News and Updates

Absolute Deliver State of the Art Solution

The installation, completed in February 2009, is the latest in a series of large-scale projects in the food-manufacturing sector undertaken by ANS. The facility is now fully operational, incorporating over 150 analogue, digital, IP and mobile wi-fi extensions.

As well as having to integrate handsets into different stages of the production line (necessary to prevent production bottle-necks) the installation also required ANS to pioneer a large-scale wi-fi mobility solution to give production supervisors and managers the ability to use their work mobiles as a single-point of contact – both on-site and off-site. Using the market-leading wi-fi capabilities of the OfficeServ range, a system was proposed which integrated 3rd party handsets which switch between the local wi-fi and GSM networks seamlessly – allowing free-roaming connectivity. This solution has proved extremely popular with the end-user.

The quality of the proprietary Samsung handsets was also a key element of the project. Dean Fulbrook, IT Support Manager at Kerrygold Foods explains, “We were building a modern, stylish building and we needed our telephone handsets to fit in. Samsung gave us the consistent look and feel in all of our handsets which we were after to reduce training costs, as well as a sleek and stylish design which looks at home in our new office space.”

Nick Davies, Director at ANS comments – “Samsung’s OfficeServ fit the bill perfectly for the installation at Kerrygold, with its’ wireless LAN capabilities at the forefront of the facilities’ new communications system. Combined with a competitive price point and the strength of the Samsung brand, these elements convinced the customer to switch from their incumbent provider to Samsung. At Kerrygold we had to really push the wi-fi capabilities.

"Absolute Provides another Turnkey Solution".

Over 80 handsets in use on Kerrygold Food's production line.

Absolute Networks have supplied over 80 Voyager programmable handsets to a new Kerrygold Foods factory in Staffordshire.  The phones are integrated into a state-of-the-art production line at the facility, allowing operators to communicate between different stages of the production process quickly and effectively.

The handsets, which are bright red and feature 10 programmed keys, are easily visible in the busy environment and easy to clean.  As the handsets don’t have a conventional keypad it is also easy to control how they are used.  Personal calls cannot be made – they can only be used to contact the pre-programmed numbers.

The handsets form an integral part of a larger Samsung OfficeServ solution which encompasses the whole facility. 

Leading telecoms solutions reseller Absolute Network Solutions (ANS) supplied the telephone system and overall solution to Kerrygold.  Nick Davies, Director at ANS commented that "the handsets from Interquartz form an integral part of the solution which we supplied to Kerrygold.  As well as the benefits of having such a bold colour casing and being easy to clean, they simplified the whole communication process between the line workers in different areas of the facility and the warehouse - helping the production line run smoothly.  Control is also important - knowing that the handsets can only be used to call the pre-programmed numbers gives the management a guarantee that the phones are not being used to make expensive personal calls."

Dean Fullbrook, IT Manager at The Kerrygold Company Ltd is extremely pleased with the Solution provided by ANS - "they improve communications on our production line massively, allowing staff to quickly call other areas of the line without having to remember any numbers or keep directory lists.
 
Being able to program the handsets ourselves is another big benefit - doing all of this work in-house saves us a lot of headaches as we can easily relocate phones and change numbers without having to worry about sending the phones off anywhere.  We've had lots of positive feedback on the Voyager handsets already from the staff on the production line - they appreciate the simplicity they offer and how easy the units are to clean."

"Premier Foods Choose Wireless Deployment Partner"

After a rigorous selection process which included a presentation on " how best to deploy , support and manage Absolute Network Solutions were chosen from all parties. Our solution was chosen because it allowed immediate deployment NOW but also took into account the larger picture in the future. Absolute (ANS) had already installed a large wireless infrastructure at Premier Distribution centre in Wisbech.

Having already successfully installed and deployed enterprise wireless at Wisbech ANS felt that the solution could be adopted throughout the group. Darren Waters Group Network Manager stated " Absolute have always delivered every project on time and within budget their ability to look at the whole picture and understand our business is fundamental in our long standing relationship, when we decided to deploy wireless to our company ANS were at the top of our list of suppliers, not only was their presentation better than the rivals but it took into account all the levels of complexity when installing in food manufacturing"

Absolute have now extended the deployment following the initial success we now control over 800 wireless access points across the group and this number is increasing and show the flexibility of the original proposal. The solution is designed to be robust and self healing.