Sepura secures Scottish Prison Service

The Prison Service in Scotland is the first Prison Organisation in the UK to replace its complete communications infrastructure with digital radio – and has selected Sepura TETRA terminals as an integral part of this important initiative.

A new computer-assisted digital solution deployed by PMR Products, Sepura’s partner in the UK, has entirely replaced the Scottish Prison Service’s legacy analogue radio-communications system.

The Scottish Prison Service is responsible for an average of 6,900 prisoners annually. It employs about 4,100 people at 15 establishments, including a training college, a central storage facility and the headquarters.

The overall project required the replacement of analogue radio equipment in fourteen establishments throughout Scotland, together with the Prison Service’s training college.

The main control room is the nerve centre of a prison, where operators control the movement of prisoners and co-ordinate all activities. It is therefore essential that all information relayed is presented in a clear and unambiguous manner. In addition, in a prison’s noisy environment the audio needs to be of a high quality and all radio users need to be clearly identified.

The new TETRA infrastructure and Sepura radios will enhance user safety, improve the integrity of information and increase the efficiency of communications in the Prisons. The Scottish Prison Service was particularly impressed with the system’s lone worker feature enhancing officer safety and the use of separate talk-groups as these enable focussed communications.

Steve Clarke, Managing Director for PMR Products commented “The engineering of the complete solution was the winning factor for the overall project. Sepura hand-held radios were selected for their sophisticated status messaging and the versatility and flexibility of their programming feature”.

Mr Clarke went on to add “The project plan was executed precisely to the original timescale and budget. The whole replacement took place in four months and the prisons’ operatives now enjoy crystal clear communications with improved range and features”.