Special features include a search engine on the Home Page which can find both Web and Notes documents, a new telephone directory and a pilot online help feature which lets you talk live to POINT and PEN staff, during office hours, to solve your problem there and then. This is especially useful for junior officers who do not have access to PEN; and, of course, the service is bilingual.

The most significant change is the division of the Home Page into separate channels that can be maintained by major formations and users themselves. Users can choose one of three settings for the new Home Page:

1. Default - You can access all links just by clicking on one of the channels such as 'Formation/Unit Sites', 'Information Sources - Government/Internal Police and External', 'Knowledge Management' and 'Personnel, Welfare and Sports'.

2. Group Profiles - The group profiles are set by a moderator within your major formation, and show links that are most likely to be of use to you as an officer within that formation. The moderator will be someone nominated by the Regional Senior Superintendent (Admin).

3. Personalised - By logging into POINT from your home password, or by using a new one (for which you can apply through the POINT home page), you can set your own links, including private ones such as links to newspaper or bank sites. Once you have logged in, your computer will save your password so that you do not have to repeat the login process. You can also use your personalised settings on any computer within the Force - not just your own.

The ePolice Division of Information Technology Bureau are sure that this will be a great advantage to users.

The more flexible, more user-friendly, more helpful 'POINT' portal