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Communications: the foundation

Mining is difficult and dangerous work. Its environment presents numerous communication and safety challenges for both management and onsite personnel. The remote locations of mining sites and the urgency of communications in emergency situations create a unique and challenging communication environment.

Commtech Wireless, a division of Amcom Software helps mining and resource companies overcome the daily communication challenges by providing solutions that allow two-way radios to be supplemented with additional communications devices including wireless phones, pagers, smartphones, display boards, and more. It is important for mining management to ensure their organisation is doing all it can to provide a safe environment for workers and proof that they are implementing all possible safety measures. Commtech Wireless solutions provide rapid and dependable communications while improving staff safety and efficiency.

Improve safety

With mining worksites potentially being a dangerous environment for workers, solutions have been developed to improve onsite safety. Whether they are solutions to assemble emergency response teams (ERT) or to send instant notifications of equipment faults, Commtech Wireless assists in the delivery of life-saving communication solutions.

There can also be functional challenges involved with radios when workers become fatigued from hearing continuous notifications and messages, resulting in the volume being turned down. This can cause communication delays because they no longer hear important messages. A failed or missed communication could mean the difference between life and death.

Commtech Wireless solutions provide a secure method for communicating with ERT members and enable response teams to activate a site-wide emergency/evacuation in a timely manner. Rapid notifications including the specific location of mining machinery/equipment, emergency duress alarm buttons, and fire alarms can be sent to pre-determined groups on their mobile device of choice. The speed and accuracy of these notifications help improve response times in both day-to-day and emergency situations. As a result worksite safety also improves.

Improve staff efficiencies

Communication is the key to success for any organisation, including mining companies. With Commtech Wireless communication solutions, staff efficiency is increased by improving message delivery times, fatigue management, accountability, and equipment management.

Across the mining and resource sectors, increased regulation and safety standards are making organisations more accountable daily. Commtech Wireless solutions provide managers with an audit trail of all communications sent through the system. When emergency and environmental incidents occur, the information can be used to monitor response times and ensure processes are being carried out correctly. This data also helps the management team to measure staff efficiencies, response times to critical events, as well as responses and subsequent down-time for equipment failures.

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