TECH BAR – Metropolitan Police Service
The project was devised to provide a Face to Face (F2F) option for IT support to staff across the 12 Boroughs of the Metropolitan Police District. The project worked with multiple Departments, Boroughs and a specialist Marketing Company to design and build IT desks, and material that would benefit all staff. This represented a marked change to IT services, that was being delivered by online and telephone reporting in a “return to base” model.
The intention with Tech Bar, was to offer a walk up service, to fix issues on site, if it could not be fixed, replace devices within the contractual agreements, to enable staff to be able to immediately resume operational activities.
The project conducted a pilot scheme at two sites, to gather data and to assess the proof of concept. The lessons learned from the pilot defined the delivery model, comprising 7 permanent desks, working 5 days a week from 08:30 to 17:00, supplemented by mobile, or “pop up” Tech Bars visiting dedicated sites once a week; Creating 35 additional locations a week.
The project had a 6 month time line, with budget to deliver the service to live operation, commencing in October 2019.
The project had to make layout changes to all sites, to accommodate Tech Bar desks, and to provide sufficient network and power supply points.
The desks, each weighing 240KG, were designed and built as bespoke modules in the Essex factory, then transported and installed on site, with power and network cables being run and terminated as part of the installation activity. Sockets and data points underwent end to end testing before final commissioning and handover.
The service went fully live on 28th November 2019, with Tech Bars established at 7 sites supported by the “Pop up” service, a full 4 months ahead of schedule and within budget.
The Service achieved a regular 91-93% first time fix rate, with an enviable 98% customer satisfaction rate. TIn the early months the service handled up to 12% of service calls and continues delivering an excellent service to the MPS.
The success of the project received recognition at the Commissioner’s annual Excellence Awards.