Niche RMS Police Records Management System

[mitcho62]

This software has been introduced into our department within the last 12 months. There has been mixed reaction. There have been negative comments from the front line officers who claim it is less than user friendly. Having said that the data it can store and the information which can be accessed seems impressive and I have no doubt it is a good system.

Many feel it is a complicated process to input data and this is what has raised the ire and frustration of officers as it takes them off the road for extended periods.

Just for the sake of background most data entry in this department is done by the officers themselves.

Does anyone have any comment good or bad about the system who would be willing to share their experiences?

[Ken54]

Niche RMS

...Does anyone have any comment good or bad about the system who would be willing to share their experiences?

I realise that you probably weren't asking opinions from fellow Qlders, however since I've just completed facilitator training for Phase 2.1 I suppose I'm a bit more qualified than some to pass comment.

Having seen what's coming, I can only say that I have a positive outlook on the whole thing. Sure there were "issues" that arose from Phase 1, but they seem to diminish with practice.

There have been a lot of improvements behind the scenes (especially with that bugbear - Address Verification) and many more aspect of it are addressed in training this time around.

I'd also like to hear what anyone else who's dealt with the system has to say but, as I've already stated, I think it's as flash as a rat with a gold tooth.

See ya
Ken,
Qld

[Soon2Be]

My service uses it. I think it has the potential to be an outstanding investigative tool, if used properly.

There are definitely some weaknesses with the system (especially if someone entering information enters garbage information - that's a training/user issue), but it is especially handy with our integrated digital mugshot system. I actually rather like it, and I come from a computer programming background.

The only really odd thing about it, is when you are adding/editing people/addresses/property/reports, there is no "save" button. Once you right-click and select add... even if you then exit out, you've started to add something.

I really don't have anything to compare it to, since I'm a relatively new member, but I do have a lot of database management experience, and the Niche RMS system seems pretty robust to me.

[rcs442]

Is this the same/similar to the Orion Taskforce RMS/CMS system? Our biggest complaint is the repetition of data entry. There's no way to autofill the information from an original report into the same fields of a supplemental report. It gets pretty tedious having to re-enter the same info every time you have to add to a case file.

[Ken54]

G'day there rcs442,

Is this the same/similar to the Orion Taskforce RMS/CMS system? Our biggest complaint is the repetition of data entry. There's no way to autofill the information from an original report into the same fields of a supplemental report. It gets pretty tedious having to re-enter the same info every time you have to add to a case file.

Nope. It certainly doesn't sound like it at all. I've no idea what your system is, but in Niche RMS you can simply link to various entities using a right click menu, and all data is then available in both places. Free text "memo" fields are encapsulated Word documents and can be cut/pasted/copied, etc.

It sounds like your system is quite a pain to use. Kinda makes you wonder what the authors were thinking.

Have a look at http://www.nicherms.com/rms.html and see if it looks familiar.

See ya
Ken

[Ken54]

G'day there again, rcs442,

Nope. It certainly doesn't sound like it at all. I've no idea what your system

I just went and had a look at the OrionMagic site. There's an online demo there that I watched for a bit. I can now safely say that our system is absolutely nothing like yours except that they both use Windows as an operating system so there are similarities in the interface.

In Niche RMS, each datum is an "entity" - name, address, occurrence, vehicle rego, phone number, etc. It's entered once and then all other entries link to that datum so even the same address appears in 72 different occurrences, it's only entered once in the database and all occurrences establish links to it.

As an aside, all addresses in the state are stored in a separate data table and are not necessarily in the database until something happens. They are then imported through a verification process (2 or 3 mouse clicks) and then they can be linked to for whatever purpose is necessary. It's quite nifty really =)

It's not perfect, but you can track people, cars, events, offences, property and who knows what else through the system simply by left clicking on the links. It appears to be much simpler to use than what you've got, but I've formed that opinion only by viewing their website. It actually appears to me to be designed for a different purpose and then adapted to Police work. However, I'm no expert & I've been wrong before.

See ya
Ken