The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
20th Sep 2023
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust was established on 1 April 1998 and has 2,576 staff providing ambulance and related services to the 3.1 million residents of Wales. They attend more than 250,000 emergency calls a year, over 50,000 urgent calls and transport over 1.3 million non-emergency patients to over 200 treatment centres throughout England and Wales.
The Head Office is in a two-storey office block on St Asaph Business Park in Ty Elwy. The office houses more than 100 administrative and support staff, boasts a suite of meeting rooms and provides a base for operational ambulance crews.
The Problem
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust moved to a new headquarters building in St Asaph in May 2019 after their old building was decommissioned and sold. However, the new contemporary space was refurbished with building materials which prevented mobile signal from penetrating the building.
Staff rely heavily on their mobile phones to perform their business. The IT department was inundated with Vodafone and EE users complaining about the poor reception and the detrimental effect it was having on their job performance.
WiFi calling was not found to be reliable and robust enough for the critical service they provided.
The Solution
Frequency Telecom commissioned and installed the CEL-FI QUATRA 1000 mobile signal booster within days. The CEL-FI QUATRA 1000 is an Active DAS Hybrid provides uniform, high-quality mobile signal throughout a building, and is scalable to the size needed. It is a cost-effective, easy-to-deploy all-digital solution.
Unlike older analogue boosters and passive DAS technology, the CEL-FI QUATRA 1000 delivers a mobile signal that is up to 1000x stronger, utilizing CAT 5e/6 cabling for RF and Power over Ethernet, with no signal attenuation, right to the perimeter of the building.
The Results
CEL-FI QUATRA 1000 solution was deployed within days. There was no need for any operator licience. Vodafone and EE users reported a steady four to five bars of mobile signal. Productivity soared as staff were able to perform their duties optimally.