Royal lifeboat charity streamlines its helpdesk

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has implemented a helpdesk system from Royalblue that it claims will go a long way to help save lives.

It connects the head office to regional branches and to its 223 Lifeboat stations throughout the UK. Last year the charity installed PCs in each of the stations to co-ordinate training and lifeboat maintenance, and the helpdesk system is designed to assist both technical and non-technical staff within the stations resolve problems that arise with the PCs.

Andrew Fowley, helpdesk manager, said: "By creating the helpdesk we created a central point of contact for any PC or network problems, this improves efficiency and service delivery."

But the system will play an increasingly critical part in the running of the RNLI. In the next two years it plans to install its own paging system - to call out lifeboat crew - that will be programmed through the PCs, and it is to install SAP software. Both projects will benefit hugely from the helpdesk.

Fowley added: "Although the PC network won't be directly critical to the emergency systems it will enable the station to communicate more effectively therefore making it more efficient. Spare parts could be obtained more quickly which would mean boats could be put back into action quicker."

The helpdesk uses Royalblue's Hot Topic software and Alan Neilson, CEO of Royalblue, claimed this is key to reducing the total running costs of RNLI's administrative systems.

"The cost of investigating an issue is reduced because the Hot Topics logs all the faults and can help identify common problems, their cause and the best way of resolving them," he said.

Neilson added: "More importantly it can help save lives because if the station systems are working more efficiently the crew can respond to the emergency more efficiently."