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www.swissphone.com

Issue 2 | 2009

The Swissphone Magazine for Public Safety & Industry

I.SEARCH system optimises people search at Mannheim clinical centre Page 8

Belgian network provider certifies RES.Q Page 4

ATEX pagers used in Oman oilfields Page 6

INSIDE

CONTENTS

Editorial 03

PRODUCTS

Belgium: thousands of Swissphone pagers in use 04

Oman: secure communication in the oilfields 06

SOLUTIONS

Mannheim: employees accessible across entire hospital site 08

SOLUTIONS

Import tool:saves time with database management 10

Ulm: new operations control centre for integrated control centre 12

BACKGROUND

Customer-oriented innovation 14

EVENTSSwissphone on the road 16

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EDITORIALDear clients and business partners,

Today, paging is undisputedly the most reliable and economic alert system solution in use across the world. Over the past forty years, Swissphone has continuously developed and perfected alert systems for pagers. The initial standard offered analogue voice pagers with two- to five-tone addressing – but now we have modern pagers offering text transfer and all kinds of group call options, either with or without encryption.

And now Swissphone has succeeded again in setting a milestone for alert systems: with the integration of a response channel, Swissphone has reinvented the concept of alert systems. You can’t get much better than the modern pager systems, but the response channel offers new possibilities for resource management. For example, you can use silent test calls at any time to find out how many crews might be deployed.

This “what-if?” function is just one of the many options that Swissphone can offer with the new RES.Q alert terminal. Major network providers have already included the new Swissphone alert terminal in their product portfolios (see page 4).

I hope that the current issue of s.press gives you plenty of inspiration for your future alert system solutions. If you have further ideas or requirements with regard to alert system solutions, we will be happy to hear from you. My colleagues and I look forward to answering any questions you might have.

Yours sincerely,

Helmut Köchler

Helmut Köchler, President of the Board


PRODUCTS

Author: Thomas Bloem · Sales Manager, Swissphone Telecom AG, Samstagern

Thousands in use in Belgium:

the DE900 series pager

Over the past four years, thousands of series DE900 digital Swissphone pagers have been in operation and in nearly every fire station in Belgium. And in the next two years, A.S.T.R.I.D. will be offering Swissphone pagers almost exclus-ively to support its service offering, which is linked up to its national alarm network.

New pagers for the range

A.S.T.R.I.D. operates a national paging network and Tetra network for Public Safety Organisations in Belgium. Swissphone pager supply and customer care are covered by Zenitel Belgium, the local distribution partner in Zellik, near Brussels. In addition to the established DE900, DE920 and DE920Ex

receivers, A.S.T.R.I.D. has now introduced two new Swissphone models to its range: the DE925 Tricolore and the RES.Q. The DE925 has a five- line display with full graphic features, improved sound and a key lock with PIN request. The pager is available in white, red and grey.

Response facility increases efficiency

The RES.Q comes from the latest generation of Swissphone devices, and is a lot more than just a pager. Alerts are still emitted via tried, tested and reliable paging technology, but the new feature of a built-in GSM/GPRS module enables technical (acknowledgement of notification) and tactical (“I’m coming”, “I’m not coming”) responses to be sent.

Once again the Belgian network provider A.S.T.R.I.D. hat opted for Swissphone pagers. Tried and tested, the DE900, DE920 and DE920Ex digital pagers have been in constant use by almost all Fire Brigades in Beglium over the last four years, and the DE925-Tricolore and RES.Q have now been introduced to the range.

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There is also the option for locating attending units.A major feature of the total solution, and integrated into a localised primary control unit, RES.Q enables important information on team levels to be forwarded to the fire chief in charge in a matter of seconds. He/She will always be aware of how many fire-fighters are able to attend an incident, for example. Until now, fire-fighters have had to rely on the telephone to remain in two-way contact with the control centre, but with the RES.Q, this can be achieved at the touch of a button.The leading providers of primary control centres in Belgium – AEG and Zenitel – have already integrated these functions into their systems.

RES.Q certified by A.S.T.R.I.D.

In order to guarantee seamless radio communication, A.S.T.R.I.D. subjects all of the devices recommen-ded by it to close inspection, checking a large number of technical and functional criteria. Mobile end de-vices are only officially certified if they pass validation on the A.S.T.R.I.D. network.RES.Q is the first device with integrated response and localisation to meet all A.S.T.R.I.D. requirements, and is therefore recommended for successful and safe use by fire brigades, police forces and rescue organisations.

The figures for Belgium

Coverage 30'528 km2

People 10,5 millionRegions 11Fire brigades 250

PRODUCTS

The state-run company “Petroleum Development Oman” (PDO) operates a total of more than 125 oil and gas fields in Oman. Potential danger is ever- present high on oilfields, particularly with respect to fire: A fire can break out easily as a result of a gas escape or oil leak, for example. Communication with staff is a challenge across extensive areas.The somewhat outdated paging system that has still now ensured communication with staff and the search for them on oilfields, has been replaced effec- tively. The I.SEARCH system from Swissphone guarantees high reliability and seamless POCSAG radio coverage. Staff of PDO are also equipped with ATEX pagers that are intended for use in poten- tially explosive areas.

ATEX pagers with explosion protection

The European standard ATEX forms the basis for approval of devices for use in areas at risk of explosion. It sets different standards for the devices depend-ing on the potential danger. Where the duration of the potential danger and gases that may present a hazard, have an important role to play. The ATEX standard therefore re-defines zone 0 as a location that is permanently exposed to an explosive atmosphere or over long periods; specifically, for more than a thousand hours a year. This applies to the inside of a tank, for example. Zone 1 describes

locations where there is regularly a risk (between ten and a thousand hours a year). This is the case, for example, around a refilling plant, where flammable liquids are emptied. Zone 2 stands for locations, at which there is a risk of explosion for a short period – up to ten hours per year. Examples of this would be the site of an accident or a defective gas pipeline. The ATEX pager from Swissphone is approved for zones 1 and 2.

Made for use on oilfields

Further important criteria for the ATEX standard are the explosions and the temperature classes. They define in what gas-to-air mixtures the devices may be used. Devices for the explosion group IIA (see table) may not be used with gases of group IIB and devices for groups IIA and IIB not with gases from group IIC. Conversely, a device from group IIC may be used with gases from groups IIA and IIB. The Swissphone ATEX device has approval for the highest explosion group IIC and may therefore be used in all explosion groups.Additionally, the devices are also divided into tem-perature classes. The temperature classes describe the various flashpoints for gases and vapours. This takes into account the fact that a hot surface can ignite an explosive atmosphere. The DE920 Ex from Swissphone is approved for the temperature

Author: Simon Ulrich · Product Manager, Swissphone Telecom AG, Samstagern

Secure and fast communication with the oilfields in Oman


class T4. This means that the pager's components should never be hotter than 135 °C, for example, during a short circuit or similar.The DE920 Ex from Swissphone therefore demon-strates explosion protection for practically all gases and is ideal for use on oilfields.

System has a failsafe construction

The ATEX pagers in use in Oman are supplied with messages using the I.SEARCH system. The PDO system consists of a so-called I.SEARCH-master and twelve I.SEARCH slaves, one for each oilfield. The I.SEARCH master has a failsafe construction. It consists of two identical units. One is always active; the second is in standby mode. If the active part should fail, the standby unit will take over automatically.

Messages can be sent from any workstation to staff within the company using an e-mail client or web browser. Additionally, all settings and the administra-tion of users can be carried out from any workstation across the web interface.The I.SEARCH system was taken into operation just four months after delivery. Staff spent two days with Swissphone in Oman familiarising themselves with the system and received training on how to programme the pager.

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Temperature classes and explosion groups of the ATEX standard

EXPLOSION GROUPS

Temp. class IIA IIB IIC T1 max. 450 °C Acetone, Ammonia, Pure benzene,

Acetic acid, Ethane, Ethyl chloride, Carbon monoxide, Methane, Methanol, Phenol, Propane, Toluene

Town (coal) gas Hydrogen

T2 max. 300 °C Ethylalcohol, n-butane, Cyclohe- xane, Acetic acid hydride

Ethylene Ethyne (acetylene)

T3 max. 200 °C Benzene - general, Diesel fuel, Jet propulsion fuel, Heating oil

Ethylene glycol, Hydrogen sulphide

T4 max. 135 °C Ethanol Ethyl oxide T5 max. 100 °C T6 max. 85 °C Bisulphide of carbon

Zone 0Zone 1Zone 2

SOLUTIONS

Mannheim teaching hospital:

Paging staff has never been simpler

Author: Patrick Utzinger · Product Manager, Swissphone Telecom AG, Samstagern

Mannheim teaching hospital has some 4,500 em-ployees including part-time staff. They treat 246,000 patients every year. With such high numbers of staff and patients, great importance is placed on staff co-ordination. Depending on the situation, every

second counts in the day-to-day running of a hospital. It is therefore crucial to be able to mobilise the right consultants and the necessary care staff when an emergency arises.

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350 people an hour

Up to 350 personnel are paged every hour using the personal paging system at the Mannheim clinic. In a hospital especially, there is also a great deal that must be overseen in terms of medical buildings and infrastructure technology, and if necessary, serviced as quickly as possible. Only in this way is it possible to sustain a smooth operation.The clinic's existing personal paging system is out of date and also the pagers have seen better days. The new system should, of course, offer additional functionalities that transmit messages digitally and also remove the restrictions to the length of text being transmitted. What was also important to Konrad Schuhmann, Head of Communications Tech- nology at the clinic, was once again to have a self-supporting radio system that covers the entire clinic site. The decision went in favour of the I.SEARCH system from Swissphone.

Doubly secure systems

Swissphone has been able to meet every requirement with the Linux-based I.SEARCH system. Thirteen POCSAG transmitters now ensure comprehensive radio coverage throughout the extensive building. The clinic covers an area of some 210,000 square metres, with countless building complexes, base- ments and corridors.The transmitters were connected to the existing I.SEARCH central processing unit using the clinic's existing telephone cabling. To control the radio network each transmitter has transmission surveil-lance with response. A monitor receiver connected to the central processing unit also monitors the radio messages being sent out.The central processing unit is a failsafe construction and consists of two I.SEARCH units. One unit is therefore always active. The other is in standby mode. If the active part fails, in full or in part, the standby master will step into action immediately.

Meet-me and call-me function

The central processing unit is connected to the clinic's telephone system via an innovative, efficient and also doubly secure language server. This enables voice-controlled paging with the so-called “call-me” or “meet-me” services. In the case of “call-me”, the person sending out the page message automatically calls the automated central service, then dials the number of the member of staff being paged into the phone and hangs up. The member of staff being paged is informed immediately that they have to dial the number of the person paging them. In the cas of "meet me", the person paging calls the number of the central service and is asked to say the name of the member of staff they are searching for and remain on line. The member of staff being paged is then informed of the number to call. If they dial this number, they will be connected directly to the person paging them.

Absences are displayed

Around 100 rechargeable devices allow absences to be managed efficiently. A person’s absence is displayed automatically in the control centre, as soon as the pager is placed in the charger. In such a case the search message can also be sent to the staff member's mobile phone by SMS. This means that staff at the clinic can also be reached off the hospital's site.Paging messages can be sent from any workstation using e-mail or web browser to the member of staff being paged. All settings, the administration of users and all alarm contacts for technical devices can be undertaken from any workstation via the web interface.

SOLUTIONS

Author: Angelika Maier · Marketing, Swissphone Systems GmbH, Stuttgart

Import tool saves database management time

This import tool replaces time- and labour-intensive manual data entry to a great extent. The import tool makes it possible to import relevant data such as region, city or various districts (see box for further examples) into the new database automatically. Swissphone customers also often use the import

tool to integrate data with high coverage: entities such as hospitals and schools with a precise geographic location. It is absolutely vital for fire brig-ades, rescue services and police forces to have precise details of the incident location. Naturally, the import tool also facilitates the integration of

When installing a new operations control system, the first project phase involves entering master data. To make data entry easier, Swissphone Systems, a supplier of control centre systems, offers a unqiue import tool, developed in house. This enables data from another system to be transferred into the "secur.CAD" database.

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other data such as operations equipment, opera-tions personnel such as doctors, fire and rescue services and the means to reach them.

Data import failure correction

While manual data entry can involve a lot of hidden errors, using the import tool delivers data consistency (no discrepancies) and extra security for data ex-change. The import process runs in two stages: the checking procedure and the actual transfer of data to the database. During the checking procedure, the system recognises certain errors, such as fields that are too long, incorrect formatting for data and numerical values or a discrepancy in the number of fields.Inconsistent i.e. contradictory or non-assignable data sets are excluded from the data import and dis-played in an error table for checking. The data admin-istrator can use this list to decide how to proceed and delete or change any incorrect sets or allocate them to other key fields in the data architecture. The second stage involves transferring the data with corrections made into the database and checking it again for accuracy.

Further uses for the import tool

Importing data from another system with a new pur-chase of “secur.CAD” is just one of the options offered by the import tool. A further area of applica-tion is the updating of a previous version of “secure”. In this case, the tables on which the operation control system database depends are already populated with data. For an upgrade, these data, which are still current, are merged, reconciling them with the newly purchased data.

Developing master data in the operations control system

The precise hierarchical presentation of location and management structures constitutes the fundamental core data of the operations control system. For example, in order to show a site or target of operations accurately when planning, the following hierarchy levels must be linked: country, state, region, area, cities and municipality, districts, streets, street sections and individual addresses. The linking of this individual data to a data set is achieved via “foreign keys”, made up of alphanu-meric code, with which every data set can be unique-ly identified.

“Our system contains all individual addresses in the Cantons of Zurich and Schaffhausen, making around 800'000 in total. These are geo-referenced so that it is possible to get an exact location in every case. Regular address updates are essential for our work, and the “secur.CAD” import tool makes this a fast and reliable process. With this

volume of data, a manual update would mean weeks of work, making it impossible to do it regularly from a practical point of view.”

Olivier Béguin, Support, Airport, Protection and Rescue Operations Centre


SOLUTIONS

New operations control system for integrated control centre in Ulm

Since 2001, the fire and rescue control centres in Ulm have been managed under one roof: both are housed in the main fire station in Ulm, and are linked together via the shared "secur.CAD" operation control system to the "integrated control centre".

Author: Angelika Maier · Marketing, Swissphone Systems GmbH, Stuttgart

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Around 120,000 people live in the city of Ulm on the banks of the river Danube. The numbers are swelled by commuters, visitors and students at the University of Ulm, and the fire and rescue services are responsible for their safety. Their responsibility also extends to the Alb-Donau area, with a further 190,000 people. This is an area of over 1,357 km², bringing the total area covered by the Ulm fire and rescue services control centre to 1,480 km².

53,000 fire and rescue operations per year

Ulm has all the features of a big city, with its high traffic volume, junctions between the A7 and A8 motorways, A-roads, railway lines and resident in-dustries, which all keep the fire brigade extremely busy. In addition to fire fighting, they have to provide cover for technical support after an incident (for around a hundred traffic accidents per year, for example), dangerous goods and environmental protection.The rescue services cover around 50,000 incidents and transports per year, with around 2,000 fire brigade operations in the city of Ulm and around 1,200 in the Alb-Donau area. In all, there are 371 fire tenders and 60 rescue vehicles available to cover

this, plus 5 operations units for disaster control with numerous vehicles – all alerted and managed via “secur.CAD”.

"secur.CAD" increases efficiency

The “secur.CAD” system has been in place at the rescue control centre for a number of years, up-dated to the latest standards, and the old fire brigade system in Ulm has now been replaced. Together, the fire and rescue service controllers receive requests for assistance from the population via “secur.CAD” round the clock. Six operations manager posts have been set up for the purpose, and three emergency work stations stand at the ready in the crew room for major incidents, plus two work stations for sys-tems administrators.

Customers are impressed by the benefits of a single operation control system: most importantly, “secur.CAD” increases efficiency in terms of collab-oration across different organisations. Incoming calls can be taken by the controllers and dealt with im-mediately – regardless of whether the fire and rescue services are required. A second option allows controllers to simply take the calls, enter the data in the operation acceptance mask and forward it for processing to the respective organisations responsible.

Highest levels of reliability

In order to ensure the highest levels of system relia-bility, the “Marathon” system was employed as a database server solution. “Marathon” is a virtual server created from the two main servers. If individual hardware components fail (e.g. the network card in one computer and the RAM in the other), each function is taken over by the other computer.The following features have been built in addition to the digital alarm: analogue alarm, a radio notifica-tion system, voice recording, wake-up alarm, SMS and alarm fax, fire alarm system and telephony. The new feature, offering telephone directory recon-ciliation between the operations control system and communications technology at the control centre, was also added. Addresses recorded in the oper-ations control system can be transferred to the tele-phone directory of the telephone system using the appropriate software function. This means that ad-dresses only need to be processed once.In addition to this, the fire and rescue control centre in Ulm also has a fault indicator system, which alerts control centre staff to faults in a range of tech-nical equipment. In the case of the Ulm fire brigade, the “GeSys” fire brigade management system was also linked in, which transfers master data on staff and vehicles to the operations control system for keeping track of incidents.

BACKGROUND

Author: Angelo Walter Saccoccia · Chief Marketing Officer, Swissphone Telecom AG, Samstagern

Customer-oriented innovation

Swissphone sees customised configuration options for end devices as a basic requirement. Whilst paging is now and has always been an extremely secure and rapid medium for alert processes, Swissphone is the first company to produce a totally new generation of devices including the significant additional benefits of response and localisation. Sup-ported by years of experience and extensive ex-pertise, Swissphone has combined tried and tested technology with new technology and once again set new standards for the field of alert technology.

Proximity to customers delivers success

Innovation sparks off from ideas, but it only really happens if those ideas come to imbue the design of new products, services and procedures. In turn, they must penetrate the key markets and enjoy suc-cessful take-up by customers.A product is only an innovation if it is accepted by customers and regarded by them as an obvious improvement. It has to offer customers true added value. It is also important to be aware of customer requirements down to the finest detail: does the innovation actually satisfy a customer requirement, or has it just been assumed that customers could use the innovation in question?Anticipating customer requirements is a fundamental task, but not always an easy one. Being as close

to the customer as possible and having a dialogue with them based on trust are the basis for successful collaboration, thus laying the foundations of innovative product development.

Prizes for innovation

In addition to its many users, industry specialists also recognise the innovative strength of Swiss-phone in terms of the level of innovation in the two RES.Q and SWISSPHONE TRIO models (see box). With RES.Q, Swissphone has made groundbreaking improvements in terms of alert resource management. The SWISSPHONE TRIO, however, delivers increased safety for lone workers. Both products have received prizes from the European Mobile Mess-aging Association (EMMA) and the jury at Préven-tica in Lyon.At its annual conference in Warsaw (Poland) at the beginning of October last year, the European Mobile Messaging Association (EMMA) awarded its innovation prize for 2008 to the new Swissphone RES.Q alert terminal. And at Préventica, which ran from 16 to 18 June 2009 in Lyon, the SWISSPHONE TRIO won the “Prix d'Innovation”. Préventica comes under the umbrella of the French Ministry for Health and Employment. The Préventica jury includes re- presentatives from regional health insurance com- panies CRAM (Caisse Régionale d'Assurence

As a leading innovator in the field of alert solution technology, Swissphone regards it as vital, not simply to optimise products, but to develop new solutions as well. To achieve this, employees make full use of the company-wide expertise, customer-oriented working procedures, decades of experience and strong force for innovation available to them within the business.

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Maladie) Rhône-Alpes and CRAM Auvergne, the French institute for occupational safety, the INRS (Institut National de Recherche et de Securité) and

a range of organisations such as the EU Com-mission and the European Agency for Safety and Occupational Health.

RES.Q optimises incident management

The RES.Q terminal still delivers reliable paging via POCSAG technology, but also offers technical and tactical response options and the facility to pinpoint crew locations.Via the built-in GSM/GPRS module, the person re-ceiving the alert can give a response to indicate whether he/she is available or not. This means that the crew chief will always know the actual extent of the manpower responding to an incident. The response function enables rapid, accurate manage-ment of incident crews. The RES.Q, with its built-in GPS module, makes it additionally possible to pinpoint the location of an incident crew and deter- mine how far it is from a certain reference point. This distance comparator indicates how quickly a person can be at the site of an incident. It also offers a “geo alarm”. This means that precisely those people who are already in the scheduled incident area can be alerted.

SWISSPHONE TRIO improves safety at work

The SWISSPHONE TRIO revolutionises the rescue chain and makes the lives of lone workers signifi-cantcy safer. The emergency call system has a GSM emergency call function and a GPS receiver module. If the lone worker is still capable of acting after an accident, he/she has constant access to help by pressing the SOS key. Both the emergency call and geographic coordinates are transmitted and displayed on a chart at the operations centre. The operator at the centre can request the necessary support from the appropriate rescue unit via email, text message or pager at any time.If the person who has had the accident is no longer capable of acting – for example if they have lost consciousness – the emergency call is sent out auto-matically. In order for this to happen, the personal emergency call system is equipped with position, mo-tion and acceleration sensors, which will automatic-ally set off an alarm if there is no movement for a long-er period of time or in the case of a fall.

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EVENTS

IMPRINT

Edited and published by:

Swissphone Telecom AG Corporate Communications

Fälmisstrasse 21CH-8833 Samstagern

Swissphone on the road

Design

D’ART Visuelle Kommunikation GmbHAdlerstrasse 41 D-70199 Stuttgart

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Tel.: +41 44 786 77 70 Fax: +41 44 786 77 71

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Agenda 2009

Dates Event Location Background information

15th – 17th October 116th National Congress St. Etienne (F) www.congres2009.pompiers.fr of French Fire Brigades

5th – 6th November 5th European Population and Bonn (D) www.behoerdenspiegel.de Disaster Protection Congress

17th – 20th November “Sicherheit 2009“ Zurich (CH) www.sicherheit-messe.ch

24th – 26th November “PMRExpo 2009“ Cologne (D) www.pmrexpo.com

s.press 2009/2 en

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