The National Business Review, a New Zealand based news site, is reporting that New Zealand police are getting iPhones and iPads as part of a new deal 10-year with Vodafone. According to the report, over 6000 frontline police are getting smartphones and 3900 of the 6,000 officers will also receive an iPad.
The deal came about following an 11-month trial involving 100 staff. The police anticipates that the investment in apple’s iOS devices will provide productivity benefits of $305 million over 10 years, according to the report.
The Police Commissioner Marshall, is quoted as saying, “We believe greater use of modern technology is the way of the future; it’s common sense, and will ensure officers can remain on the frontline rather than returning to stations to complete paperwork.”
NZ Police chief information officer Stephen Crombie also explained why the service choice Apple’s iOS devices over that from other competitors.
According to the Police chief information officer Stephen Crombie:
[quote] The trial showed the most useful tools for officers were small personal devices (such as a smartphone) for making phone calls or text messaging, accessing email, and accessing information and photo databases, and a larger such as a laptop or tablet for staff who need to do more data entry.
Based on frontline officer feedback from the trial (over 100 staff in four districts trialled smartphones, laptops and tablets over an 11-month period) the preferred devices are the iPhone as smartphone and iPad for the tablet. The approach used to develop the applications means Police can move to other devices with relative ease as technology changes.[/quote]
Source: The National Business Review
