruptive’ criminal justice app they’re looking for. Out of the nationwide pool of contestants, only ten were chosen to advance to Phase Two of the Ultra High Speed App Challenge – and KOVA’s SilentPartner app was one of those ten.

For more information about SilentPartner, check out our new video explaining just how this ‘disruptive’ new app works!

 

People lucky enough to be able to count a law enforcement officer among their friends or relatives know that above all else, members of the police force are a family.

Whether they hail from a small town in Texas or a bustling metropolitan center in New Jersey, whether they’ve ever actually met or not, policemen from all over the country share a strong bond that stems from their shared commitment to keeping the public safe – and their willingness to risk their own lives every day to do so.

It’s that same family spirit that inspired Police Chief Patrick Montuore to create the Police Unity Tour back in 1997 – and that has seen the event grow from its humble beginnings with just 18 officers taking part, to this weekend’s 1,800 participants.

The Police Unity Tour’s motto is “We Ride For Those Who Died.” Participants in this 4-day event ride their bicycles about 70 miles each day, for a total of 300 miles, in order to raise money for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and honor their fallen brothers and sisters.

Their journey kicked off this past Saturday with excitement and camaraderie in South Jersey, and ended four days later at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum in Washington, D.C., with a somber candlelight vigil and memorial in honor of all officers who have died in the line of duty.

This year, participants were able to raise almost $2 million for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, bringing the total amount raised over the years to a stunning $16 million. But despite the impressive numbers, keeping the memory of the fallen alive is what really motivates riders to put in the extra training, strap on those bike helmets, and join the Tour. Each participant rides in honor of certain fallen officers, and wears blue metal bracelets inscribed with their heroes’ names.

KOVA was a proud sponsor of the event this year, and even prouder that our own Carri Zeck’s husband, Captain Brian Zeck of the Mullica Police Department, was able to take part in the ride – so of course, we all turned out to cheer him on. (In the picture above, from left to right, Chris Silva, KOVA’s President; CJ Silva, Vice-President; Capt. Brian Zeck; and Carri Zeck, Customer Advocate Manager.)

Captain Zeck’s police department teamed up with the Hammonton Police Department to field a total of nine riders, each of whom committed to raising $1750 through various fundraisers in the months before the Tour to honor their fallen brethren. Their slogan as they worked towards their goal? “It’s not how these officers died that made them heroes, but how they lived.”

Nothing expresses the family spirit pervading our nation’s police force better than the eagerness of officers to ride in memory of fallen brothers or sisters they may never have even met. Taking the time out from their already hectic schedules to put in the hours of training and the hours of fundraising beforehand, making the trip to New Jersey from all over the country, and then riding their bicycles for 300 miles, all to ensure that those who have died are never forgotten – and even more, that their memories are held in highest honor at the nation’s capitol. It’s that spirit of brotherhood, of loyalty – and of love – that makes our nation’s police force a true family.

 

 

To all the men and women who dedicate their lives to serving others by becoming police officers, we here at KOVA just want to say thank you.

Police Officer

 

I am a police officer.

 

I get up in the morning, just like you.

I drink my coffee, just like you.

I hug my spouse.

I hug my kids.

And I say I love you, just like you -

But I never know if I'll come home at the end of my shift.

I am a police officer.

 

I get into my squad car.

I set my own self-interests aside.

I put myself in danger to keep you safe.

Your security is my responsibility.

I protect. I serve.

I’ll give my life to save yours.

I am a police officer.

 

I break up gang fights.

I bust drug rings.

I stop murders.

Somebody has to.

 

I get yelled at and spit on.

I get called names and cussed at.

I get death threats and complaints.

I am a police officer.

 

I don’t do it for the pay.

I don’t do it for the recognition.

I don’t do it for the peace of mind.

I do it because I believe in the law.

In justice. In peace.

 

I love what I do.

I deal with the insults.

I endure the assaults.

I suffer the stress.

So you don't have to.

I am a police officer.

 

I am human, just like you.

I have feelings, just like you.

But where I encounter violence, I bring peace.

Where I meet danger, I bring safety.

Where I see weakness, I bring strength.

I am a police officer.

 

I am proud to wear this badge.

I am honored to protect my community.

This is my calling. This is my life.

 

I hold strong the blue line.

My brothers who've fallen I honor each day.

The sacrifice they made, we'll never forget.

This is my duty and the burden I carry.

Everyone, over the course of his or her life, will experience a negative conversation with a stranger. A lot of these happen when working in a career that requires constant interaction with those outside the company. This type of situation is often challenging to deal with because you don’t know what has upset this person or how to make them feel better and alleviate their problems quickly. Here are five ways for contact centers to handle angry customers.

Adjust Your Mindset

It may be hard to listen to another upset caller during a day that is seemingly one problem after another, so it is important to keep things in perspective. When a customer calls and explains their situation, put yourself in their shoes. This will allow you to focus 100 percent of your attention on the customer to provide a quick solution with great service instead of focusing on the number of minutes left until the end of the day. This will not only make the customer happy and dispel some of their stress, but it will also better the service you are giving the customer as they will, generally speaking, feel like you’re better taking care of them and their problem.

Listen and Repeat

Don’t get caught up in your plans for after work or the weekend and tune out the contact center caller when they’re explaining what’s going on. One way to help ensure that you’re listening attentively is to reword and repeat what the customer is saying. Repeating takes care of two items: First, it ensures that you have an accurate understanding of their issue and second, it helps diffuse the situation because the customer will identify that you are actively listening to their issue.

Repeating also helps prevent the agent from frustrating the customer even more. For an angry individual, having to explain yourself over and over to an individual who is not listen will just increase the anger felt. Your goal is to leave the customer satisfied, not angry.

Sympathize and Apologize

Let the customer know that you understand their concerns and are sincerely apologetic that the problem occurred. This will help them to calm down because they feel validated. Showing them that their concerns are valid will help you to get the situation fixed more quickly—and will help them to be more understanding towards you, because you’re not the cause of the problem.

Remember it is necessary to apologize (even though the problem is not your fault) because you are the face of the company and therefore when you apologize, you are apologizing on behalf of the company.

Watch Your Tone

Humans tend to feed off each other’s emotions. It is easy to get caught up in the moment of crisis and begin speaking just as excitedly as the customer. To the same effect, do not respond in anger if they are frustrated. Regardless of your response, make sure to take a deep breath before responding and speak at a normal pace and keep your voice level mid-range. Control the situation by maintaining your tone of voice. This will help them to relax, speak more slowly, and understand you have the problem under control.

Follow Up

After offering the solution and taking the action necessary to fix the problem, make sure to take down the customer’s information just in case anything else goes wrong. Then in the next couple of days, follow up to make sure the solution that you offered did indeed satisfy the customer. This may not calm the contact center caller in the moment of their problem, but it will keep them coming back, because they realize you are going to get the job done quickly and correctly—and will check back to make sure.

Only tell the customer you will follow up with them after they give a verbal agreement in favor of the proposed solution to their issue. You do not want to discuss following up on the solution when the customer is already dissatisfied with the proposal.

More from an Expert

This video from Myra Golden, a customer experience guru with over 15 years of experience, explains these concepts and more. Here’s what she has to say:

Dealing with angry contact center callers can be tough, but with these tips it will be easier to stay calm, cool and collected and provide great service while doing it. That way your customers will keep coming back and you will help uphold your company’s name, not affirm the mistake that was already made.

It’s often been said “don’t judge a book by its cover,” however, a cover doesn’t necessary have to be something visible to the eye. It can be an email, a visual impression or simply how you present yourself over the phone. Having professional interactions with customers will keep them happy and build a better reputation for your contact center. Here is a list of dos and don’ts to keep in mind while on the phone.

Do:

Speak Clearly and Professionally

It is often hard to take someone seriously when they speak in slang—or as if they have a wad of bubble gum in their mouth. Make sure to take the time to talk to every customer like you’re in a job interview: polite and cheerful, but not enough to make them feel uncomfortable. Also make sure to enunciate all your words. It can be hard enough to hear someone over the phone, but without the use of proper syllables, it can become nearly impossible.

Be Personable

While you want to be polite, you also don’t want to seem like the human version of your grandmother’s stuffy couch in the sitting room; you know, the one that no one was allowed to sit on? Ask questions, laugh at something if it’s an appropriate time, apologize if they are calling because of a problem they are experiencing. Showing that you truly are a person on the other side of the line will cause the customers to both treat you with more respect and favor, as well as hold your company in higher regard.

Know your product

Whether your company sells a product, or asks for donations for a charitable cause, it is important that you know the answers to the frequently asked questions that you may experience on the job. That way you will be more knowledgeable, represent your company better and not have to ask the person sitting next to you for help during every call.

Don’t:

Read Directly from a Script

If you do, they will know. It doesn’t sound natural, but instead makes you sound like a robot. It’s okay to have a map of what you’re going to say in different situation—and this can even be good, because you will have quick answers already outlined—but a script only makes you sound forced and not personable, which in turn reflects back on your company.

Make the Customer Wait for Answers

This aligns with knowing your product. Most customers won’t call you for the thrill of getting transferred from department to department, so know your stuff. If it’s an easy question that you’ve noticed gets asked often, remember the answer, or write it on a sticky and stick it on or next to your computer. Also, put a cheat sheet on your desk listing which departments answer which questions. That way you will be able to quickly and more effectively get a customer where they need to be, if you can’t answer their question—and you’ll free other contact center workers from having to figure out where they need to transfer the person who was transferred to them.

Wait Until the Last Minute to Discuss a Problem With Your Supervisor

In a contact center where most customer-worker interactions are recorded, it is hard to keep a situation quiet, no matter what the reason you might not want to call attention to it. Take the time, when you can, to talk to your supervisor and tell them about the situation and how you handled it. Chances are they will be appreciative that you have told them, and if something should have been done differently, they will correct you. Then you can take it as a learning opportunity—instead of an opportunity to find a new job.

Without seeing a customer face-to-face, it can sometimes be hard to remain professional and positive when problems arise. If you pay attention to these dos and don’ts though, you will have conquered some of the most commonly seen problems existing in contact centers. Be sure to check out our other blog posts to get more tips on how to offer great customer service in your contact center.

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