OFFICIAL

Crisisworks 4.3 series — stable, fast and purpose-built

Created by Scott Davey
Last updated: Nov 04, 2016
4 min read

Rolling out over October and November 2016

Datalink has listened to your feedback from the 4.0.x and 4.1.x releases, as well as carefully monitoring the use and performance of the platform over the 2014 and 2015 fire and flood seasons, and Crisisworks 4.3 is the response to this feedback, incorporating thousands of person-hours of engineering with simulations, evaluations, trials and feedback evaluations to make this our best update ever. 

Highlights

At first you may not notice too many difference, but this is intentional — your prior investments in training will cover this release.  As you begin using the new Crisisworks, you will discover the improvements.

  • Performance and stability is massively improved for the standard government operating environment, which mostly use Internet Explorer 11
  • A comprehensive set of reports are now included, taking on board all our experience providing customised report-writing support for previous large-scale events 
  • Duty management has been improved to link more precisely to event security and allow users to more easily join new events
  • Global contacts allow for the centralisation and re-use of your contacts across events
  • Improvements to export and import functionality improve data sharing and ad-hoc reporting
  • Our companion app for Android and iPad now has support for Windows 10 devices in beta

Additionally, an extensive set of minor fixes and improvements throughout the system provide polish and improve efficiency during and after emergencies.

Performance

Performance has been the top priority of Crisisworks 4.3, and this release sees increases 3x - 5x for most operations, along with the complete removal of many of the spinning loading indicators that previously blocked users from performing actions when they appeared.

Reporting

Based on extensive experience gained from manual report-writing for customers after major incidents, Crisisworks now includes a range of built-in reports that allow data to be reported on, exported and shared using standard formats. These reports are nicely formatted, and can be customised to include or remove columns before export. 

Additionally, the reporting system maintains a snapshot of each report you generate, so you can go back in time to see event data from prior snapshots.

Changes to user duty and security

Crisisworks has improved its internal security architecture to increase application performance and maintain confidentiality of data.  

Although this is mostly under-the-hood, the main change is that the event selector now only shows events for which the user is currently participating, and event data is only accessible after a user goes on duty at least once (to signify they are participating in the event). This change has been made to make it easier for new users to join events without refreshing the page to update the event listing, plus it hides away events for users with no access, and it clearly shows the events for which the user is participating.

Global Events

Unlike earlier Crisisworks editions, administrators can now set up any number of global events themselves. Global events are useful for sharing data across multiple events — examples are Council Workspace, Documents, EM Contacts List, etc.

Relief & Recovery Improvements

Based on feedback and engagement with the industry, Crisisworks' Post Impact Assessment and Recovery registers have been improved, with:

  • A new register for Agriculture Impact Assessments has been added, which links to a Recovery Case record.
  • Crisisworks' Infrastructure Assessment register has now been included for all councils free of charge.
  • Users can now capture the details of services required without making a decision on the service provider to use. Separately, these tasks can be assigned to service providers (which are resources) for action, including assigning in bulk if required, and users of these service provides can now log in to manage their tasks.
  • All values in the pick lists used throughout the forms have been made dynamic, allowing administrators to add their own values.
  • The option for "Attending Relief Centre" for affected people now allows the selection of which relief centre is in use. This corresponds to a counter to allow for quick listings of attendees.

Operations Improvements

The operations registers have undergone internal improvements to be faster and more robust, with the following notable changes:

  • Requests, Information and Offers can draw from both global and event-specific contacts 
  • Announcements and information can now be targeted directly to individual users as well as positions
  • When sending an announcement, notifications can be sent to users that are off duty and on call
  • For information, the symbology can be managed; Crisisworks 4.3 now also includes a common set of symbols.

Mobile Improvements

For the mobile companion app:

  • Many small improvements have been made to fix defects and improve the user experience
  • Automatic map drawing based on the user walking or driving a scene is now more accurate and easier to use
  • The app now allows for playback of captured media
  • For supported forms and devices, the app now supports background audio recording for capturing interview notes while the user fills out the form
  • In addition to supporting Android and iOS phones and tablets, support for Microsoft Windows tablets is now in beta with imminent release in November

Other notable improvements

In addition to the improvements above, here's a list of a few other notable changes.

  1. A new Weeds and Infestation module has been developed and is available as a separate licence
  2. The item audit log has changed position and is now located in the sidebar of the record.
  3. Searching has become more robust
  4. The user profile form has been reworked, and now contains an "on call" flag
  5. If users cannot access any events, the user interface now displays "No accessible event" rather than showing the event selector at all.
  6. Most screens now default the user to 'Active' records of that type rather than 'Total' records of that type
  7. Asset metadata can now be edited from within Crisisworks
  8. A detailed background task console records all background activity
  9. All emails and SMSs are permanently recorded within the system for full audit
  10. The Crisisworks APIs have been updated and provide additional integration and reporting options

Crisisworks 4.3 is now in use in the Department of Transport in Queensland, as well as UnitingCare, VicRoads, EPA Victoria and a growing number of new customers.