Bayside Aluminium has revealed details of its investment in Dect (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephony) technology to facilitate mobile communications at its operations in Richards Bay.
The project, which was implemented in two phases, incorporated the supply of PABX equipment developed and supplied by Philips Business Communications (PBC). Eddie Moss, area manager for PBC KwaZulu-Natal, says that an initial order was placed for a SOPHO iS3000 PABX to replace an outdated PABX system and costly cabling.
"Soon after a need was identified for a mobile communications system for on-site maintenance staff, foremen and other key plant employees who need to be in touch with fellow workers and outside callers throughout the day, regardless of their positions on-site," he says.
"Many parties believed that the best solution for this scenario was to issue staff with cellular phones - a costly solution any way you look at it."
Dect was the way to go. While initially a costly exercise it is set to prove to have a significant ROI. An example of this is the reduction of staff that were previously employed to maintain the company`s communications infrastructure.
An order was placed for 300 Philips Dect handsets and 36 base stations that, as calculated, would provide the plant with close to 100 percent coverage.
While Moss admits there were a number of teething problems when the handsets were first adopted by enthusiastic staff, he was quick to point out that these were rectified when PBC repositioned the base stations and replaced some ageing cabling.
Employees were up-and-talking in no time. "It has reached the stage where corded desk phones are being shunned for their mobile rivals," says Bayside Aluminium`s Gert Wentzel, a superintendent at the smelting plant.
In the past, installing a new phone and rerouting telephone extensions was a costly and time consuming exercise. Now, staff are simply issued with a Dect charger and handset together with directions to their new office.
"Normally users could look forward to a communications downtime of around 24 hours. This is a thing of the past. Once a user is subscribed, it`s get up and go, and they are contactable all the way," he concludes.
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