to look at the case management system , which went through a number of iterations .
“ Firstly , we had a case record system with lots of filing cabinets , and then we had a case recording system with a digital document store ,” he says . “ And then we moved to a unified , proper case management system , which is cloud-based , and available everywhere . And now it is just the beating heart of the organisation .
“ We are wholly digital first . Those hundred-odd offices that we used to have when I started were places to keep the filing cabinets . They were places to go to use the computer . We ' ve got 33 offices now . And those are welcoming places to meet families and children .” Providing the best possible service in the pandemic The COVID- 19 pandemic represented a difficult time for all - but the fact that Cafcass had already established a hybrid working environment made for a smoother transition as the world locked down .
“ Some years before the pandemic , everybody had a hybrid laptop and smartphone , from the receptionist up to the Chief Exec ,” Langley describes . “ We ' ve got SaaS systems for HR , finance , and all the other core systems . Our centralised analytics function is also so important .
“ We knew that those people could survive without an internet connection because they could hotspot from their phones or they could go and work from home . And then , of course , March 2020 came upon us , which everybody still remembers . But what it meant for us was , for as short a time as possible – because when you ' re in a people business like ours , you need to meet people in person - we took the decision to move to a fully-remote working model and temporarily closed the offices .
“ The workforce was used to it ,” he says . “ People knew what they were doing . We could take all our functions and people could go and work from home or wherever they needed to . And the technology was there , which meant that we could focus our attention as a management team on keeping
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