The Challenge
With more than 185,000 residents and over 5,000,000 visitors a year, the South Coast town of Bournemouth is one of the UK’s most popular and busiest destinations. With a web of narrow, hilly, twisting roads, keeping the Borough’s roads clear and the traffic moving presents the Bournemouth Parking Services team with a considerable challenge.
Often characterised as a “revenue raiser” parking services is in reality a complex and demanding task and in Bournemouth, the priority is clear: keep the roads safe and the traffic moving. That means being able to respond quickly and effectively to a constant stream of fast changing information from members of the public, the business community, local authority colleagues and the police – and that demands rapid, effective and direct communications.
The Parking Services Team already understood the value of radio communications; they’ve been using a Capcom supplied and supported ‘voice only’ analogue system for twenty years. But increasing visitor and officer numbers as well as the age of the equipment meant that it was time to upgrade and improve the service. Building on the excellent existing reputation, Capcom was asked to design and implement a new radio system that would deliver clear advantages in efficiency and safety through better performance, management of information and staff communication from day one. There was particular emphasis placed on reliability, value for money, ease of operator use and a structured upgrade path to future-proof the investment.