Background
Transport companies routinely must provide secure, reliable internet connectivity wherever customers access their services. An update to regulations meant that train operating companies now had to provide CCTV video footage at train stations. A large rail company serviced many train stations in remote locations that were without fixed line access to broadband services. This meant that the CCTV camera system could not be installed, and the footage could not be transferred to central headquarters. In the event of a passenger hitting the panic button, no information could be sought from the location. One option was thought to be to install a satellite system however satellite internet is expensive to install and ongoing data is expensive, especially considering the number of locations that required connectivity. In addition, satellite internet can be unreliable and extremely slow. Considering the purpose of connectivity was panic button response and CCTV monitoring, the rail company required connectivity that is reliable, fast, and cost effective.
Journey
EMS installed the OptiBond system which bonds dual 4G mobile network connections to provide a resilient internet connection with bandwidth appropriate for the application. As long as the location had 4G coverage, OptiBond could provide reliable connectivity. The unit is equipped with aerials and in some cases amplifiers that can maximise the signal strength in marginal areas.
Outcome
EMS worked with the rail company to meet the regulatory requirement for train operating companies to provide video footage of platform activity if a panic button is activated by a member of the public whilst it was waiting for fixed line installation. OptiBond provides 100% internet reliability for remote stations at significantly less cost than satellite broadband. In addition, the rail company could connect new remote locations relatively quickly and easily. For ticketing and CCTV over watch at remote locations, resilience at major hubs and connectivity during facility rebuilds, OptiBond manages and bonds multiple data channels to provide a secure, resilient data feed almost anywhere and anytime. OptiBond addresses the issues of maximising available bandwidth and 100% resilience by aggregating and balancing the combined internet access, with additional low-cost DSL services and/or mobile SIMS. OptiBond enabled the rail company to easily prioritise critical applications such as VPN, VoIP etc. through the strongest channels. The automatic failover/back feature means if one channel goes down, internet is always available.
“EMS IMO has greatly assisted us in meeting an important regulatory requirement.” IT Networking Manager, Rail
EMS is the creator of commercially available OptiBond which simultaneously bond different cellular networks plus ADSL / satellite. OptiBond is a complete 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 etc.