Polaris Aero, an aviation safety software company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has announced the release of its new aviation SMS software application, VOCUS SMS. Polaris Aero's VOCUS safety intelligence platform will now encompass the company's two software programmes, FlightRisk and VOCUS SMS. VOCUS SMS replaces the preceding software program, Vector SMS.

“The biggest change we made when overhauling Vector SMS is that we completely redefined the risk management process to better track, trend and analyse data,” explains Chris Connor, co-founder and CEO of Polaris Aero. Connor goes on to explain that VOCUS SMS is far more robust than its predecessor. “We've improved its capability of helping flight departments document not only the 'whats’, but also help them understand the 'whys’, through root cause analysis and the implementation of more effective risk controls. By understanding causal factors and associated costs of safety-related events, senior managers can allocate scarce financial resources more effectively and empower world-class safety programmes.”

The new features and benefits of Polaris Aero's VOCUS SMS application include: a user-friendly dashboard, making it easy to track information dynamically and understand what's happening at a glance; a graphical user interface, which makes the app more engaging and easier to use; a cost tracking system, which enables safety managers to pinpoint the organisational expense related to safety issues, including time, lost revenue, equipment damage or impact to the mission; logical wizard-based workflows, allowing users to document and process issues via workflows specific to a proactive concern or reactive safety event; expanded taxonomy, helping users categorise, sort and analyse data, making it easier to turn insights into action, as well as to share data in the future; improved safety performance indicators, helping users to simplify the safety investigation process and transform safety data into actionable insights; and a task management system, enabling users to assign tasks to individuals or groups.

“VOCUS SMS is the culmination of several years of research, development and listening to our customers,” says Connor. “Our tech-savvy clients are passionate about safety and don't want a system that simply digitises forms-based safety processes.” Instead, Connor says, Polaris Aero clients are seeking an innovative solution to help them create simple user flows and capture data in meaningful ways. “These software improvements benefit not only the safety manager, but also organisational leadership within a flight department or aviation organisation.”

Trent Fox, co-founder and COO of Polaris Aero, noted that one of the challenges safety managers face is the difficulty in defining the cost of safety. “The changes in VOCUS SMS show the associated costs to safety issues. For example, one missed flight for a charter operator could have a negative cost impact of $50,000.”

All Vector SMS users will automatically be transitioned to VOCUS SMS within the next few months, with no loss of previous data. Polaris Aero will offer train-the-trainer training and webinars for users.