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Carillion IT Services provides outdoor wireless mesh solution to the Northern Lighthouse Board(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Carillion IT Services today announced completed installation of a new outdoor wireless mesh infrastructure (WMI) within the Northern Lighthouse Board's (NLB) operational base at Oban on the West Coast of Scotland. The WMI covers the Board's outside pier area and both of the NLB ships, NLV PHAROS and NLV POLE STAR, bridge localities whilst in Oban bay. The NLB owns, operates and maintains marine aids to navigation around the coasts of Scotlandand Isle of Man. The contract has seen Carillion extending the current wireless infrastructure within the NLB's Oban operational base by providing further wireless LAN controllers and access points. Due to the extreme outdoor environment a Cisco wireless mesh infrastructure has been implemented to complement the existing Cisco wireless LAN serving the office and indoor workshop. Carillion IT Services provided the NLB's existing wireless LAN and IP telephony system and has been working with them since 2006 to ensure that as technology evolves and advances, the NLB has access to cutting edge systems. The extended wireless network will bring to an end the need for mobile phone calls between the NLB ships and the Head Office in Edinburghwhen the ship is in port. Calls will now be made using IP handsets, which will be more cost efficient and will work far more effectively in extreme weather conditions. Staff will also be able to make internal calls to the Head Office departments and suppliers using a dedicated three-digit extension number. Liam Cairns, NLB Technical Systems Manager, commented: "With communication at sea being of paramount importance we decided to extend our existing wireless infrastructure. By reducing the need for staff to use mobile phones and radios, which is often dependent upon favourable weather conditions, staff at our HQ and onboard our ships will now have a far better means of communication." Noel McNulty, Managing Director of Carillion IT Services, added: "We are very proud of being selected by the NLB to provide them with a communications solution to meet their changing needs. It is testament to a strong existing partnership. The Cisco wireless solution we have implemented is not only an innovative solution to meet the changing needs of the NLB, but will also greatly improve their communications and cut costs." NOTES TO EDITOR Carillion IT Services (part of Carillion plc) is an outsourcing, managed service and network infrastructure solution provider for a broad range of clients in the public and private sectors. For further information on Carillion IT Services: www.carillionplc.com/itservices Carillionplc is one of the UK's leading support services, construction and Public Private Partnership project companies. The Group has annual revenue of around GBP5bn, employs over 50,000 people and operates across the UK, in the Middle East, Canadaand the Caribbean. For further information on Carillion plc: www.carillionplc.com The Northern Lighthouse Boardoperates under statute - the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 - and is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotlandand the Isle of Man. The Board currently operates: 212 Lighthouses, 160 Buoys, 37 Beacons, 4 Differential Global Positioning System Stations, 25 Racons and 1 eLoran. The Northern Lighthouse Board is funded entirely from the General Lighthouse Fund, sourced by "Light Dues", a levy paid by shipping. The Board receives no direct funding from the Exchequer or taxpayer. The other General Lighthouse Authorities are the Commissioners of Irish Lights (Republicof Irelandand Northern Ireland) and Trinity House (England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar). The Northern Lighthouse Board is certificated to ISO9001:2000standard for the provision of navigational aid services to seafarers and other organisations around the coast of Scotlandand Isle of Man. Certification covers the design and maintenance of navigational aids and systems, logistical support and associated technical services including consultancy. The Board is also certified to The International Safety Management Code, (ISM Code) in respect of our ships and marine management systems, OHSAS 18001 and BS ISO/IEC 27001:2005. For further information on NLB:www.nlb.org.uk/ For further information and photography: ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) (c) 2009 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD |