Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service – keeping connected with Chameleon
With a huge area to cover, and a variety of challenges to face, Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service use Chameleon Strongest Signal SIM as an integral part of their operations.
the challenge
Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service has 31 fire stations located across the county, staffed by 144 full time firefighters, including 25 community fire stations which rely on 400 on-call firefighters who respond from their normal jobs, or from home.
The service deals with a variety of incidents, ranging from fires in domestic, industrial, public, and commercial premises, plus at other locations such as grassland, hedges, fences, and railway embankments. They also deal with road traffic accidents, animal rescues, flooding, and chemical spillages.
Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service use Chameleon in two main ways; to track the availability of its on-call firefighters, and to supplement and enhance voice and data communications.
“Chameleon SIMs play a central role in our operations,” says communications officer, Ian Julian. “Given the rural nature of the county, we are predominantly an on-call service, and tracking the availability of our community fire stations and on-call firefighters is essential to ensuring a fast and appropriate response.”
The Chameleon Strongest Signal SIM lies at the heart of Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service's mobilisation system. Each on-call firefighter registers their availability or non availability by ringing one of two numbers, each belonging to a Chameleon SIM embedded in modems located at the service headquarters in Truro. The modem registers the call, and automatically updates the mobilisation system, it also phones or texts the caller to acknowledge that their message has been received. This system gives a real time picture of the status and availability of each station and enables Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service to deploy the most appropriate response in any given situation.
In addition to using Chameleon for their mobilisation system for on-call fire stations, Chameleon Strongest Signal SIMs are also installed in Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service's incident command units; vehicles which respond to all major fires. These vehicles have satellite radio communication, and while radio can be very effective, it is not ideal for handling large amounts of data, Hence the incident command units and many of its fire fighting appliances have mobile data terminals which use 3G dongles equipped with Chameleon SIMs.
“A fast and reliable data connection can be crucial when looking at maps, plans of buildings, locations of fire hydrants, the position of major drains, buried power and telecommunications cables, etc.” says Ian.
In addition, principal officers also carry Chameleon SIMs, as do members of the service’s Emergency Management Team.
“Communication lies at the heart of most emergency services’ operations, which is why Chameleon is the first choice Strongest Signal SIM solution for a wide range of emergency services,” says Sarah Creighton, Chameleon product manager
Emergency or “blue light” services use mobile technology to ensure maximum operational capability, both for day-to-day operations and in emergency or crisis scenarios. Being able to deploy the service secure in the knowledge that maximum mobile connectivity is available for everything from handsets to mobile computer equipment is becoming a core requirement for many emergency services at local authority, regional and national government level.
Modern networks offer a reliable service, but each operator offers slightly different coverage. None promise 100% availability and even the best networks can be compromised by a range of unpredictable and varying factors which can result in poor, intermittent or unavailability of coverage. Chameleon can provide the solution – offering users the ability to roam across UK networks via a single SIM providing access to the strongest signal in any given location, to offer the best coverage.
Chameleon SIMs can be used with virtually any mobile handset which is free of network locks and provides access to all UK GSM networks. The service also gives 3G, Packet, and Circuit Switched data coverage across all UK networks. Chameleon SIMs can be programmed with the appropriate class of service so that the SIM will work under MTPAS conditions for organisations entitled to MTPAS status.
Everything about Chameleon is simple to set up, easy to operate and scalable. Ordering new, replacement or additional SIMs is easy and billing is straightforward. No bundles, no subsidised or special handsets – just the best possible mobile coverage, regardless of location. Chameleon is available from Global Solutions, the market leader in strongest signal mobile connectivity for the UK market.
maximum connectivity – when it matters most
- Maximum mobile connectivity
- Roams across UK networks via a single SIM
- Selects the strongest signal in any given location
- Provides the best possible mobile coverage at all times
- Can be used with virtually any handset, or device which uses a SIM card
- Gives 3G, Packet, and Circuit Switched data coverage across most UK networks
- Compatible with MTPAS
- Simple to set up, easy to operate, and scalable
- Straightforward monthly billing
