NEC brings global brand and world-class expertise to Hull

ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT: Rhiannon Beeson, NEC Software Solutions Director of Control Room, outside the company’s offices in Hull’s Old Town

NEC Corporation, one of the world’s most advanced and innovative technology businesses, has arrived in Hull.

As NEC Software Solutions, it becomes the latest global super brand to establish a key presence in the city, joining a cast list of world-class businesses including Reckitt, Siemens and Smith & Nephew.

NEC Software Solutions is the new name for APD Communications, the leading supplier of software to emergency services, control rooms and other public safety sectors.

NEC Corporation acquired APD in 2019 and now the adoption of the renowned NEC brand marks the beginning of a new era for a business founded in Hull more than 35 years ago which has built a national and international customer base and reputation for developing cutting edge technology that keeps the public safe and secure.

NEC Corporation is a global leader in advanced IT and network technologies that benefit businesses, public organisations and people across the world.

Headquartered in Tokyo, NEC Corporation has more than 100,000 employees in over 100 countries and APD’s rebranding enhances NEC’s presence in the UK, where it already has its European head office.

NEC Software Solutions Director of Control Room, Rhiannon Beeson, said: “With our new name we have become even closer to our parent company, which has a long and proud history of taking pioneering technologies from concept to reality.

WORLD-CLASS: NEC Corporation has become the latest global super brand to establish a presence in Hull

“We will remain locally based but will benefit from the NEC global brand and investment to help us deliver even more world-class technological innovations.

“That means we are able to accelerate our development and deployment of game-changing technologies that enable our customers in the emergency services and critical control sectors to serve and protect the public and, ultimately, save lives.

“For our people the new brand and strengthened relationship with NEC will also open up exciting global career paths and development opportunities.”

NEC Software Solutions technology is used by every UK police force, as well as other emergency services organisations.

Under its new brand, the business will continue to operate from offices in the shadow of Hull Minster in the city’s Old Town while bringing to its customers NEC’s expertise and innovations from around the world.

To underline the benefits to customers, NEC Software Solutions has marked the rebrand by launching ground-breaking control room software.

The cutting-edge Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) product, named Dispatch, aims to take control rooms to a new level of operational efficiency and performance.

The cloud-based CAD software enables dispatchers and call handlers to prioritise and record incident calls, identify the status and location of resources, and dispatch them effectively to incidents.

REBRAND: NEC Software Solutions is the new name for APD Communications

Dispatch complements and integrates with NEC Software Solutions’ growing range of control room technologies, including Maps and Stream.

Maps enables blue light teams to reach locations rapidly with pinpoint accuracy, while Stream provides unparalleled visibility from emergency incidents and potentially a huge range of other situations.

Ms Beeson added: “Our new Dispatch software has been built with control room employees’ feedback throughout the development process to ensure it is the very best it can be at an operational level, meeting the needs of the emergency services now and into the future.

“This is a truly next-generation solution which will revolutionise how control room teams dispatch resources to incidents. It pulls data from multiple sources in real time and presents them on one screen, integrating seamlessly with other systems to provide a full end-to-end control room solution and deliver enhanced operational efficiency.

“All of this means control room teams are better informed and equipped than ever before to protect people and communities.”

Naoki Yoshida, Senior Vice President at NEC Corporation, said: “We regard NEC Software Solutions as an important part of our global business. We are proud of the company’s success and excited for the future as we continue to work with the team to drive innovation across the sector under the new company name.”

For more information about NEC Software Solutions visit www.necsws.com