CRM system improving safety for Victorian bushfire season

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 01 December 2009 12:54

IT Industry - Deals

In the wake of last summer’s disastrous bushfires in Victoria, the state’s Country Fire Authority has launched SAP CRM software to deliver its Community Meetings CRM Project, which the CFA says will deliver quality services and improve the safety and capability of the authority across the state.

The CFA’s CIO, Michael Foreshew, said the SAP system enables CFA staff to communicate with citizens and provides an infrastructure for the “transfer of crucial information and updates during emergency situations.”

“Over the last few months and ongoing, we are gathering  residents’ contact details and demographics, so that we know where people live and who they are, which has allowed us to create a risk profile on all residents on the new system.”

According to Foreshew, the new software enables the CFA to proactively email registered residents in urban areas about fire preparedness and provide risk status updates, and he said the CFA is holding community meetings to collect residents’ details, “which are input into the new system in the lead up to bush fire season.  More than 100 community meetings are taking place.

“Residents can now log onto our website and book themselves into one of the meetings taking place in their local area, so that they can register their details. The meetings provide an opportunity for residents to register their details and include fire management training – a program called Community Fireguard.  The initiative will ensure that Victorians are better prepared for emergency situations.”

The CRM software went live in mid October, with between 10 and 20 CFA users working with the system.

Foreshew said the move to the new system was “a significant step towards creating better communication and services for our communities. The CFA covers all private land outside CBD areas in Victoria, which is about 65 per cent of the state’s population. We expect the new software to help us better manage the volume of people we need to communicate with throughout the difficult summer months.”