Brigham Young University-Hawaii purchases Nova for campus safety

LAIE, Hawaii, Dec. 16, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brigham Young University-Hawaii Security recently purchased Spillman Technologies' cloud-based software, Spillman Nova, to increase efficiency in record keeping and investigation processes. The university is the second agency in Hawaii to sign with Spillman and the third university in the country to purchase Spillman Nova.

The private university, which is home to 2,500 students, decided to upgrade its software system from a Microsoft database to a web-based records management solution. Campus Security Manager Anthony Pickard said the school switched to Nova to help security officers keep detailed incident reports while handling various cases.

"We wanted a records management system that would help us in managing our investigations," Pickard said. "With Nova, we're able to create incident reports, including Clery reports, and manage all of our records in the same system."

Pickard said campus security had kept records on multiple different platforms in the past, making it difficult to go back and search past records. He said the new software will help them create complete histories for current and future records.

"With Nova, we wanted to consolidate all our records onto one database system, with the ability to access all of our information, as well as document all of our incident reports," Pickard said. "As we conduct our investigations, we can go back and add in new information, documents, or photographs, and we can do it all on one system."

The campus security agency can also take advantage of Nova's automatic Clery reporting tools. Clery reports are federally mandated documents that contain certain statistics regarding any criminal activity that occurs on or near a college or university campus. The cloud-based public safety software automatically takes information from an agency's Records Management System (RMS) to pull together annual Clery reports. The software indicates if a report needs more information before it can be submitted.

Before switching to Spillman Nova, the agency was not using a public safety-specific software system, so documentation, such as Clery reporting, could take a long time, Pickard said.

"Before, we didn't have a system that could automatically create Clery reports, so we're excited to be able to do that," he said.

Pickard said the transition from their old workflow to the new Spillman Nova system has gone smoothly thanks to the ease of the Nova system and the help of Spillman employees who have been there to answer any questions they have had.

"Everyone has been very knowledgeable and helpful," Pickard said. "We've been very impressed with the Spillman personnel."

Spillman Technologies serves sheriff's offices, police departments, communication centers, correctional facilities, and fire departments nationwide. Spillman specializes in integrated on-premises and cloud software solutions, including Computer-Aided Dispatch, Records Management Systems, Mobile Data & Field Reporting, Mapping & GIS, Jail Management Systems, Fire, Data Sharing, Personnel & Resources, and Analytics & Intelligence-Led Policing. For more information about Spillman and Spillman Nova, visit www.spillman.com.