Rising number of smart devices

As early adopters of capturing intelligence data and digitisation of its frontline with electronic ticketing, roadside drug testing, registration checks and similar activities that push data from the field, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) has been at the forefront of implementing technology in its processes and services. This means thousands of smart devices in use, all of which needs to be managed and monitored for appropriate and effective usage, security, confidentiality and costs.

As a long-term technological partner of QPS, Telstra provides over 8,000 iPads through its Enterprise Mobility Managed Services for these devices. Due to the business-critical nature of the devices, QPS looked to Telstra to maximise their investment through increased application uptake on the devices.

“We had limited visibility from an asset perspective on our overall value and return on investment,” said Andrew Kugelman, Vendor and Contract manager at QPS, Mobile Capability Centre (MCC).

Managing iPads deployed across the state

QPS was relying on multiple sources to understand how their iPads were being utilised and sought to find a more effective way of consolidating data

“We had many disparate data sources that individually provided respective information. You do not see the true picture until you collectively put all together and have a single source of truth as to what it looks like, because each little piece might say something slightly different,” said Andrew.

QPS had a desire to identify how and from where devices were being used, and particularly not used, to drive greater utilisation of applications by officers.

“Our driver to ensuring that way of achieving greatest value for money for QPS, and also for the community, is about making sure that the devices are being effectively used because when they are used effectively, we know, through a number of studies, that police are more effective and more efficient in the work that they do,” explained Andrew.

QPS engaged Telstra Purple, Australia's largest technology services business, to help improve the way QPS manage and track the performance and uptake of applications by their frontline officers. 

Mobile Business Intelligence powered by PowerBI

QPS required greater visibility about the usage of their devices so that they could reduce costs on its managed services and improve the user experience for the officers in the field. Understanding these requirements, Telstra Purple deployed the Mobile Business Intelligence (MBI) for QPS which is a data visualisation dashboard that enables QPS with actionable insights based on accurate data.

“There were many iterations, and at the end of the day, we needed the dashboard to be intuitive, simple and user friendly for Officers-In-Charge (OIC) and MCC people to just log in and start using it with very minimal training and I think we've definitely achieved that,” claimed Lauren Drake, QPS, MCC.

Telstra Purple integrated multiple data sources with Microsoft PowerBI and developed the MBI dashboard exclusively for QPS to help achieve its set objectives. As part of the solution, Telstra Purple,

• Automated the software delivery process and application and infrastructure monitoring with the practice of DevOps to provide rapid delivery and proactive detection of issues.
• Established a new cloud environment and automated creation of a new cloud environment with infrastructure templates for MBI and to support other use cases.
• Integrated the dashboard with multiple data sources that includes an officer’s HR, staging and despatch data from third party logistics partners, device health from Mobile Device Management platform, incidents or requests from IT Service Management platform, call usage from Telstra systems and application usage data to provide some actionable insights.
• Visualised dashboards which created an initial series of dashboards while giving the ability to self-serve and create their own dashboards specific for an individual service overtime.

"This engagement demonstrates Telstra Purple's ability to bring together its leading capabilities while leveraging that of its partners to deliver exceptional business outcomes like this dashboard which provides actionable insights for QPS," said Alex Wise, Project Manager, Telstra Purple.

Saving licencing costs and better allocation of resources mean serving the community more effectively

With the help of Telstra and Telstra Purple, QPS now has better visibility about the usage of its applications and devices and its effectiveness in delivering the expected outcomes.

“This is truly transformational, and from an OIC perspective, the officers like the fact that they can be self-sufficient. No more calling the service desk and sitting on hold. They can do it when they have time in their schedules which is a massive benefit,” said Lauren.

Below are some of the key insights offered by the MBI dashboard which enabled QPS with data-driven decision making.

• Number of actions or activities that were being undertaken by the officers when using internal applications (e.g., number of vehicle registration scans)
• Under-utilised apps for which training could be provided
• Understanding cost and data usage on a device to identify inappropriate usage of a device
• Reallocation of devices where the officers were not using them (e.g., transferred to non-frontline role, or taken extended leave)

MBI for QPS deployed by Telstra Purple is also being used for OICs to provide actionable insights on the number of offenders in an area where additional officers might be required. This helps QPS better allocate and utilise their resources in keeping the communities safer.

“Our dashboard has been built in such a way where we can see the data and can also action upon that data. For example, if the device has not been switched on for a period of time, which we highlight, they can click a button and reallocate it to another officer or organise for it to be returned,” said Andrew.

“From the dashboard, we can see that the number of underutilised devices has dropped significantly. We are happy with that as it means more officers using the devices resulting in improved efficiency, better utilisation of resources and reduced costs.” concluded Lauren.