Capita’s Software division has been awarded a contract by the Home Office to develop a solution to migrate the current Airwave system to the Emergency Services Network (ESN), a new critical communications system to be used by emergency services in the UK.
ESN is a cross-government programme, being led by the Home Office, to transform emergency services’ mobile working, especially in remote locations and at times of network congestion. The new network will benefit police, fire and rescue, ambulance services, and a range of other users including first responders such as inshore rescue.
The contract includes creating and delivering a new solution that will interface with Airwave but at the same time, be compliant with ESN. This will enable emergency services to use both Airwave and ESN in tandem during the transition.
ESN will provide a ‘higher’ bandwidth that enables emergency services to make more use of data services enabling ‘live’ searches and updates of local and national databases including crime scene images. The network will also enhance secure voice channels for operational purposes and multi-agency collaboration.
Paul Eggleton, managing editor of Capita’s Secure Solutions and Services, said: “This is a crucial development project that will form part of the migration process, we have worked closely with the Home Office and Emergency Services Network team and look forward to supporting our pilot clients in the next phase of the programme.
“Capita is the leading provider of communication platforms to the UK emergency services and our digital innovation will enable our customers to respond quickly and effectively to incidents.”
Capita has been delivering integrated and advanced systems to emergency services for over 30 years. Capita’s solutions are used in over 100 control rooms including police, fire and rescue, ambulance trusts, HM Coastguard, Highways England, British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police.
For more information please visit: www.capita.com
