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PrintAustralian ambulance service trades up from weekly maintenance to faultless communications
Reliable communications are vital for the paramedics of the St John Ambulance Service, but the fleet's old system was letting them down on a weekly basis. In contrast, their new network has been trouble-free since it was installed 18 months ago.
"Failures in the old network had the potential to delay vital information getting to the ambulance crews, but now there are no networkrelated delays at all."
Ashley Morris,
Technical Services Director,
St John Ambulance,
Western Australia
The population in and around Perth in Western Australia is growing faster than that of any other Australian city and the workload of the St John Ambulance Service has grown along with it. This left the service's old communications system working at full capacity and struggling to cope with the volume of voice and data traffic in the network.
Typically, up to 65 ambulances of the 120 ambulance fleet would be on duty at any one time, covering an area stretching some 200 km along the coastal region and extending 100 km inland.
Challenges
- To provide a 100-percent reliable and resilient backbone communications network
- To deliver a backbone network capable of supporting legacy analogue voice radio while making it easy to switch to digital voice communications
Lack of local support
The network's star topology also meant that if certain key sites failed, they knocked out up to half the network at a time. At the same time, there was no backup of the system's proprietary operating system, so a problem there could have been catastrophic.
Weekly network faults on the old analogue system were becoming a regular occurance, sometimes taking up to five hours to fix. "It was a mess because the system's agent was in Queensland with a centre in New Zealand. Coupled repair with this, the network operating system lived on an obsolete SCSI hard drive with no ability for a backup. So if that failed unexpectedly, we would have lost service across the network.
Solution
- Smart design by CommTel, combined with hardware redundancy and battery backup to maximize network resiliency
- Nokia Siemens Networks Flexihopper microwave links and Dynanet multiplexers, with Ethernet services supported by the new ENT100 card, so the network will be easy to switch to digital
Upgrading the operating system and hard drive installation was simply not cost effective," explains Ashley Morris, Technical Services, Director, St John Ambulance.
In 2007 the ambulance service decided the first step was to invest in a new robust backbone network. The plan was that the new network would initially continue to support the service's analogue voice radios, but would also enable them to switch to a digital voice radio system in 2010.
Benefits
- The network has been trouble- free for the last 18 months, but even if an item of equipment failed the network's ring topology means there would be virtually no impact on coverage
- Five hours of maintenance work per week to fix network faults has been saved
- St John Ambulance now has a solid transport network ready to support its switch to digital voice radio communications
Renowned reliability for other users
Nokia Siemens Networks and Asia Pacific partner CommTel Network Solutions had already provided reliable communications systems for other local services in Western Australia, including rail transport companies and the state police. CommTel's impressive track record and strong local presence was a key factor in selecting a partner to build the network.
With the old system now obsolete and exhibiting regular outages, the new network was needed fast. Nokia Siemens Networks adapted its equipment deliveries accordingly and all elements of the network were delivered in just six weeks. Deployment, integration and installation took a further two months, with the network up and running in February 2008.
The new net work supports Ethernet services using FlexiHopper microwave radio links coupled with the proven Dynanet multiplexer from Nokia Siemens Networks. The partners worked closely with St John Ambulance to meet any special requirements. For example, the ambulance service wanted to keep costs down by re-using its existing roadside cabinets.
CommTel successfully adjusted the design of the Dynanet chassis to a compact 4-slot unit capable of supporting the required multiplexer cards.
Built-in redundancy
The network architecture was designed as self-healing rings with Built-in redundancy a switchover time of less than 50 milliseconds in the event of a failure.“We haven't had any failures, but if we had, the system is so robust that we wouldn't even have noticed it apart from in our monitoring systems,” says Ray Pullen, radio communications manager, St John Ambulance. “What's more, it'll be smooth sailing for us when we make the switch to digital radio."
About CommTel
CommTel Network Solutions Pty Ltd is an Australian owned, locally based, Channel Partner specializing in the provision of Industrial and Carrier grade communications systems and related technical services.
CommTel’s core focus is providing exceptional quality products and services to the non-Carrier and selected Carrier markets focusing on the dedicated/industrial network sector (i.e. power utilities, oil & gas, transport, mining etc) and broadband networks.