Foresolutions LTD has been working with Golden Square shopping centre to upgrade their 2-way radio system and provide additional tracking solutions for their facilities management team.
Golden Square is a large shopping centre in Warrington that houses 136 retail outlets. Stephen Lynskey, the centre director, was keen to upgrade their conventional two-way radio system to give them added benefits. At a time when many stores were closed, the facilities management team still needed to ensure that the centre’s facilities were open for essential stores, and the team needed to be equipped with a communication system that would offer additional functionality to manage the new challenges presented by Covid-19.
Our Brief & Approach
The client wanted a holistic solution that would seamlessly work across the centre’s indoor and outdoor spaces and provide additional features to protect lone workers, track job despatch with no single point of failure.
The key objective was to enhance the space for customers and keep it running smoothly so the centre management could focus on their business and be confident it was being monitored effectively and adhering to Covid compliance.
Our Solution
At Foresolutions we have years of experience in GPS tracking solutions. Taking this and deploying it alongside an indoor Bluetooth network of 300 sensor beacons using PTToC technology, we were able to provide a robust indoor and outdoor tracking and communications set-up. Although having been around for a few years now, PTToC is a relatively new technology in terms of adoption, and shopping centres like Golden Square are perfectly positioned to benefit from the increased location accuracy it provides. Now the team at Golden Square can locate people and assets quickly to a more finite location, even pinpointing which level in the centre someone is. This approach has given Golden Square a true live tracking facility. This ensures absolute safety, quick response times, more accurate service check in from cleaners and security, plus more efficient job dispatch.
The Technology Explained
How Does PTToC Work?
Rather than conventional two-way radios with repeaters and infrastructure that just cover a local but wide area network, like a two-way radio, with PTToC you push the button to talk, but the devices are more like phones. These radios operate over all of the mobile phone networks and the local Wi-Fi, giving the customer national coverage, over the air programming and an android operating system that enables them to use their suite of management apps on one device.
The Connectivity
Our global partner, Aeris, provided us with connectivity across all networks so wherever the device is, it has the best chance of communication. This can all be managed from a client portal in case we need to change any tariffs or disable a device. Alongside Aeris, each device is using Bluetooth, GPS and is also communication most of the time over the local Wi-Fi network.
The Hardware
The devices of choice were the Sonim XP8 - a ruggedised smart phone that’s built to last. Serving, protecting and providing for others demands a smart device you can rely on, and the Sonim XP8 is ultra-reliable regardless of situation or environment.
The solution also included the use of Hytera bodycams to offer another level or surveillance and protection for staff and customers. Using IDS software, the camera footage is automatically uploaded and stored securely in the cloud. This addition has enhanced the security and safety aspect of the all-round solution, meaning the centre management know they are using the very latest technology to ensure that their facilities offer customers the most secure
The Software
A mobile app and gateway solution, ChatterPTT intelligently enables different types of communication devices, such as two-way radios and smart phones, to communicate directly with each other.
Regardless of their device, network or location, your team can connect instantly as a group or one-to-one… with the touch of a button. For example, the security staff can send and receive instant messaging, images and texts across the entire team’s devices to provide
“Our radio system needed an upgrade, plus we wanted to use technology to give us increased capabilities to keep track of
maintenance tasks and the whereabouts of key personnel, from site security through to cleaners and centre managers.
Foresolutions were able to bring their expertise to create a setup that uses one main communications device to act as a radio,
mobile phone and tracking unit that uses a range of connectivity options to give us a robust, reliable business communications solution.”
Stephen Lynskey – Golden Square Shopping Centre
