In the Veiligheidsregio Zuid-Holland Zuid (VRZHZ), 17 municipalities work together closely with the police department, fire department and Rijkswaterstaat (Department of Waterways and Public Works), amongst others, to protect everyone living, working or staying in the area, against emergencies, disasters and crises. Proper supply of information and continuity of the work is of crucial importance to a complex organisation such as this one. This is why the workday of all 600 employees starts and ends on Viadesk.
‘Viadesk is an incredibly useful tool to optimise communication inside and outside of your organisation, no matter the sector or scope and size of your organisation. This provides many benefits for the VRZHZ, in terms of time, and therefore also costs.’
Leo den Otter, Senior Communications Consultant
Proper information-sharing is essential for emergency response services. That is incredibly difficult on outdated systems. Moreover, employees work at different locations, making reachability and collaboration more and more challenging.
Viadesk provides VRZHZ with a social intranet that is accessible for all its employees. This SaaS platform ensures optimal and up-to-date information-sharing and connects people at all locations.
Viadesk has been the social intranet at VRZHZ since 2009. The employees post documents, place items on the agenda, start projects or share information. Leo den Otter, Senior Communications Consultant at the VRZHZ, gives an example: ‘Someone from Rijkswaterstaat logs into Viadesk and immediately receives up-to-date information showing who is on duty this week. They also see who to call when a lock is open. The fire department can view the up-to-date traffic information and can take a different route when a tunnel under Noord has been closed off. In other words, a very practical source of information!’
Everyone has access to Viadesk, which, with its well-considered layout, is very easy to use. The communication team plays a central role, and also supports users, to prevent uncontrolled growth of information on the social intranet. Den Otter: ‘If someone wants to create a new group, we do it. We do it based on a logical structure, which makes navigation much easier. We also create new accounts centrally, for the same reason.’
The VRZHZ employees work at different locations and often use their own smartphone or tablet. Leo den Otter: ‘The Viadesk app is suitable for mobile devices. It is simply a matter of logging in and getting started. I attend meetings on location quite frequently, and thanks to Viadesk, I can now leave the incredibly heavy briefcase with paperwork at home, and have everything at my disposal with my tablet and the Viadesk app. It is good for my back and also for the environment (less printing work)!’
Continuity of the work is of crucial importance for VRZHZ. Loss of connections or other technical malfunctions could have far-reaching consequences. ‘We have now been working with Viadesk for five years and have never experienced any noteworthy technical problems. In most cases it involves a simple user question that is solved with one telephone call to the Viadesk helpdesk.’
The choice for Viadesk was a logical choice for VRZHZ. After all, all their software is in the cloud, and the same applies for Viadesk. ‘The SaaS platform offers many advantages, including lower costs, no management and maintenance, and the possibility to log in without regard for the time or place,’ says den Otter.
Is Viadesk suitable for anyone? Leo den Otter: ‘Absolutely! Viadesk is an incredibly useful tool to optimise communication inside and outside of your organisation, no matter the sector or scope and size of your organisation. This provides many benefits for the VRZHZ, in terms of time, and therefore also costs. But, as with everything else: you should try it for yourself. It will make your work so much easier!’
“We need one central platform for 17,000 employees. Viadesk provides this.”
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