Associated Manganese has resolved communications problems in its mines by implementing a custom designed data and voice network system.
The new system, installed by Philips Business Communications (PBC), is bringing down costs substantially for the mines. The system has also solved voice communication and data transfer problems for the company.
According to Hugo De Wet, PBC`s regional manager Durban, Associated Manganese was having serious trouble with its computer networks on some of its mines in the Northern Cape.
The mines are separated by substantial distances, extensions from the main server were up to 20 km long. Telkom installed amplifiers to the lines, but communications were still unsatisfactory and expensive. The lines were very old copper lines which had not been well maintained.
" We installed a Philips SOPHO iS3030PBX at Black Rock Mine near Hotazel and another two at two other mines in the area. We networked the PBX`s using DTXI cards, which gave basic rate access to a router on the LAN. This system solved the mines` voice and IT problems as they are now able to exchange data between any PC`s on the network and it is also an excellent voice communication system," says De Wet.
The three mines are connected by 2 Mb, 30 channel, DPNSS links. One link was supplied and installed by Telkom and the other supplied by Associated Manganese. The system now has a 128Kb/ps transfer rate. There is also a primary rate ISDN line supplied from Telkom onto the main server at Black Rock Mine.
Following the success of the system at the Black Rock, Nchwaning and Gloria mines, Associated Manganese commissioned PBC to upgrade their system at Beeshoek mine near Postmasberg. The Beeshoek system was upgraded to the same level as Black Rock at low cost to the customer by replacing the software and processor.
The distance between the Black Rock mine and Beeshoek is 180km. With the new system in place cost saving on calls between the mines is from R12 000 to R15 000 per month.
With the new system at Beeshoek,Telkom installed a 64k diginet line which is connected to a DTUVC card (Philips` voice compression card) as well as primary rate ISDN lines. This enables three speech channels to be sent simultaneously without using multiplexing equipment. The mines simply pay Telkom a monthly rental on this line and thereafter calls are free. This system is being used for voice transfer only.
This system is simple as users at one mine need only dial extension numbers to be connected to users at the other mine.
In situations where PBX`s are separated by large distances, such as mines or municipalities, costs can be substantially cut by integrating them into a network. Philips Business Communications specializes in networking PBX`s and is the leading company providing this service in Southern Africa
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