THE City of Ekurhuleni has completed plans to build a multi-departmental command and control centre, which will contain a centralised customer care centre for both life-threatening and non-life-threatening services.
The command centre will be situated next to Boksburg fire station and is expected to be completed by June 2018, said metro spokesman, Themba Gadebe.
Gadebe said the completion of the conceptualisation of the Unified Command Centre (UCC) paves the way for the building programme to be initiated.
“Once the centre is operational, residents can expect an effective and faster response to service delivery complaints as there will be a command and control centre for responses by various departments, including energy, water and the metro police.”
While the municipal call centre will serve as a backup disaster recovery facility, the UCC will have expanded visibility on all city networks and operations. This will allow staff to have access to all information systems, ensuring co-ordination between departments, explained Gadebe.
He also pointed out this would significantly improve responses to power supply interruptions, burst water pipes and sewage spillages.
“The centre will also receive feed from closed circuit TV (CCTV) surveillance in central business districts (CBD), which promises to be an effective tool to reduce crime.”
The CCTV data, he said, would also assist in determining which customer care centres, police stations and clinics were overpopulated and have long queues, in order to determine interventions.
