A mission-critical communications control system from Zetron has been deployed by Bristow Helicopters’ North Sea oil and gas operation in a bid to help achieve a demanding world-wide quality target – and it is already paying dividends.

The Zetron DCS-5020 Digital Console, installed at Bristow’s Aberdeen logistics control room, enables three controllers to coordinate some 35 helicopter flights a day ferrying workers and supplies between the mainland and dozens of oil and gas production platforms up to 300 miles away in the North Sea. In the event of an incident it becomes a vital conduit for rescue communications.

Not only has the Zetron system provided 100% continuity of service since being commissioned five months ago but helicopter pilots, platform personnel and the operators themselves have all praised voice quality and the stability and reliability of communications.

The performance of the system leaves Bristow Aberdeen more confident about its role in Target Zero, an initiative that is challenging every Bristow regional operation around the world to achieve zero accidents, zero downtime and zero complaints. Zetron’s technology displaced a solution by another vendor that had not proved to be dependable.

Senior operations manager for Bristow’s Aberdeen operation Bob Gellie says the contrast is remarkable. “The old system suffered unreliability issues and we were told by the vendor that this was to be expected; that 100% availability was not possible. Remember, our operators are giving weather updates and other vital information to helicopters that are in flight, and in an emergency they and our aircrews need to have complete confidence that messages will get through. Uncertainty is simply not an option for us, so we decided to see if there was a vendor that understood our needs and was prepared to stand behind the reliability of its system.

“Zetron has showed that its definition of mission-critical is the same as ours: the system works 100% of the time. Will it help us here in the UK do our part in meeting Bristow’s global Target Zero challenge? Absolutely.”

Through touch screens, the DCS-5020 lets Bristow operators switch between multiple radio and telephone channels, talking to aircrew to give loading data, weather updates and re-routing information, and to platforms for arrival and departure times and other operational matters. In the event of a major incident, the same system will enable the operators to act as coordination points, able to pull together the flow of information between aircrew, platforms, and Her Majesty’s Coastguard and other agencies.

Deployed world-wide with public safety, transportation and utilities, the DCS-5020 enables small integrated control rooms to combine telephony with digital or analogue radio control. It supports up to 30 channels and 15 screen-based operator consoles. Distributed processing gives the DCS-5020 flexibility, scalability and robustness, delivering the high resilience required for mission-critical 24/7 service.

About Zetron
For over 30 years, Zetron has provided mission-critical communications solutions for customers in public safety, transportation, utilities, manufacturing, healthcare and business. With offices in the U.S.A., UK, Australia and numerous field locations, Zetron supports a worldwide network of resellers, system integrators and distributors. This gives Zetron a global reach as well as a local presence in the regions it serves. Zetron is a wholly owned subsidiary of JVC Kenwood Corporation. For more information, visit www.zetron.com.