[ back ]
Police, fire scheduling heads for automation
(by Sue Reid - June 29, 2011)
Police, fire scheduling heads for automation
By SUE REID
Officials say Solon's police and fire departments will improve efficiency in both their operations by taking advantage of automation for their scheduling, a process currently being done by hand.
Solon City Council's finance committee approved preparing legislation last week authorizing the mayor and finance director to enter into multi-year contracts to allow the departments to obtain scheduling software as a service.
The annual cost for the police contract will be $7,225, and the annual cost for the fire contract will be $5,100.
These services allow for automation of scheduling and coverage issues currently done by hand in both departments at the cost of man hours and labor, Police Chief Christopher P. Viland and Fire Chief William J. Shaw told the committee.
These services will also track and audit time, time-off banks, overtime and payroll data in a more efficient way than handwritten ledgers and time cards. Also, the new system would allow auditing, forecasting and paperless processing that are unavailable currently in either department.
"Scheduling is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process," Mr. Shaw said. "This will assist us in efficiency in scheduling personnel and keep track of overtime."
Mr. Viland said of the necessity of the automation that he is scheduling more than 80 individuals currently with various rotating shifts and with 24-hour required service. Mr. Shaw schedules nearly 60 individuals on his department.
"On a daily basis, we are making changes to this schedule," Mr. Viland said. "The amount of man hours to do this is becoming onerous to the department."
Mr. Viland said the archaic and manual scheduling system is stressed, and that has led to situations where they unintentionally did not fill minimum staffing requirements. "That is something we don't want to do," he said.
Although the cost associated with this service was under the amount needed for legislation to be authorized, the committee's approval was sought due to the length of the contract involved, which was three years.
"I think it will pay for itself very quickly," Councilman William D. Mooney said. "It will be an extremely valuable tool. It is a very good use of money and time."
Councilman William I. Russo said that, while he doesn't doubt that this will result in a cost savings to the departments, he would like to actually see that savings documented.
"It's good to go through the exercise of seeing that," Mr. Russo said. "I just think it is prudent."
Both chiefs said that they would provide that information to the committee at its next meeting in July.
[ back ]
