Marine Rescue NSW has today signed a major new communications agreement to underpin our work to save lives on the water.
The agreement is for the development of a new robust and stable Telstra communications platform to ensure that when a boater is in trouble on the water, our crews will get the call to action fast.
Commissioner Stacey Tannos and Chief Financial Officer Todd Andrews signed the agreement with Managing Director Vivek Trivedi and Sales Director Niten Devalia, of Exigo Tech Pty Ltd, Telstra Platinum partners, who will manage the network project.
The project also includes an upgrade to the mobile network by Telstra Platinum Mobility partner, MobileCorp, led by Sales Director Gavin Lo.
Commissioner Tannos said the exciting project would provide the service with essential communications surety.
“We work closely with Telstra and our technology partners ExigoTech Pty Ltd and MobileCorp to ensure we have reliable networks and IT solutions, so we can be certain we can activate our crews, answer boaters’ calls for help and access our online vessel tracking and other systems 24/7,” he said.
“Every minute can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency on the water.
“So we need absolute confidence that we can not only answer distress calls from boaters caught in a potentially life-threatening situation but also that we can immediately call out our crews to get on the water.”
Mr Devalia welcomed the new agreement.
“The agreement made today marks the beginning of a project that was driven from a conversation about how we can ensure a more reliable, secure and agile approach to the way MRNSW engages with its communication and network across all sites,” he said.
“Working with Telstra, we will be able to deliver a service that will not only meet today’s requirements but pave the way for an adaptation to technology and innovation.
“We look forward to building a strong relationship with such an honourable organisation that’s dedicated to helping save lives.”
The new agreement is for the development of a communications platform to support all the service’s communications needs, including phones, internet data and even satellite links for our newest unit, on Lord Howe Island.
The project will see a suite of standard new telephone hardware and connection devices rolled out to every one of the 45 MRNSW units along the NSW coastline and on the Alpine Lakes, Murray River and Lord Howe Island.
Importantly, it provides all our units with NBN, and Telstra LANES 4G back-up, meaning they will have priority access to the network in peak traffic periods and 24/7 priority support to repair and manage outages.
Earlier this year, members of Marine Rescue Middle Harbour demonstrated our volunteers’ rescue capability and around-the-clock community service to representatives of both Telstra and Exigo Tech.
Under cloudy skies over Sydney Harbour, it was a great way for the tech company team members to learn more about MRNSW expertise, roles and responsibilities and how they can help support our mission to save lives on the water.
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