Public safety scheduling software is crucial for ensuring that emergency services are adequately staffed, compliant with regulations, and responsive to the needs of the community. Software solutions should be able to optimize scheduling for all public safety agencies, including fire departments, emergency medical services (EMS), police departments, sheriff’s departments, dispatch centers, and corrections departments.
Core Infrastructure
- SaaS Solution – Leverages a secure cloud platform to guarantee high levels of security, scalability, and reliability. This ensures that data is readily accessible and protected, facilitating seamless operations across different locations and devices.
Scheduling
- Centralized Scheduling – Offers a unified system for easy management and viewing of schedules, supporting various complex shift types, and scheduling methods (e.g., static schedules, rotations, daily assignments).
- Real Time Updates – Provide immediate visibility to schedule adjustments, ensuring that any changes are instantly reflected and communicated across the organization.
- Skills and Certifications – Ensures that employees are scheduled based on skills, certifications, and availability, while adhering to union and organizational policies, to help maintain a highly qualified and compliant workforce.
- Minimum Staffing – Maintains optimal coverage, ensuring that shifts are adequately covered and that there are not gaps in critical services.
Operational Efficiency
- Vacancy Management – Automatically fills open shifts with qualified, available staff, adhering to rules on fatigue, prior worked hours, and departmental policies. This helps minimize the risk of understaffing or overworking employees, and allows schedulers to concentrate on more critical tasks.
- Request Management – Streamlines employee requests by auto-approving compliant requests and notifying schedulers of rule violations, helping to ensure a fair and transparent process for managing time-off and shift changes.
- Bidding Management – Provides a robust solution for bidding on shifts, working locations, and days off, according to business rules. This promotes fairness and transparency in shift allocation, significantly reducing time and administrative effort needed to manage processes manually.
- Extra Duty Events Management – Facilitates the planning, staffing, tracking, and invoicing of extra-duty events, ensuring efficient operation and timely cost recovery. This is particularly useful for managing special events and additional assignments.
- Audit Trails – Maintains detailed logs of scheduling changes and decisions, providing a transparent and traceable record for compliance and auditing.
Communications
- Built-In Communications – Allows you to communicate with employees via text, email, and voice call for important messages, emergency recalls, assignment notifications and job offers. This ensures timely and effective communication with staff, enhancing operational readiness and responsiveness.
Employee Empowerment
- User-Friendly Interface – Features an easy-to-navigate interface that reduces the learning curve and enhances user satisfaction.
- Self-Service Tools - Empowers employees by providing access to their schedules and allowing them to submit time-off requests, trade shifts, and pick up extra shifts. This enhances satisfaction by giving employees more control over their work schedules.
- Instant Access - Ensures employees can access their schedules anytime and anywhere, using any device with a web browser. This supports a mobile workforce, improving overall accessibility and convenience.
Data and Integration
- Reporting – Offers a wide range of built-in, real-time reports and supports custom report creation, providing valuable insights for tailored data analysis. This helps agencies make informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date information.
- Integrations – Seamlessly integrates with core systems such as Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), Records Management Systems (RMS), and payroll systems. This reduces manual data entry errors and streamlines data management processes, enhancing operational efficiency.
These essential features ensure that any public safety scheduling software is not only efficient and effective, but also adaptable to the unique needs of public safety agencies. By leveraging such a solution, agencies can enhance their operational capabilities, improve employee satisfaction, and ultimately better serve their communities.
To discover how UKG can revolutionize your public safety scheduling and enhance your agency’s operational efficiency, visit our UKG TeleStaff Cloud page.