Comms in a crisis

Mobile communications have become integral to how emergency services respond to major incidents. The aftermath of the 2005 7/7 London terrorist bomb attacks saw mobile phone networks overloaded and network operators forced to initiate Access Overload Control (ACCOLC) to prioritize emergency calls. Unfortunately many key emergency personnel did not have ACCOLC-enabled mobile phones, and paramedics using SMS as part of the service-s basic communications strategy could not get their messages through either. Satellites rarely fail completely, but in the run up to the London Olympics, an event considered a potential target for terrorists. Excelerate took its technology to the next level by setting up what it claimed to be the UK's first resilient satellite communications network for emergency services, with guaranteed failover support.