Airport Managers Need Targeted Emergency Communication in a Crisis
(PRWEB) August 10, 2014 -- Airports Need Targeted Emergency Communication: Enhanced Firebar /Crash Net System Gets the Right People to the Right Place Quickly
Time, speed and technology are all variables when an airport goes into crisis mode, be it crash and rescue, a police emergency, or man-made or natural disaster. Kirksville, Missouri Regional Airport General Manager Glenn Balliew says one thing is constant, “The first 30 minutes is absolute chaos! It takes trained leaders and accurate communication to effectively manage any crisis.
He should know, the 27-year Army veteran retired after stints as an air traffic controller, Presidential Movement Coordinator and a military on-scene responder to the National Air Traffic Control Command Center and World Trade Center sites on 9/11.
“We had a crash here a few years back where they were looking for a plane,” relates Balliew, who says the key issue is a selective callout. “Somebody on the radio called out ‘I need everybody now!’ –the problem is there were two survivors out of 13 passengers, and the roads and forests were so clogged with a mass notification it was hard for rescue personnel to get in and out,” says Balliew, who was hired at Kirksville just last year and is also trained as part of the regional airport’s Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting ( ARFF) squad. In calling for assistance an ARFF bark has to be more precise than its bite. “Putting the right responders, in the right place, at the right time is crucial to crisis management.”
This is where Telcom & Data’s Crash Net System can aid airport managers, fixed based operators (FBO) of general aviation and their partnering fire, police and sheriff departments in getting just the right people and assets on scene.
But a key issue faces most airport managers today: how to meet upcoming government standards with upgrades that don't conflict with proven or legacy systems.
Enhanced Virtual Firebar Mission Critical Conferencing now deploying for the first time, adds critical new capabilities while still working with any remaining legacy systems. Most airports have used the Tellabs 291/292 Firebar system successfully since the 1980’s and 1990’s but Time is running out for old-style copper based TDM technology still in use today in multivendor environments. New standards mean a replacement is essential.
Telcom & Data, Inc. provides Crash Net systems that work with traditional analog phone lines, as well as IP Networks for emergency administrators like Balliew in mind. “With its ability to selectively and concurrently reach landlines, cellphones, police fire and rescue stations or SUV’s, the CrashNet technology brings effective value to the scene,” says Telcom & Data Founder Ricardo Trinidad.
Crash Net sends calls to any landline or cellular phone besides the dedicated emergency “Red Phones.” The message can be targeted for delivery through any communications medium be it voice, email, or in combination or alone as needed. Custom caller-ID goes directly to the right person or asset: Airport manager, fire chief, ARFF truck, rescue squad, airport police, paramedics or rural volunteers en route.
An unlimited number of call out groups are supported, and a dial-out can be triggered via incoming phone call, a click on a web portal, or at a schedule time. In the follow-up, mopping up or evaluation phases, the Crash Net conference bridge provides a summary and detailed reports on call completions. The airport manager and partnering first responders know instantly and at glance which calls are In Process, Busy, or No Answer. Detailed reports and summaries of dial-outs that keeps both managers and manpower in the fight and in the know on status and call completions.
“This is the simple to use but powerful technology that Telcom & Data Inc. has always offered our government, military and business customers,” said Founder Ricardo Trinidad, who started his telecommunications firm about the time Balliew was joining the Army in 1996 to begin his aviation career. “Through our partnerships with leading telecommunications manufacturers we give aviation facilities, military leaders, public safety agencies and many other industries the best future telecom can provide.”
Since 1996 Telcom & Data has been providing thousands of telecommunications solutions to organizations around the world to measurably improve communications. Telcom & Data maintains a network of more than 1600 technicians The company is a leader in business phone systems, intercom systems, and mass notification products.
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Ricardo Trinidad, Telcom & Data Inc., http://www.telcom-data.com, (800) 335-0229 Ext: 152, [email protected]
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