BT deal will overhaul back-office systems and support roll-out of body worn video cameras - Photo credit: Fotolia

BT has been awarded a contract worth £100m to prove the Metropolitan Police with high-speed fixed and wireless networks and a range of cloud and IT services.

The deal will see BT overhaul the Met’s back-office IT systems, including its WorkForce Management system, which is used for staff scheduling and rostering.

It will also manage a secure cloud-based voice system to support around 20,000 IP enabled phones across the Met’s 500 sites across London.

BT said would be crucial in the day-to-day running of the police force as it relies on having a robust network that can transfer voice and data at the relevant security levels.

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There will also be a high-speed wide area network connecting the 500 sites, as well as upgrades to the local area networks, a corporate WiFi solution for the Met’s estate, and an upgrade of the force’s call-handling systems.

BT will also boost capacity for the Met’s teams to upload the data from the 22,000 body worn video cameras that the Met is rolling out.

Colm O’Neill, managing director of BT business and public sector, said: “Our systems will greatly enhance the way the force organises itself and responds to crimes across the capital, while reducing its IT and infrastructure costs.

“Moving to a cloud-based infrastructure, for example, will allow the Met to get even more services for less money, helping it to invest in future policing priorities.”

The Met published a five-year digital policing strategy in February, which set out how the force intends to make better use of technology, based on two broad aims: to transform the force itself and improve policing by using the latest technologies.

Police forces across the country are under pressure to boost their use of digital, with a series of reports highlighting their struggle to keep up with the pace of technological change.

Most recently, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary published a report that said forces were not able to exploit digital investigative opportunities due to insufficient capacity or capability, and that few had an “established and achievable approach” to managing increasing demand for digital policing.