Rapid response assured for UK lifeboats

We helped to reduce the call out time for RNLI life boat crews responding to emergencies at sea and on the UK coas tline.

Round the clock emergency service

The UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution provides a 24/7 365-days a year lifeboat search and rescue service. It has an active fleet of more than 330 lifeboats and operates over 230 lifeboat stations. Founded in 1824, the RNLI launches a lifeboat on average 23 times a day.

Updating communications

In the past, the charity called out its volunteer crews and launch teams using various types of commercial and private paging systems. In some cases there were inevitable delays while the crew members were paged. The RNLI previously had no way of knowing if the call had worked until the crew began

Arqiva Limited. Registered office: Crawley Court, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 2QA United Kingdom. Registered in England and Wales numbered 2487597

arriving at the boathouse. Often the crew had only a bare outline of the rescue they were attempting, sometimes provided after they had launched the boat.

Meeting special requirements

The RNLI recognised that it needed to upgrade its communications system and wanted to move, for the first time, to its own, wholly-owned system. Due to the fact that launching and recovering a lifeboat demands more than the immediate crew, the RNLI’s pager systems extended to over 6,000 people. The RNLI felt that a standard system would not be right. Almost every lifeboat station presents a different technical problem depending on the type of station and geographical position, perhaps even located at the bottom of a cliff.

Bespoke radio systems

With a solid track record in bespoke radio systems, we were awarded a contract covering two phases of delivery. The first was a pilot system involving the installation of five selected stations, all with different technical configurations. This allowed us to gather valuable feedback from the crews involved in the pilot. For example, one request was the ability to switch on boat station access lighting remotely, enhancing safety when the crew arrives.

The second phase of the contract saw us providing the full system roll-out to all the RNLI lifeboat stations.

The right equipment for the task

Call-out is now immediate with digital paging under RNLI control. The RNLI has direct access to its own system, either by telephone, through its private mobile radio (PMR), or via a PC link in a matter of seconds.” A data link allows the Coastguard to send information about the casualty direct to a printer in the RNLI boathouse. The information also appears on an electronic scrolling board for the crew to read while putting on their protective gear.

Vital voice links

For the first time the RNLI also gained a secure (scrambled) PMR radio system. Integrated with the pager system, it provides a voice link between the RNLI Launch Authorities and boats officers, lifeboats and Coastguard. Automatic Short Message Service (SMS) advice is provided to crew members’ personal mobile phones.

Round the clock monitoring

A major advantage of the new paging system is the automatic integrity check that confirms the transmission of crew alerts. We also provide around-the-clock monitoring for the system from our Customer Service Centre in Yorkshire. We run an operational check every day, and are committed to responding to problems within two hours – with a promise to fix them within 24 hours.

Arqiva Limited. Registered office: Crawley Court, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 2QA United Kingdom. Registered in England and Wales numbered 2487597

Adding up the benefits

• Crew call-out time reduced • Better information on vessels in distress available to crew • Automatic integrity checks on paging • Private radio system for secure communication • Lifeboat station facilities controlled through pager system • 24-hour monitoring and testing • Prompt fault detection/repair

Cecil Clark, RNLI Staff Officer Operations:

“We were impressed with Arqiva’s professional appro ach. They have a good track record in bespoke radio systems, but the team also asked the right questions to find out exactly what we wanted.”