Round-the-clock support for Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) taking advantage of Bristol’s managed services has been a central feature of this in-house service provision for some 15 years, and makes it the most comprehensive and accessible service of its type in the UK.
The Company’s managed services were developed by Bristol to offer an in-house, fully integrated garment lifetime maintenance programme. By harnessing the power of internet connectivity, one of the key features of the service was the online access to information afforded to fire and rescue services wishing to adopt one of three alternative maintenance programmes. These include a Fully Managed Service (FMS) which provides regular leased garment washing, repair, inspection and condition coding as part of a 7-day collect and return facility. The other options include a Purchase Managed Service, where PPE is purchased with the full range of managed services available on demand and the Purchase Only option where servicing is available on an ad-hoc basis.
A key feature of the online management and monitoring programme, which accompanies the PPE maintenance, is access to four important components which allows security coded access to a range of management services to eligible persons within an FRA and FRS as well as being a repository of data and information on their PPE. These services include the Wardrobe Management System, Stock Management System, Online Tracking and Help Desk.
The Help Desk, which has been a major feature of the suite of Managed Services, offers advice, help and information which can be accessed either through online messaging or email. The confidential and secure online channel is available to headquarters staff, operational line managers and firefighters depending on an individual’s access status. Messages, which can be of a technical nature, operational or general advice, are monitored and regularly handled by trained and experienced staff at one of Bristol’s two service centres in London and Bristol or, where required, specialist technical staff based in Bristol.
Roger Startin, Bristol joint MD, commented, “Our ability to deal both online and offline with any issues arising from our supply and servicing operations has been available since our Managed Services facilities were introduced almost 15 years ago. They have been regularly monitored and refreshed from time to time. They are widely, and well, used as a quick and easy way of having any issues resolved or conducting a dialogue between appropriate members of staff where it offers a less interruptive and time consuming solution as compared with the telephone where several calls may be required and where the individuals concerned may not be available when calls are made. The Help Desk service is fully integrated into our Online Tracking facility so that all contacts and actions are logged into the overall service history for the user”.
For more information, go to www.bristoluniforms.com
