Pierre Perrin-Monlouis Dernière mise à jour: 20 octobre 2021
The solution allows for more efficient emergency management in an island context with a high percentage of foreign inhabitants and significant population increases during high tourist seasons.
The Balearics’ 112 Emergency Centre, which has been under the management of the public entity Geibsa (Gestió d’Emergències de les Illes Balears SA) since 2006, uses Steria’s Storm solution to coordinate all incidents occurring on the Islands and to achieve a minimum response time to all emergencies.
Storm acts as a central emergency management platform and allows easy control over the resources assigned to each incident. Its functions are used to efficiently coordinate the different emergency services over such a unique territory as the Balearics, which are distinguished by their insularity – e.g. land vehicles cannot travel between the islands – and their demographic profile, with a high percentage of foreign residents and strong population shifts during the tourist season.
The Balearics’ 112 number (Spain’s first nationwide emergency telephone number) handles calls in English, German and French, in addition to Spanish and Catalan, which means that residents can expect the same or better attention and response quality as in their countries of origin.
The tourist industry is one of the main drivers of the Balearics’ economy. For this reason, one of the major challenges is in providing the entire population with a high-quality service in which language is not a barrier for handling and solving all types of emergencies. It had to take into account the fact that, while the Balearics’ total population amounts to over a million inhabitants, it receives an annual flow of some 12.5 million tourists, approximately ten million of whom are from foreign countries. Additionally, over 18% of the archipelago’s inhabitants are not citizens of Spain.
Working as part of a team of 70 people, the Balearics 112 service’s trilingual operators process an average of two thousand calls per day and up to 3,500 calls during the tourist season. Storm connects the emergency centre directly to the islands’ different public services, such as the Palma de Mallorca Local Police (the Region’s largest), the Palma and Mallorca Fire Brigade, the Forest Fire Brigade (IBANAT) or the local police stations in towns like Alcudia, Ibiza or Marratxi.
Storm also includes a geographic information system (GIS) which makes it easier to locate where incidents occur and track the units which are mobilised to resolve it. Additionally, Storm’s statistics module allows easy use of all case records contained in the central database.
“Accommodating the system to the needs of those who visit or live on the islands is an added value for the Balearics’ Emergency and Civil Protection processes. The key is in putting callers at ease when requesting help or reporting an emergency. To achieve this goal, it is absolutely essential to have a management tool to coordinate all emergencies,” says Job Torres, Technical Manager for the Balearics’ 112 service.
Mariano Guerrero, Steria’s Homeland Security Manager, comments that “Emergency services’ (HLS) current aim is to have intelligent security systems which are managed with the cooperation of residents. The focus is on using new technologies to improve the assistance which security and emergency services provide: optimized decision making is made possible by higher-quality information regarding the resources deployed and improved coordination of the joint action with other emergency services (fire brigade, health, police and ambulances).
Also participating in this project was a team from the Steria Group’s subsidiary in the United Kingdom, which contributed thanks to its knowledge obtained from Storm’s 40 references in countries such as England, Ireland, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. More specifically, this British team has contributed to the support and development of specific functions for the Balearics’ 112 service, demonstrating Steria’s ability to combine its European experience and coverage with local-level customer service.
Steria’s Storm solution The Storm solution makes it easier for police and emergency services to obtain minimum response time capacity for any event thanks to improved coordination and the optimization of available resources.
Storm merges information from all security forces to offer a comprehensive view of each situation as concerns its location, the nature of the incident, the people involved, call history, special operation procedures, etc, in the shortest possible time. The solution supports the connection to all current and future infrastructures and is able to maintain contact with agents and residents through mobile information systems, automatic vehicle and resource location systems, cable television systems and, of course, with the existing radio and telephone systems.
The Storm system was designed from an American technology and perfected thanks to Steria’s 15 years of experience in the development of command and control systems. Its wide range of interfaces means it can support different technologies, including such interfaces as AVL/ARL for mobile information and various ICCS products for telephone and radio.
Storm is in use in many of the United Kingdom’s Police Brigades, in the Wiltshire Emergency Services, in the Dublin Fire Brigade, and also in more than 21 security forces in Sweden. The “Storm Users’ Club” allows users to suggest the development of new functions to the rest of the community and contribute to their financing.
About Steria: www.steria.com The leading end-to-end IT services provider in Europe for companies which consider new technologies a vital part of their business strategy, Steria focuses on setting up strategic partnerships with its customers in each of its key markets: the public sector, finance, telecommunications, utilities and transport. Steria offers customers integrated services including consulting in core business processes as well as the development and operation of their information systems. In October 2007, Steria acquired the British firm Xansa. The new group employs over 19,000 staff in 16 countries, including 5,000 in India. On December 31, 2007, Steria revenue amounted to €1.4 billion (€1.9 billion pro forma). The Group, headquartered in Paris, is listed on the Euronext Paris market.
Steria Group Press Office Isabelle Grangé Tel. : +33 1 34 88 64 44 e-mail : [email protected]
TBWACorporate Barbara Coumaros Tel : +33 1 49 09 26 93 e-mail : [email protected]
Rebekah Lahey Tel. : +33 1 49 09 26 79 e-mail : [email protected]
