With policing budgets under pressure as part of the government’s austerity policy, Avon and Somerset Police needed to generate operational efficiencies, by maintaining policing levels without dipping into their reserves, and looking for innovative ways to make savings.
A joint venture with an IT service provider covering printing was coming to an end, and they took it as an opportunity to see if they could simply print better, for less.
The force asked EBC Group to help by;
- Identifying ways to make cost-saving and quality improvements to its bulk print operations.
- Benchmarking managed print value propositions, quality, and compliance with information protection requirements.
- Recommending options for further print-related efficiency gains.
Approach
Leveraging our partnership with leading technology partner Xerox, which accredits EBC Group as a Xerox Gold Document Technology Partner, EBC Group proposed a range of Services.
- In line with EBC Group’s proposal, Avon and Somerset police replaced its in-house bulk print service with Xerox® Document Publishing Services.
- For office printing, the force rolled out a Xerox® Managed Print Solution. EBC Group’s benchmarking exercise showed that the Xerox® Service with a print management solution from Equitrac would provide the best-value solution for managed multifunction printers (MFPs).
- To make further efficiency savings, Avon and Somerset followed EBC Group’s recommendation to implement the Xerox® Hybrid Mail Service, which makes printing and posting letters easier and cheaper.
Results
Avon and Somerset police now benefit from a fully integrated print environment, providing secure and cost effective Xerox print solutions across the organisation.
- Xerox® Service meets the force’s regular needs for printed items like forms and business cards. It also ensures secure production, management and despatch of the pocket notebooks officers use to record evidential information, which are strictly numbered for tracking and audit trail purposes.
- In addition, Xerox fulfils ad-hoc requests, such as producing posters and leaflets for campaigns and events.
- Equitrac meets the force’s information protection needs with built-in security features and measures such as vetted Xerox personnel, a UK-based service desk, and the ability to set devices up remotely to preserve the integrity of covert sites.
- Staff must also use their access cards at devices to release their printouts, which prevents documents falling into the wrong hands.
- As well as cutting costs and boosting productivity, Hybrid Mail provides irrefutable proof of the posting date of notices, which is critical to this time-bound process.
Avon & Somerset Police
Industry: Public Sector
Location: Avon & Somerset
Employees: 5,939