“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
That’s a quote attributed to Alexander Graham Bell, and it’s fitting that the generally recognized inventor of the telephone (and, thus, the telecommunications industry) coined a phrase emblematic of Pierson Wireless’s approach to prefabricating public safety communications solutions.
Pierson Wireless Public Safety offers a turnkey public safety communication system kit that includes a prefabricated Emergency Responder Communication Enhancement System (ERCES), also known as Public Safety DAS. The system is mounted on a fire-retardant board and includes antennas, cabling, connectors, and splitters to cover spaces of up to 150,000 square feet. Most importantly, the Pierson Wireless public safety kit can be installed and commissioned in 30 days or less.
So when Pierson Wireless received a call from a Nashville, Tennessee-based customer with a serious and time-sensitive issue – a fully functioning and certified ERCES was needed within the next month, or the customer would not receive a much-needed Certificate of Occupancy – our team at Pierson Wireless knew immediately our commitment to preparation would result in a positive outcome for both the customer and first responders.
The ERCES would need to be installed in a portion of the new, still-under-construction 15-story Ayers Tower at VUMC. In this instance, the short timeline was due to the customer’s plan to occupy a fuel oil storage room on the ground floor of the new tower to manage a switchover to a new generator.
The room is approximately 5,000 square feet and is a three-hour-rated room due to the intent to contain generator fuel. During inspections of that space, the local fire marshal determined his radio could not communicate optimally in that room, and those coverage issues needed to be addressed before the area could be deemed safe and certified for occupancy due to the nature of the room’s contents in the event of an emergency response.
The ERCES would need to be installed in a portion of the new, still-under-construction 15-story Ayers Tower at VUMC. In this instance, the short timeline was due to the customer’s plan to occupy a fuel oil storage room on the ground floor of the new tower to manage a switchover to a new generator.
The room is approximately 5,000 square feet and is a three-hour-rated room due to the intent to contain generator fuel. During inspections of that space, the local fire marshal determined his radio could not communicate optimally in that room, and those coverage issues needed to be addressed before the area could be deemed safe and certified for occupancy due to the nature of the room’s contents in the event of an emergency response.
“As is always the case, we hope a customer is never in a situation where they need the services of emergency responders,” said Jeff Tidwell, Pierson Wireless Director of Public Safety. “In this instance, with the presence of fuel in a three-hour-rated room, it’s 100 percent essential that first responders know they can count on their radio communication operating flawlessly. And that’s the purpose of an ERCES solution – to ensure radio communications and the safety of those who rely on those communications.”
Within one week of being initially contacted to consult on a solution to this coverage issue, Pierson Wireless had verified all frequencies needed for an ERCES solution from the Nashville Radio Shop and VUMC, submitted a project quote to the customer, completed a full design for the proposed ERCES solution, and submitted that design to the Nashville Fire Department for review and approval.
One of the more unique aspects of this project was the desire for the ERCES solution to be installed in a temporary, but fully-functioning, location. The customer requested that Pierson Wireless return in approximately 90 days to install a permanent ERCES solution that would cover the generator room as well as the entire building. Pierson Wireless managed the nuances associated with this plan with the Nashville Fire Department, assuring that the temporary ERCES location would not impact system performance or reliability.
The design for this particular installation included a Wireless Supply TruePath half-watt Class B bi-directional amplifier (BDA), as well as Wireless Supply cables, connectors, and antennas. The BDA covers all the required frequencies between 851 and 861 MHz required by Nashville Metro and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The Nashville Fire Department approved the submitted design and provided the relevant permit in the second week of this project’s timeline. The ERCES equipment shipped from Pierson Wireless’ Charlotte, North Carolina, headquarters and was received on-site in Nashville.
The design for this particular installation included a Wireless Supply TruePath half-watt Class B bi-directional amplifier (BDA), as well as Wireless Supply cables, connectors, and antennas. The BDA covers all the required frequencies between 851 and 861 MHz required by Nashville Metro and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The Nashville Fire Department approved the submitted design and provided the relevant permit in the second week of this project’s timeline. The ERCES equipment shipped from Pierson Wireless’ Charlotte, North Carolina, headquarters and was received on-site in Nashville.
Over the next four days, the ERCES solution was installed, validated, and optimized. On February 26, just 20 days after the initial outreach, the Nashville Metro inspector verified the system’s Delivered Audio Quality (DAQ) with radios and proper alarm functionality and granted the customer occupancy.
“This is a great example of why prefabrication is not only a solid operational concept, but it can be extremely valuable for customers with tight timelines,” said Brett Sinclair, East Region Operations Director at Pierson Wireless. “Our team is also skilled at working interdepartmentally to ensure complex projects run smoothly. This particular project required regular and frequent engagement with our customer, the Nashville Fire Department, the Nashville radio shop, and various other arms of the local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction).”
“This is also why customers should work with companies like Pierson Wireless. Scale, resources, and expertise matter when it comes to pulling off projects on a short timeline that require engagement and coordination with multiple entities,” Sinclair added. “We have scaled our operations to ensure we have inventory levels to respond quickly. We have a dedicated public safety communications team with deep knowledge of national and local codes and ordinances and experience navigating these projects’ review and approval processes.”
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