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Crying Wolf

Hello faithful readers.  I know that the weekly CryWolf® hints have not been as consistent as I would like.  I beg your indulgence as my unit continues to struggle with being short staffed.  That situation should be resolved in the next month or so and things should settle back to a manageable level.
Even before the loss of one of my staff, I had made an investment in the CryWolf® web module to reduce the amount of time that staff members use each day processing registration renewals.   The module is an independent feature that can be purchased separately from the database to provide some additional functionality.  The addition of the module allows citizens to register and update their accounts online. It can also be used to allow registered alarm companies access to their customer lists. Authorized users can experiment with a range of canned reports.  And these are just a few of the many possibilities that this module offers. The module can be used "off the shelf" or it can be customized to more closely coordinate with another website.
By reducing the number of renewals that had to be processed by our hands, I hoped to allow my staff to work on projects which would reduce the number of false alarms.  Many alarm units struggle with the renewal issue and the time needed to update citizen and business records. This is probably the biggest suck of resources in alarm units. One agency in our area has actually eliminated renewals and it will be interesting to see how this affects their unit and their record keeping.
After my staffer resigned in July, I thought that the module would be our salvation. My unit purchased the web module in June so it seemed to be perfectly timed.  I wish that I could tell you how wonderfully it is working for us, but it has still not gone "live" to the public.  This is no fault of Public Safety Corp (the makers of CryWolf®), but is due to the everlastingly slow pace of bureaucracy.  I was told back in August that we were a week away from going live.  It is now December.  If you have called my office anytime in this period, chances are I have extolled the virtues of this new technology and given you a timeframe that I thought was reasonable for it to be up and running.  But all these months, I have been "crying wolf".  This week there are some signs that progress is finally being made. Only time will tell if this is the real deal.
If your unit struggles with the paper chase, this may be a solution that could be beneficial.

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