Irish mobile software company Saadian has implemented SMS technology to alert personnel at Ireland’s largest port, Dublin Port, if there’s an emergency.
Saadian’s PagerSMS application will help Dublin Port Company to alert its 160 staff and other security and harbour personnel in the event of an emergency in a highly efficient way. It is also used for day-to-day communications on weather reports or sea tides.
“In the past we needed to phone a large number of emergency management personnel individually whereas now one text message is relayed to all staff who receive it simultaneously,” explained John Fairley, head of security, Dublin Port Company.
“This means that response times to emergencies will be decreased automatically and phone lines are freed up, allowing essential calls to come through. It also saves us hugely on administration so we can concentrate on more critical work,” Fairley added.
Dublin Port has almost 15,000 ship movements carrying more than 25 million tonnes of goods as well as almost 1.3 million ferry and cruise passengers annually.
“Our Pager SMS technology works by delivering a text message with a distinctive siren that rings continually until acknowledged by the recipient,” Cliodhna McGuirk, managing director of Saadian added.
“It removes the need to carry two devices, thereby lowering costs and providing greater convenience and reducing time for emergency response teams,” McGuirk said.
Fairley said Dublin Port also plans to use the system for communicating with staff about day-to-day activities, such as weather forecasts, sea tides, shipping movements or security incidents.
“The manager for each group can also notify staff more quickly about upcoming meetings or significant events. Our company is split up into three operational groups – Harbour Police & Port Security, Maintenance & Services and Port Operations.
“So now we can just communicate with the manager of each group who in turn only needs to send one text rather than phone each staff member individually,” Fairley explained.
By John Kennedy
Photo: SMS technology by Saadian will now alert personnel at Dublin Port in the event of an emergency.
