Construction – Fixed Line Alternative
Background
Caledonian, a specialist manufacturer and supplier of “off-site” building systems, commenced work on a £121 million Ministry of Defence (MoD)/Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) contract for Hercules, a joint venture between Kier Group and Balfour Beatty. The project at Lyneham, Wiltshire, would transform the former RAF airbase into the new Defence College of Technical Training. As part of Phase I of the overall project, the new facility would provide a total of 1139 bedrooms plus communal rooms and entrance foyers at a value to Caledonian Modular of £27.5m. Caledonian required internet to ensure the site based management and installation teams had full and efficient access to their Newark Head Office services, however the length of time needed for landlines to be installed was too long and expensive and latency issues associated with data satellite channels would mean real issues running mission critical interactive applications. Caledonian found that it was not viable to install conventional fixed line connections (BT) at this location, so, Caledonian decided to implement OptiBond.
Journey
EMS deployed OptiBond which provided a secure instant office environment and full data connectivity, meaning the team was able to install and manage the site reliably and carry out the project. The team could function on the same network as Head Office, optimising access to online tools and site communication with video conferencing, VOIP, messaging and email, minimising delay sharing and receiving information.
Outcome
Today OptiBond provides internet connectivity to Caledonian Modular throughout various projects, so Caledonian can use its unique expertise in off-site construction systems to deliver projects efficiently from school buildings and offices through to medium and high-rise hotels, student halls and residential blocks, as well as accommodation for the Custodial and Military sectors.
“The i-MO unit was chosen to provide high bandwidth, redundant, wireless connectivity. The solution also provides a platform to enhance our site-based activities with services such as video conferencing.” Tristan Dixon, IT Manager for Caledonian Modular
EMS created OptiBond which simultaneously bonds different cellular networks plus ADSL / satellite. OptiBond is a complete internet solution enabling up to six WAN connections and up to five concurrent VPN connections and operates as a local server to enable printing, file share & network connectivity.