Customer story

How AURA helped OCS increase assurance and mitigate commercial impact

OCS partnered with AURA to improve alarm response across hundreds of UK sites. The result was faster and more consistent performance, lower financial pressure, and more confidence from its client.

30-min average response time

Faster alarm response across a large national portfolio

45% lower carbon emissions

Smarter dispatch means shorter journeys and fewer unnecessary miles

Significant reduction in monthly penalties

Improved performance reduced a major financial and contractual pressure

OCS

OCS is one of the UK’s largest facilities management providers, delivering a broad range of services to government and private-sector clients.

Industry:

Facilities management

AURA solution:

AURA property protect

Reach:

+300 sites across England and Wales

Table of contents

Overview:

Restoring confidence in a critical service

Challenge:

Missed KPIs and monthly penalties

Solution:

A more connected and accountable response model

Results:

Faster response and stronger client confidence

Overview

Restoring confidence in a critical service

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Reliable alarm response is a key part of the service OCS provides across the court estate.

Before working with AURA, response times were not consistently meeting the agreed service levels. This affected a key performance indicator, placed strain on the client relationship and created reputational and financial pressure.

OCS needed a response partner that could improve performance across a large number of sites while also providing better visibility, clear reporting, and ongoing support.

AURA provided that model.

“The response service we provide is critical. It is important to keep court business running and everything associated with that.”

Russell Hobbs

Director, OCS

Challenge

Missed KPIs and monthly penalties

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Before AURA, OCS was not consistently meeting its contractual alarm response targets.

Although the wider contract was performing well, alarm response remained a problem. The missed KPI affected the quality of service being delivered and became a regular point of concern in client meetings.

The commercial impact was also significant. OCS was facing significant penalties each month because response-time requirements were not being met.

The team needed a solution that could:

Improve response times across hundreds of sites
Deliver more consistent performance
Reduce financial and contractual pressure
Provide clear data on service performance
Rebuild confidence with the client

For OCS, the priority was not to avoid penalties. It was to make sure the service met the standard expected across a critical national estate.

“When you have a key KPI that is not performing, it puts a strain on the relationship and needs to be solved.”

Russell Hobbs,

Director, OCS

Solution

A more connected and accountable response model

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OCS chose AURA because it offered a different approach from the traditional alarm response model.

AURA uses technology to connect alarm incidents with suitable responders across its network. This gives OCS a more flexible way to manage response across a large and geographically spread portfolio.

The rollout included +300 site records on the AURA portal. Because the sites form part of critical infrastructure, it was important that every location was set up correctly and that the right information was available from the start.

AURA managed the onboarding process closely, reducing the amount of work required from the OCS team and helping the service go live smoothly.

Through the AURA platform, OCS gained access to:

Digital alarm dispatch
A connected response network
Clear response-time data
Regular performance reviews
Better reporting and trend analysis
Ongoing support from the AURA team

The reporting has also helped OCS have more useful service reviews. Performance can be discussed using clear data rather than relying on manual updates or limited information.

“The implementation and setup were very well managed by AURA. We did not have to do a lot. It made our lives easy, which is what you want from a supplier.”

Russell Hobbs

Director, OCS

Results

Faster response and stronger client confidence

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Since introducing AURA, OCS has seen a major improvement in alarm response performance.

The key response KPI moved from a red position to a green position with average response times now around 30 minutes. For OCS, the consistency of the service is one of the biggest improvements. The team is no longer seeing large changes between good and poor performance. Instead, the response model is delivering more dependable results across the portfolio.

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“The conversation with the client is now very different. It was a reactive conversation before, whereas now it is proactive. It has moved from a negative conversation to a positive conversation.”

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The improved performance has helped OCS:

Significantly reduce monthly penalties
Improve contractual response performance
Deliver a more consistent service
Rebuild confidence with the client
Explore expansion into additional sites and regions

The change has also improved the nature of OCS’s client conversations. Before AURA, meetings were often reactive and focused on missed targets. With the KPI now performing well, discussions have become more positive and forward-looking.

Faster and more consistent alarm response with AURA

By partnering with AURA, the business improved alarm response across hundreds of sites. The partnership has also changed the focus of client conversations. Instead of discussing poor performance, OCS and its client can now focus on improvements, innovation, and future growth.