Fueling Innovation in Canada’s Frontline Law Enforcement
While the core principles governing the practice of policing have remained relatively unchanged throughout the years, many traditional ways of delivering services have become outdated. Law enforcement agencies around the world are turning to new, more digital ways of operating that are optimized to serve communities in the 21st century. This especially holds true for the past year, which has seen COVID-19 present unprecedented levels of disruption and ultimately act as a catalyst for digital transformation across virtually every sector and industry. Whether it’s capturing and analyzing data to identify trends, securely exchanging information or enabling cross-agency collaboration – technology is playing a transformative role in almost every facet of frontline policing.
Driving collaboration on the frontline
In today’s climate, it has become critical for law enforcement agencies to be equipped with robust solutions that enhance internal communication and support collaboration with external partners – ones able to accommodate tasks such as shift scheduling and data exchange, both internally and with other police forces. Given the highly sensitive nature of data being shared, tools must also adhere to the strictest security and compliance standards. To keep pace with these rapidly evolving requirements, agencies across Canada are relying on Microsoft Teams for an all-in-one platform that delivers on the diverse needs of law enforcement agencies. Through Teams, agencies are realizing a number of benefits including:
- Enhanced connections and centralized communications. Teams offers a single hub to streamline workflows, manage daily meetings and tasks, and swap shifts. Officers in the field can also access, share, organize and update documents remotely as well as join meetings or send real-time updates in chat.
- Cross-agency collaboration. Teams allows officers across different regions to easily share information in real time with the ability to cooperate and track criminals as they move across jurisdictions. By bringing together disparate data into one common hub, Teams turns data into actionable information.
- The ability to securely share and protect sensitive data. Only the right users have the right level of access to information, by automatically blocking or limiting access if a user does not have the right permissions or their identity is not verified.
In addition to Teams, Microsoft is also empowering law enforcement through cloud, data, AI and productivity solutions allowing them to uncover new capabilities, efficiencies and cost savings. For example, digital case and record management tools have replaced or improved labour-intensive, paper-based processes built on old workflows. Digital transcription and audio/video recording services have also become a standard for many agencies, in turn reducing time spent on manual tasks and enabling officers and their support teams to focus on higher value functions. As you can see, digital transformation is no longer a future objective, but a requirement to enable remote work and improve operations for the evolution of law enforcement.
A global ecosystem of partners and thought leaders
When leveraging Microsoft solutions, law enforcement agencies benefit from more than just technology; they gain access to a vast partner ecosystem providing exclusive resources, programs, tools and connections to foster growth and fuel digital transformation. We currently have over 13,000 partners in Canada and many more around the world equipping organizations in all industries, including those in public safety, with the expertise and technology to thrive.
One of our cutting-edge partners is NICE, a worldwide provider of software solutions using Microsoft Azure to help more than 25,000 organizations globally make smarter, insight-driven decisions, deliver better customer service, combat fraud and safeguard citizens. We also have Caselines, a Thomson Reuters evidence management solution, that provides a secure and integrated platform to help police, prosecutors, lawyers and judges work across their respective judicial functions with confidence and trust. Another leading partner is VeriSaaS, who brings cognitive-enabled and mobile-ready solutions to improve field intelligence and evidence collection to support mission critical information in the field and for court.
In a time when the public sector is being asked to do more with less, Microsoft remains dedicated to equipping frontline agencies with strong, consistent and secure solutions to help them innovate and better serve their community.
We’re more than just a software company
For more information on how Microsoft Teams is fuelling digital transformation in law enforcement, you can download the following e-book.
I also encourage you to register for an on-demand webinar in which Microsoft’s Kirk Arthur, Director, Worldwide Public Safety & Justice and John Manning, Associate Architect, Public Safety & National Security Solutions, will discuss the latest policing industry trends and how agencies can embrace technology to drive their digital transformation.
On April 29, join us for a live webinar as John Manning, Microsoft’s Associate Architect, Public Safety & National Security Solutions, explores how technology is helping enhance public safety, broker community partnerships, and save lives. Register today to reserve your spot for this live, interactive conversation.
