Vodafone Business and Airbus Public Safety and Security, a business unit of Airbus Defence and Space, have formed a partnership to provide secure communication technology to critical services.
The technology allows several people to share messages, video streaming and location to increase productivity and safety in areas including managing national infrastructure.
The service brings smartphone users together in a secure and collaborative network, allowing them to share video of an incident or send data to emergency services.
A lifeguard feature is also included which automatically sends an alert if a user falls during a dangerous mission or in a hazardous environment.
Vodafone said the service improves situational awareness for users like security staff to understand their surroundings better.
The technology will be available as a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, which Vodafone said will give users greater flexibility to quickly scale the service to multiple users or new sub-groups in response to unfolding incidents.
Vodafone said the technology will initially be made available in Europe and the company plans to extend it globally.
It is compatible with all standard iOS and selected Android smartphones, as well as a range of specially adapted rugged devices.
The technology will also be made available via Vodafone’s Mission Critical (MCX) communications service being rolled out across Europe, starting with Germany.
“Our role is to connect employees maintaining critical infrastructure like power stations and airports, ensuring productivity and public safety,” said Marika Auramo, chief executive of Vodafone Business. “Vodafone’s partnership with Airbus means we can help customers counter increased threats, meet demand and manage costs with mission critical digital connectivity and market-leading software solutions.”
