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Water company turns to Inmarsat for emergency back-up

A British water company has equipped its emergency response teams with BGAN terminals.

Managers at Wessex Water decided to upgrade their communications systems to support the rapid deployment of emergency teams in remote areas without reliable cellular coverage.

They opted for a solution from Inmarsat partner Hughes which offers automatic failover from 3G service.

Emergency contact

The company – provides water and sewage services to 1.3m people across the south-west of England.

Previously emergency teams had found it difficult to operate in areas with little or no wireless 3G coverage.

The company wanted a communications solution which enabled staff to stay in contact during emergencies such as flooding.

Video streaming

This keeps communication channels open when cellular coverage is not available and synchronises communications between mobile units and the command centre.

It also allows them to stream live video from the scene of incidents.

Reliable communications

“We’re proud to have been chosen by Wessex Water for this critically important service,” said Chris O’Dell, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Hughes Europe.

“Wessex Water’s engineers previously faced an uncertain communications environment when responding to a major incident.

“This highly-available solution employing our rugged and easy-to-use mobile terminal ensures reliable communications among the response units, no matter the conditions and where they may be.”