Roadbridge – Long Range Comms using Broadband PTT

The right solution for a long distance project

Project Overview

Roadbridge are a unique company, founded in 1967, specialising in the international delivery of complete infrastructure projects from £1m – £300m, across all sectors; for a broad range of clients and contract conditions.

Client requirement: long range communications

Roadbridge approached Chat-Com for a two-way radio requirement to cover the length of a road resurfacing project in East Anglia. The radios were required to manage staff, vehicles arriving on site and communication between teams along the length of the project. Unlike a typical construction site, the comms were required along the length of the resurfacing work, which spanned more than 50 miles.

Our approach

Due to the unique nature of the project, a typical repeater system would have cost 10’s of thousands of pounds to setup and manage. Chat-Com instead suggested the use of a ‘Push To Talk over Broadband’ solution. This solution included a robust, rugged digital radio handset, with a quad-band (network free) SIM card installed. This would allow the Roadbridge team to communicate using the PTT function, but the signal would be transmitted over 3G and 4G to other handsets with network coverage. It meant there was no need for a costly repeater system and antennas setup along the length of the project.

Chat-Com suggested that Roadbridge trial the PTT system first, to see if it met their requirements for the project. After the trial period Roadbridge were delighted with the quality, coverage and simplicity of the system and decided to rollout the system across the whole re-surfacing team project and were happy to invest for the long term.

Chat-Com provided on site training for the teams to ensure a smooth rollout and have provided ongoing support across the project lifetime.

Outcomes

Chat-Com were able to provide flexible payment options for Roadbridge, to ensure that the costs were spread across quarterly invoices, rather than as a large capital investment.
The system has been running for over 3 years, with an incredibly low failure rate, in what is a very harsh working environment.
When the project was extended to cover a further area, Chat-Com offered further flexible terms on a rolling contract to keep the service running for the foreseeable future.
The successful use of the system also encouraged the on-site security team DK9 to adopt the technology for the duration of the project.

Find out more about how Broadband PTT can help your business.

Client Feedback

“Chat-Com provided a great service that was bespoked specifically to our needs on this project. Rather than providing a standard package, Chat-Com listened to our requirements and understood the complexity of the project, then talked through our options, before we settled on the correct implementation.
This project has been running for 4 years and throughout that time we’ve been provided exceptional customer service and a swift resolution to any issues that have occurred.
I would recommend Chat-Com to other construction companies looking for a full service communications solution and will look forward to working with them on our next project.”

Jonathan King, Roadbridge

Specialists in complex site communications

Complex sites need not mean non-existent or problematic communications. There is always a solution that will offer safety for workers and operational efficiency.

Our Chat-Com team has over 20 years’ experience providing effective two-way communication solutions. Find out how we can help you too by calling us on 01747 898 008 or emailing us at [email protected].

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