Turnkey E.N.S. Systems

BnC Group USA, LLC is a leading developer of modern VoIP emergency notification systems designed to replace aging airport crash phone systems.

Command Phone

Command Phone is a VoIP emergency notification system that is customized to your needs, from the simplest tower-to-ARFF ringdown to a massive group conference bridge that instantly brings together ATCT and ARFF plus police, operations, airport manager, maintenance, and all airline offices.

The BnC Group Command Phone meets the requirements set forth in F.A.A. circular 150/5210-7D to keep crash phone operations on-site and bypass any systems that might delay the delivery of critical messages. The typical CommandPhone crash phone system relies on a fiber optic network between critical points such as the ATC tower and ARFF station. A highly reliable server acts as the bridge to all endpoints, allowing flexibility in programming as needs change.

You can start small with just the tower and ARFF station. As the airport expands you can add additional endpoints in the Airport Operations and airline offices. You can choose which endpoints have two-way audio and which will be listen-only to minimize noise and distractions.

More Than Phones

Command Phone is more than just phones. You have the flexibility to include overhead paging speakers in addition to, or in lieu of, a conventional telephone station. Add a RoIP (Radio over IP) gateway to transmit the crash call over a radio channel to units out on the tarmac.

Strobe lamps at key areas of the ARFF station and Ops provide visual alert indication where high noise levels might impair intelligibility of the audio message or where a voice message would be intrusive.

The Command Phone system can even trigger the ARFF station alerting system to open the bay doors, turn off the gas stove, turn on the lights, and activate other functions at the start of the call.

Multiple Alert Levels

If your airport has its own communications center you are not limited to only the tower calling the ARFF station. Emergency calls for fire or rescue service on the airport concourse can be initiated from your comm center without calling the tower and other endpoints, as your needs and policies dictate.

You can also make routine paging announcements over the ARFF station speakers without triggering the station alerting system. Some airports use an additional call level to broadcast announcements such as weather-related closures to all the airline operations offices.

Of course, the ARFF Watch Room phone is commonly programmed to call the ATC tower, just like the old analog ringdown phone systems.

Zero Recurring Cost

Some airports still use expensive ringdown private lines leased from the local telephone company. The ILEC operators are eliminating copper phone lines and raising prices to existing customers to drive them off their network.

Command Phone runs entirely on your reliable, monitored campus network or fiber optic cable dedicated to the new crash phone system. This frees the airport from the onerous recurring payments to the telephone company for antiquated leased copper phone lines.

Basic Alarm Button

Smaller airports that don't need the complexity and expense of Command Phone can use the Basic Alarm Button kit. The kit features an industrial-strength button with indicator LEDs that sends a signal via your enterprise LAN to the ARFF station to trigger the station alerting system.

The button must be depressed for a programmable duration (typically 2 seconds) to protect against false activations. When the green LED illuminates it indicates to the air traffic controller that the far end has activated the switch closure. A red LED indicates trouble reaching the other end of the TCP/IP link. The kit is simple, inexpensive, and effective, and it can be installed by airport staff.

Operation

The air traffic controller would hold the alert button down for the desired duration programmed into the unit, typically 2 seconds to avoid false activations. When the green LED illuminates it indicates to the air traffic controller that the far end has activated the switch closure. The fire chief and F.A.A. would develop a protocol on how to respond when the button is activated. Typically the incident commander would call the ATC tower on the radio for details of the alert and decide on the proper response assignment. The simplicity of this system frees up the controller from having to place a conventional landline call to either the ARFF station or the municipal fire dispatch center.