During the course of an investigation you may find that you want to find out who a suspect was calling, or perhaps who they have e-mailed. With communications data you would be assisted in putting together a chain of evidence that with which you could link people together and hence to the crime under investigation.

RIPA legislation means that the public authorities have to set up a 'single point of contact' (SPoC) within their organisation in order to manage all of the requests you might need to make to access communications data. Communications data can only be accessed by trained and accredited SPoCs.

In creating your own SPoC there are a number of areas that need considering. For example: There are several hundred telecoms providers, not to mention Internet providers who may hold the data you need to locate.

This means that you have to make a lot of new contacts within the telecoms provider organisations as well as their re-sellers. This includes setting up invoicing systems for each contact.

Setting up you own SPoC means that you have a responsibility to keep up with the changes in legislation.

You will also have a responsibility to ensure that you have a water tight audit trail.

Staff turnover may mean that one-off training costs turn into an annual expense.

Not to mention the staffing costs if you are looking for an out of hours service.

Singlepoint will remove the need for your organisation to develop relationships with service providers. We will provide an automated service that finds the correct path for gaining communications data on your behalf. Part of our package is updating you on changes in the legislation and ensuring that the audit trails are up to standard. By removing the administrative function associated with obtaining communications data Singlepoint will ensure that your staff are focussing on their core business.

Singlepoint are continuously working with the Service Providers to set realistic and achievable Levels of Service for the provision of your communication data requirements. This will mean that we can guarantee the fastest turnaround for enquiries possible. And of course we will be responsible for chasing the Services Providers on your behalf!

Yes - you will only have to deal with Singlepoint and therefore only one bill.

25 Public Authorities have been given access to communications data. The level of information actually accessed by the authorities is dictated by legislation.

Each public authority has to set up a single point of contact (SPoC) to handle data requests and it is estimated that these will amount to approximately 620.

Types of public authorities accessing this data range from NHS Counter Fraud, Local Councils, through to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. (See Home Office website for a full list)

Large Service Providers will see their customer portfolio increase significantly with the inclusion of the Public Authorities. This may mean thousands of enquiries each requiring individual project management through to completion. Creating the teams to handle enquiries to standardise the response process and to manage billing will be costly and time-consuming.

Smaller Service Providers may only receive one request per year, which doesn't warrant a dedicated project team. However, the burden of just one big enquiry could re-direct key people from their core responsibilities at a critical time. Setting up an outsourcing agreement is an insurance policy against this type of event.

We are happy to come and talk to you about how we can work with you to provide a more cost effective and efficient way of managing data requests from the Public Authorities with requesting powers. Just complete a 'contact us' page and we will be in touch shortly.

In essence our organisation would act as the 'clearing house' and SPoC for those Public Authorities signed up to our service and making communication data requests. What this means is that you are only dealing with one organisation - Singlepoint Data Services Limited.

As well as this we can offer an outsourcing service that removes the administrative functions from you as the Service Provider and makes them our responsibility.