Control Room Manager Scoops National Accolade
Thursday, 22 April, 2010
from left - Northern Control Room manager and nominee Steve Wilkinson, Northern Control Room Manager and award winner Louise Ogden, Simon Peck and Pauline Smith MBE from Demand Management, Chief Insp Shaun Ostle and Southern Control Room Manager and nomin
A Nottinghamshire Police control room manager was recognised for her outstanding professionalism and dedication at a national awards ceremony last night (April 21).
Louise Ogden, who is based in the force's Northern Control Room in Mansfield, beat off competition from 50 fellow emergency service workers to win the Emergency Services Team Manager of the Year Award at the Call Centre Management Association's national awards in Manchester.
This is the first year this category has been included in the awards, which aim to endorse best practice, reward innovation and promote excellence within the contact and call centre industry across the country.
Louise, who has been a control room manager for seven years, said: "It was an achievement to be shortlisted, but to win the award was a complete shock.
"One of the most memorable moments of the night was when the host Ann-Marie Stagg started a standing ovation for all of the emergency service workers at the ceremony. All 350 people in the room got to their feet, which made us feel really proud to get that recognition and sent a tingle down the spine.
"I am proud to represent Nottinghamshire Police and this award is not only for me but for all of my colleagues in our control rooms.
"I am really pleased that the judges recognised all of our hard work and our commitment to providing the public with the best service possible."
Also nominated for the award were Steve Wilkinson, a manager in Northern Control Room, and Jo Ilyk, who is a manager in Southern Control Room at the force headquarters near Arnold.
Each of the nominees submitted a written representation to the judges who, following shortlisting, visited on April 13 and interviewed each nominee, their managers and their colleagues.
Pauline Smith MBE, Head of Demand Management, said: "I am delighted that our expert control room managers have been judged by an expert in the field and found to be operating at the very highest standards in the industry.
"We have some excellent people working for Nottinghamshire Police and this award is a fitting recognition of this."
This is the latest success for Nottinghamshire Police's control rooms, which celebrated being highly commended at the European Call Centre Awards for Best Contact Management Improvement Strategy in September 2009.
In January, the force answered 98 per cent of all 999 calls within 10 seconds - well above the national target of 90 per cent.
On average, the control rooms receive 19,978 emergency 999 calls per month, which take an average of three seconds to answer.
