Among volunteer firefighters in the Netherlands, the practical and reliable Swissphone Quattrino pager of not so many years ago was regarded as the gold standard in alerting. But with the introduction of the national P2000 paging network, which operates on the Flex protocol, users in the emergency services had to look elsewhere for their pagers, because Swissphone did not at first offer a Flex product.
Heir of the Quattrino
But now Swissphone has returned from its absence with the first of two new pager products aimed especially at the Dutch market. “They have had a few years now of unsatisfactory solutions”, explains Philipp Zimmermann, head of marketing Swissphone. “But this will be the real new public safety pager. They want a good solution.”
First of the new Flex models will be a one-way pager with Bluetooth interface that allows a connection to a smartphone. The s.QUAD pager is being launched within the next weeks. The other is a version of Swissphone’s two-way pager, the new RES.Q, which will arrive in its Flex form during the summer.
“That will excite a lot of customers because they were happy with the Quattrino device and they remember the quality”, comments Gerjon Gabry, senior product manager at Swissphone’s Dutch distribution partner, the mission-critical telecoms specialists Koning & Hartman. “A lot of the customers are happy that Swissphone will be back.”
Positive feedback
With new tenders expected for equipment upgrades in the fire, ambulance and police services, Koning & Hartman has already tested samples of the s.QUAD with customers and has gathered some highly favourable feedback. Testers have mentioned especially the new model’s ergonomics, its ruggedness, and the ability to configure profiles to suit different areas of working.
One other feedback point was that the testers appreciate the outstanding power autonomy of up to three months with a single AA dry cell. This allows for far less charging than the current products available and provides the fallback option that users can operate the pager if needed with a standard AA battery purchased at a supermarket.
Receiver sensitivity is another important aspect, because signal levels may grow weaker where new buildings spring up. “The sensitivity of the device is much better than the competition”, Gabry adds. “Coverage is not good everywhere – so in parts where there are not enough antennas, it really helps that the reach is better than before.”
Acknowledging the message
In the Netherlands, he continues, fire services want to know the precise availability of their staff, especially volunteers, both before and after an alarm. Before the alarm, it helps with the staff planning processes; after the alarm, it helps in making sure that enough responders will arrive in time, so that a quicker and more targeted second wave of alerts can be launched if needed.
To cater for different needs, Swissphone offers one-way pagers, which can additionally be linked to smartphone applications to acknowledge incoming messages (see box at the end of the article), and two-way pagers which communicate back to the dispatcher thanks to an integrated SIM card for a reliable feedback option.
Location-based services
This requirement will be addressed by the RES.Q Flex, whose two-way messaging capability is enhanced by an optional integrated GPS, supporting new possibilities in managing firefighters such as a location-based availability system or geoalerting, for example.
The RES.Q Flex is based on Swissphone’s longstanding RES.Q platform, which has been overhauled this year. Not only has the design been updated but also the battery runtime, which is up to 30 per cent longer than with the previous RES.Q generation. The new RES.Q also features indoor positioning options through BLE iBeacon plus an optional emergency call system.
“The Netherlands now has access to a modern pager that has all the high quality users have come to expect from the Quattrino,” Gabry says. “No other vendors offer a Flex pager that satisfies the needs of public safety users. We’re pleased to be bringing our latest paging technology to the Dutch market.”
