City of Antwerp Port Upgrades Dispatch to RediTALK-Flex

In 2016 the City of Antwerp took over management of the waters on the Eilandje – Antwerp’s oldest port area – from the Antwerp Port Authority. The area around Bonapartedok, Willemdok, Kempisch Dock, Kattendijkdok, Houtdok and Asiadok therefore form an urban area and thus fall under the authority of the City of Antwerp for berth management, safety and the policing.

This historic port has evolved into a modern attraction for passenger ships and offers berths for house boats and pleasure craft in the center of Antwerp.

This new responsibility forced the city to invest in radio equipment for maritime communication for the city’s port service, supplemented with maritime radios for operational personnel.

Quality and reliability were the most crucial aspects, so they selected Omnitronics partner Sonal to implement the project in 2016. Sonal chose Omnitronics IPR400 Gateways and RediTALK Dispatch to complement desired base stations and mobile radios.

Customer Profile

City of Antwerp Port

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Application

Radio Communications Across 3 Maritime Channels

Products Used

RediTALK-Flex Dispatch Consoles
IPR400 RoIP Gateways

Business Benefits

A Seamless Transition

Simple to Deploy

Compatible with Multiple Radio Types

Simple to Operate

Minimal Operator Training

The Challenge

Upgrade Required

In 2020, 4 years after the initial install, the City of Antwerp is looking to upgrade PCs used for port dispatch.

Their RediTALK dispatch system is also at end of life and no longer supported. They were again looking for a dispatch solution that works without a central server and seamlessly integrates with existing infrastrusture, including Radio over IP gateways.

In addition, they were looking for a solution that is compatible with the Windows 10 operating system and that allows them to include an AIS Receiver to display ship positioning on a large screen.

Product Focus

RediTALK-Flex

Interoperability

Connect technologies, protocols & vendors

Easy to Use

Clean & customizable user interface

Flexibility

Use the power of IP to connect & unify anywhere

Duress & Emergency

See who calls where and when

Geofencing

Easily set up zones & alerts to monitor movements

Radio Linking / Patching

Connect groups of radios in real time

Telephony

Receive, make calls & patch to radios

Location Services

Advanced people & asset tracking

The Solution

Future-Proof

Based on Sonal’s recommendation, the City decided that integrating Omnitronics IPR400 S2 Radio over IP gateways to Radio Activity Kairos KA-160 repeaters would be the ideal solution to manage communications across the their maritime channels.

An antenna combining system is used to connect multiple maritime channels and the AIS receiver onto one antenna. Three RediTALK-Flex Dispatch stations, one for the main operator and one for a second operator, manage the city’s port radio communications.

A spare RediTALK-Flex licence is available as backup in case a situation arises where a dispatcher needs to work away from the control room on a remote laptop or tablet.

For the unlikely event that the city should need support, 24/7/365 omnicare Support and Maintenance is available.

Case Study

City of Antwerp Port Upgrades Dispatch

From Cruise Ship Communications to House Boat Safety

Testimonial

Hear From Our Customer

“Extremely flexible serverless system, the perfect solution for controlling and local recording of maritime channels”

Marc Vermeulen, Technical Support & Project Manager Radio Communications at Sonal

Conclusion

Safety & Productivity

With this upgrade, the City Port of Antwerp’s radio communications are future ready for many years to come. This includes emergency situations, where they have the ability to connect to Astrid radios on the national Tetra network for emergency services.

They also have made provisions allowing one of their operators manage radio communications remotely, i.e. from home, using RediTALK-Flex Dispatch.

The Set-Up

Network Diagram

*AIS requires 3rd party application

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