INDUSTRY

TAIT TALK

INTERVIEW WITH DEAN BROOKES Jonathan Nally

We speak with Tait Communications’ new GM to get an insight into the company.

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ritical Comms recently sat down with Dean Brookes, the new general manager of Tait Communications, to get the latest updates on the company’s products and some insights into its ongoing approach to developments in the critical communications sector. Brookes has an engineering background and spent 22 years with Nokia Networks. He joined Tait in 2012, heading up the regional service business unit, before being appointed GM in April this year.

CC: Let’s start with the Tait Radio Academy. Why was set this up and what sort of response have you had? DB: Tait provides a range of professional training services for its clients, and, with the skills and experience that we have inside the company, we’ve taken some initial steps to share this resource. There are three online courses currently available for Basic Radio Principles, Introduction to DMR and Introduction to P25, and we look forward to delivering more. The reaction has been very positive. We’ve had more than 100 people register already from this part of the world and more every day. We’ve had over 500 registrations globally.

CC: There seems to be a shift underway around the world to a more managed-services model for critical communications solutions. Is Tait involved in this shift? DB: We see many variations of this: managed service for networks and capital for terminals; capital for networks and terminals, and managed service for network management; and fully managed service. There have always been customers that prefer OPEX to CAPEX and vice versa. Companies such as Telstra, Vertel and TeamTalk have been providing radio networks as a service for decades. Tait also provides network management services for customers such as NZ Police and Brisbane Airport who own their own networks but require the additional 24/7 support. The latest trend that we’ve seen with some major tenders is Device-as-a-Service.

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Tait maintains itself in step with the market requirements, using both internal and external funding to provide OPEX models.

CC: What’s your view on the provision of public safety mobile, especially the potential to use public carriers either solely or partly? DB: We believe that mobile broadband complements mission critical radio very well. It will depend on the application whether a dedicated, purpose-built device and network is required compared to off-the-shelf carrier products and services. Tait is ensuring that our mission critical radio solutions can be integrated with the mobile broadband services of today and tomorrow. We look forward to the recommendations of the Productivity Commission for PSMB.

CC: What about the general push for PTT-over-cellular services and smartphone products? DB: Tait views PTT-over-cellular services and applications as complementary to radio communications — it is an extension of a critical communications solution, not a replacement. Professional mobile radio provides purpose-built devices and networks that are dedicated to the customer’s need — rugged devices with long battery life, coverage where you need it, battery backup for sites, simplified user interfaces, one-touch calls, minimum delay in calls across the network, simplex operation for off-network comms, emergency modes to improve worker safety, and so on. For all of our customers who use dedicated radio networks and devices for all these benefits, smartphone apps such as UnifyVoice from Tait or ChatterPTT from Logic Unlimited provide additional value and connectivity for those in other parts of the organisation who wouldn’t otherwise need to carry a radio, or for when they’re away from site. For example, a dedicated radio network is provided for coverage of a mine site, but with smartphone apps like those mentioned, you can monitor and connect to that network from anywhere with mobile broadband or Wi-Fi connectivity.

Jul/Aug 2015 - Critical Comms

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