AirRadio upgrades London Heathrow Network with Xfin Technology from Team Simoco

31 January 2008 - AirRadio Ltd today announces the completion of the upgrade to their London Heathrow Trunk Network, deploying Xfin technology from Team Simoco Limited (TSL). The network upgrade is the latest investment by AirRadio, the UK’s largest provider of operational radios to the UK Air Transport Industry, confirming their commitment to providing innovative services to their customers who include airlines, ground handlers and airport service companies.

Customers will benefit from increased capacity, enhanced calling functionality and system resilience. Xfin’s dynamic channel pooling functionality enables any available channel to be automatically allocated to any radio, maximising channel usage across the site and simplifying call set up for the user.

The introduction of cross system group calling allows radios to operate in a roaming mode across the whole network rather than previously needing to be assigned to key areas of the network, such as a specified Terminal. The Xfin upgrade has created a single operational zone across all airport terminals at Heathrow for sharing critical information enabling operations control to call resources from any part of the airport if needed at short notice.

AirRadio Operations Director, John Fincham confirmed: “The upgrade of our Heathrow network to Xfin provides our customers with increased service capability and more efficient and responsive support. Since deploying Xfin we have seen available capacity increase by over 20% providing resource optimisation for current customers and the opportunity to expand our customer base at Heathrow.”

He continued: “In terms of system resilience we now know that the network can cope in an emergency scenario, for example the recent event in January involving Flight BA038. The network remained active and uncongested during this time enabling all our customers to communicate immediate instructions regarding their operations.”

Mike Norfield, Managing Director of Team Simoco said: “Xfin’s IP technology has revolutionised PMR, combining increased functionality with a lower cost of ownership over the product lifecycle. The success of the Heathrow deployment confirms that Xfin has the resilience to be used in the most mission-critical operational environments in the world.”

Xfin comprises the latest MPT1327 trunked radio base stations with IP Ethernet connectivity to provide a completely fault tolerant, open architecture, radio communications system. Xfin provides an IP addressable base station, allowing remote configuration from authorised personnel and web-based diagnostics. In addition, each Xfin has a telephone interface for connecting PABX/PSTN line interface, with full VoIP routing on the IP network to guarantee non-blocking to telephone while resource is available.

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For further information contact:

AirRadio Ltd
Tracey Blandford,
Tel: 0845 330 0782
Email: marketing@air-radio.com
www.air-radio.com

Team Simoco
Context Public Relations
Craig Coward / Luke Ford
Tel: 01625 511966
Email: teamsimoco@contextpr.co.uk
www.teamsimoco.com

About AirRadio:

AirRadio Ltd provides mobile voice and data communications for mission-critical environments to more than 85 corporate customers at 25 UK airports, including airlines, airports and ground operation companies. Its solutions allow clients to increase the efficiency of their day-to-day operations, thereby reducing costs, increasing revenues and improving utilization.

AirRadio has achieved 59% growth in radio numbers on the London Heathrow Trunk Network in the 5 years since the previous system upgrade.

The selection of Xfin Blade enables AirRadio’s system at London Heathrow to meet the new European RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) directive.

AirRadio’s strategy for innovation saw the launch the first Digital Trunk Network dedicated to the Air Transport Industry – known as AR-en - at Birmingham International Airport in September 2006 and over the last 3 years AirRadio has expanded its service provision to the Utilities, Commercial and Public Sector industries.

AirRadio is a member of The Telecom Services Group of Spice plc.

About Team Simoco:

Team Simoco is one of the World’s leading radio communications specialists, providing cutting edge Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) and Private Mobile Radio (PMR) products and services to organisations around the globe. Team Simoco operates in a growing range of markets around the World, including emergency services, military, public sector, utilities and transport.

The Xfin Blade conforms to the MPT1327 standard, ensuring handset compatibility and enabling systems to be replaced without additional terminal costs. The self-contained system also ensures no interfacing issues in terms of cabling protocols and line levels.

Team Simoco is a member of The Telecom Services Group of Spice plc.

This release was published on openPR.