Zetron's ACOM takes flight at Sydney Airport

Australia’s largest airport has equipped its new Integrated Operations Centre with a Zetron communications and console system.

More than 40 million passengers pass through Sydney Airport each year, making it one of Australia’s most important pieces of infrastructure and an essential part of the nation’s transport network. Located only eight kilometres from the city centre, it connects to more than 90 destinations worldwide.

And it employs thousands of people in all sorts of roles, from security personnel to airfield operations workers. Keeping all those staff members connected and safe at Australia’s busiest airport requires a reliable yet flexible integrated communications system. Since 2005, Sydney Airport has used Zetron’s ACOM communications and console system to help operations run smoothly, making sure travellers arrive safely and arrive on time at their destinations, 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

After years of operating with no major upgrades, Sydney Airport set out to build a brand new Integrated Operations Centre (IOC). With that came the need for a new integrated communications system. Although the then current ACOM system was just as reliable as it was more than a decade earlier, in order to integrate with the new digital services it was time to upgrade.

After identifying its core requirements in the new system — including enhanced telephony functions, SIP telephony integration, console functionality on tablet PCs and an IP architecture — Sydney Airport began evaluating different systems. Zetron won the contract, with its system architecture, service offering and competitive bid being major factors in its favour. Not only would the new ACOM system meet Sydney Airport’s requirements, it would also enable a smooth migration thanks to its ability to remain fully functional during the migration period.

Continued operation of the ACOM ecosystem during the changeover was achieved via a temporary Zetron conventional services gateway (CSG) to facilitate both the new and old ACOM systems and retain access to the shared radio resources. This enabled personnel to keep both systems fully functional for a period of time after migrating, with the option to roll back to the old control centre if they needed to.

With the new Integrated Operations Centre up and running along with the new ACOM command-and-control system, the next phase was training. In order for everyone to get up to speed on all the new equipment, a ‘train the trainer’ approach proved to be quickest and easiest, as well as enabling the operators to provide additional input on their GUI requirements at the same time, saving time and resources.

ACOM in action

With improved overall coverage, the new ACOM system has helped Sydney Airport achieve its goal of greater automation in terminal operations, while maintaining compatibility with other agencies. The flexibility of the COTS, server-based system also gives Sydney Airport the capacity to scale its operations in the future, and peace of mind that the system will last for years to come.

“We were incredibly thrilled to continue our relationship with Sydney Airports Corporation Ltd and contribute to their vision to deliver a world-class airport experience,” said Ranjan Bhagat, Vice President and General Manager of Zetron Australasia.

“Everyone’s happy with how the project turned out and we’re looking forward to serving them for years to come.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/JackF

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