PTT's peak performance in peak hour

Operations and maintenance crews on one of Sydney’s busiest roads are staying connected with an off-the-shelf PTT solution.

In 2016, Fulton Hogan Egis O&M Pty Ltd was awarded the operations and maintenance contract for a major Sydney motorway, which was to begin in July 2017. This was a project that needed the right communication system to ensure its smooth running across all the teams involved.

As it was going to be operating on one of Sydney’s busiest roads — subject to massive congestion in peak hour times as well as traffic incidents — the company needed something robust, so it looked at a range of solutions and providers.

According to Shane Couch, the company’s Operations Manager, an IMPULSE Wireless PTT system was initially chosen as a quick solution, yet Fulton Hogan Egis was so pleased with the result that it has become a permanent fixture.

“It was essentially chosen as a short-term, 18-month solution because there was no complicated set-up or configurations. It offered an off-the-shelf product that required no expensive licensing fees,” he said. “However, I envisage that this product will continue to be used in the long term.”

The solution

For the motorway, Couch and his team use rugged and waterproof IP68-rated smartphones with Bluetooth remote speaker microphones. Wireless charging for the phones was also chosen to eliminate as many physical connections as possible and increase the longevity of the devices.

The control room uses a tablet and wired remote speaker microphone, which provides live location of users when they are in a PTT call. It also provides priority transmit interrupt/pre-emption capabilities to get a time-critical message out at any time.

The proximity to Sydney Olympic Park and the major events it hosts, combined with regular heavy traffic and incidents, places a heavy load on the carrier networks. However, Couch reports that from the beginning, IMPULSE Wireless PTT communications have remained reliable and unaffected, even during peak events. The performance of the IMPULSE Wireless system has been rock solid the entire time, thanks to devices that are fully compatible with Telstra 4GX, including the whole of Band 28.

The PTT solution has proven to be cost-effective to implement, completely user-friendly and very reliable. But that’s not all. Couch mentioned that, besides the product itself, the final choice always comes down to the level of service provided.

“In the end, IMPULSE Wireless won because of their excellent service,” Couch said. “I have recommended them now to a peer company.”

Just like with any technology, it needs to be fit for purpose, meet the end user’s precise needs, staff need to be trained and faults need to be managed. It’s important to find an experienced supplier who can offer the right level of support to ensure the communication solution is reliable and effective.

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