Credit: Dreamstime
Privately owned telecommunications carrier Vertel has designed and implemented the NSW Ambulance service’s Far West Project 25 (P25) radio network upgrade, improving coverage and network performance for critical communication operations.
With more than 6000 staff, NSW Ambulance was seeking a partner to redesign its P25 network to ensure all locations had coverage, safety measures for staff and maintain network resilience.
Vertel scored the tender in providing a detailed solution that demonstrated an understanding of the requirements needed for NSW Ambulance’s critical operations.
The telco created multiple levels of redundancy in the network to ensure a single failure will not collapse the entire network. This involves two control centres, with the primary control centre based at Dubbo and the back-up centre based near Wollongong.
NSW Ambulance covers an area larger than 800,000km and some locations struggled to receive coverage with the old network. Vertel adapted the new design to overcome these issues and provide coverage throughout the state, while also implementing remote network monitoring to monitor any faults in real time and rectify them straight away.
Vertel also designed the platform to have GPS tracking on all vehicles and a duress button for paramedics, and ensuring they were using just one, correct channel.
“Vertel has a long-standing history of supplying the market with infrastructure and technology for critical communications,” Vertel commercial director Tony Hudson said. “This is a strategic win for Vertel that aligns to our ethos of smarter, healthier, safer, by providing critical communications to remote communities.”
NSW Ambulance Assistant Commissioner and Director of Control Centres Steven Norris added it needed a solution that could tailor the P25 network and features to ensure redundancy across the network and communications that enhanced staff and patient safety.
“Vertel understood the nature of our operations. The team worked closely and collaboratively with NSW Ambulance staff to create a dedicated network that ensures the safety of our staff and paramedics, is user friendly, and provides reliable coverage so we can continue to provide the best possible out-of-hospital care in remote areas of NSW,” Norris said.
Recently, Vertel worked with Vocus to provide green energy company Iberdrola Australia’s Cherry Tree Wind Farm with telecommunications network infrastructure.
The pair were brought on to build a telecommunication network based on microwave technology for the Victoria-based wind farm in order to provide infrastructure with a “fibre-like” performance.
