When Mid Kent Water decided to re-cable the three buildings that make up its headquarters in Snodland, Kent it faced two different but equally challenging tasks.
First it had to negotiate working in the company's main 100-year main listed building – it comprises many small rooms which inevitably make installation very difficult. Second, it had to install a reliable cable solution with a built in failsafe, in the event of main cable failure, so that the public would always have fresh running water.
Adrian Smith, infrastructure and operations manager at Mid Kent Water was put in charge of the project and enrolled the services of Icom, a specialist communications and cabling company. Smith wanted to replace the seven types of cabling already in place with just two, in the hope this would be able to cope with new technology and reduce updates and maintenance costs. It was also important to bring the new, one-year-old building online for the first time.
The installation started with the wiring of the main listed building in July '99, with work starting on the smaller new building shortly afterwards in November '99 and finishing in February 2000. The 1960's building, the smallest building was completed last summer.
For use throughout the buildings Smith chose a fibre- based cable solution at ground level with category 5e cable feeding off this to supply the desktop equipment. 'Both cable types have the same topology (speak the same language) but you get the bigger bandwidth with fibre, as it can carry a greater volume of information,' explains Kevin Godfrey, director of sales at Icom. This was essential for the system to be future-proof.
The new building has three times as many outlets as the main listed building and was wired in half the time. 'You could probably double the capacity in the new building without too many problems. To do that in the main listed building would present a major headache,' Godfrey adds.
The main listed building presented the team with its biggest challenge mainly because it was not designed to carry the volume of cable they needed to install. 'Before, we had 12 ft high ceilings there, now we have had to lower the ceilings and run the cables at a higher level, We didn't have purpose-built communications systems, so we had to utilise an old cupboard,' says Smith. The team also installed purpose-built cableways and run trunking up the walls to house the new cables.
The installation process could not have been easier in the new building with its open plan design. 'Everything we needed was located on the floor in cable trays, it was purpose built with communications in mind,' says Godfrey. But the biggest challenge was devising a back-up system to meet OFWAT guidelines and prevent a total loss of service in the unlikely event the main cabling system should fail. Mid Kent Water decided to install a second set of cabling, capable of keeping 50 per cent of services running in the new building.
Surprisingly, despite their many differences the installation costs was the same for both buildings.
Telecommunications: Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets decided to outsource the management and upkeep of its phone system so it could concentrate on its core business – keeping the general public happy.
Graeme Peacock service head of property and facilities management appointed the telecommunications specialist Global Crossing, which over a six-month period installed a new system that would have cost the council over £2 million to put in. 'This deal cost us nothing more than we were already spending,' says Peacock.
Under the seven-year contract Tower Hamlets pays a fixed sum per extension including call charges this gives. The borough also now has the scope to add or take away users and change location at will for little or no extra cost.
'We are looking at setting up an off-site customer contact centre. If we do, we will pay the fixed rate for each extension. It saves us having to make a big initial investment,' he says.
Peacock had reservations about Global Crossing's willingness to invest, but so far he has been impressed. Global has upgraded existing cables, replaced switches, added extra capacity, replaced each handset and improved emergency back-up to seven hours. 'We also get a much faster response in an emergency and this has significantly reduced our downtime,' says Peacock.
Global also installed a Braille operator system and is putting in a Bengali language phone service. It is also working on a 24-hour switchboard.
'The project has been super smooth,' says Peacock.
Videoconferencing: The Army
The Army Prosecution Authority (APA) has installed video conferencing equipment at its court-martial centres throughout Europe, in the battle to bring swift justice to offenders no matter where they are stationed.
The installation was prompted by stiff new rules introduced under the Human Rights Act in October 2000, which state that commanding officers now have only 48 hours to bring the accused before a judicial officer.
With only six judicial officers based in London and three in Germany the 48-hour time limit was proving difficult to meet, with soldiers located anywhere from Bosnia to Belize.
To combat the problem the Courts Martial Administration Office (CMAO), part of the APA, drafted in video conferencing specialist MarCom Systems which installed videoconference systems at 20 new locations within a week.
Head of the CMAO, Lt Col (Retd) Iain Milne says the system was installed on time, to budget and has saved the Army thousands of pounds.
On costs he says: 'We arranged for a witness in Australia to give evidence in real time to a trial in Germany, saving around £5,000.'
Tech spec Military court room
Sony contact 384 with built-in MCU capability
Pioneer 40' plasma screen
Sony VCR
Soundcraft microphone mixer
Small office
Sony contact 384
Sony KV29FX 29' monitor
Home use
Tandberg 600 video phones
Source
The Facilities Business
