Consam were approached by a European Company to design and manufacture a bespoke Meeting Point call solution, for use in places of interest (POI) such as Libraries, Museums, Council Offices. The unit had to be a single wall mount unit, vandal proof and water proof. The purpose of which was to allow a member of the public (possibly disabled) to instantly raise help over the Tetra radio network.
The customer was a European communication company who specialise in the provision of niche Tetra radio systems. The unit had to meet specific requirements for use in old listed buildings to meet the listed/council criteria in that area.
The unit had to be small, discrete and vandal proof, whilst being simple to operate. In addition, the unit had to be able to run autonomously for more than 12 hours which meant that the unit had to include not only a battery source but also a suitable battery charging circuit.
The unit had to be designed to run on the countries blue light Tetra radio system whilst being simple enough for the general public to operate.
The customer had specified that the unit was to be as small as possible, vandal proof, water proof, and discrete, it had to be simple to use, visible at night, and loud enough to be heard in a noisy environment. It had to have simple operating instructions visible on a vandal proof front stainless steel panel “APPEL D’URGENCE” & “APPUYER 2 SECONDES” (Emergency call & press for 2 seconds) This simple interface was connected to the internally mounted UHF Tetra radio.
When a member of the public activates the unit, the internal Tetra radio calls a predetermined group of staff trained to handle the customers particular requirements (possibly disabled).
Consam built a few prototypes, included ones with a variety of cooling options. The challenge was to develop the most compact configuration whilst ensuring that the internal heat was correctly managed. In addition, Consam tried various font sizes for the emergency instructions, different push buttons to test the visibility in low light, and tried a variety of external colours to ensure the visibility.
This unit allows the Tetra radio system to be integrated into a multitude of public places whilst ensuring it is simple to operate, strong enough for all environments, and allowing the public to easily communicate with the emergency services.
