OPS People
Ops People is a system-driven event management company that has decades of experience producing large-scale events and festivals. It prides itself on its radically transparent approach, ensuring that its customers always have full exposure to its project management systems and process principles. Ops People counts Glastonbury Festivals, Red Bull, Kilimanjaro Live, Chatsworth Horse Trials, WOMAD Festival and IMG amongst its prestigious customers; it has worked with the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run since 2022.
London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (VCR) is steeped in history. The event is organised to commemorate the famous ‘Emancipation Run’ of 1896, which celebrated the recently passed Locomotives on Highways Act liberalising motor vehicle laws in the UK; and, apart from short interruptions in the wartime years and fuel rationing periods, it has taken place in November every year since. It is now the world’s longest-running motoring event and the world’s largest gathering of veteran cars, attracting entrants from all over the globe. Cheered on by huge crowds, up to 450 vehicles can take part on the run, which sets out from Hyde Park and follows a predetermined route to Brighton, via Crawley. It is an all-day affair, as the wonderful array of automobiles are limited to an average speed of 20mph.
Grace Schulp, Veteran Car Run Event Manager, Royal Automobile Club
“WAVE PTX worked really well for us. We had reliable signal the length of the route all day. And it offers all the functionality we need. Our users were all very happy. We will be working with Ops People and using WAVE PTX again this year!”
Rupert Bassadone, Managing Director, Ops People Ltd
“The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run presents a unique challenge, where we need to provide seamless communication across three event sites and all the road networks between. This is no ordinary scenario, and this is why it calls for no ordinary solution; WAVE PTX is both the most affordable and the most effective instant communications solution available to us. On top of solving the core hurdles, the additional benefits of recording all channels and tracking live radio locations have been welcome additions that were incredibly useful in the field, and we are looking to develop our resilience further as we make more use of these features in the future.”
Benefits:
- Fast, easy, cost-effective deployment with no need to install infrastructure
- Clear, robust wide-area coverage all the way along the route
- Instant Push-to-Talk communications with loud, clear audio and noise-cancelling technology
- Robust, reliable, easy-to-use devices with long battery life
- Enhanced functionality such as multiple channels per location, an all-call emergency channel, device tracking and call recording
- Encrypted communications for added security
- Remote management and troubleshooting
Challenge
In 2022 the Veteran Car Run sought a new operations contract to manage the sites on the Run. Ops People was awarded the contract and brought on its trusted partner DCRS to deliver the radio systems needed, on a hire basis. Traditionally VCR had used a conventional DMR system, with multiple repeaters being set up along the course from London to Brighton. However, this was costly and time-consuming. Moreover, there had always been some communication blackspots along the course and in the course control vehicles.
Steve Luscombe, Managing Director of DCRS proposed a WAVE PTX push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) system, as there is good 3G and 4G signal along the whole route. Ops People used WAVE PTX with basic functionality the first year and, having seen that it could deliver the communications needed, it checked and ran a full deployment in its second year managing the event.
Fay Morris, Production Manager, Ops People Ltd, comments:
“Here at Ops People, we’re always looking to run events more efficiently and effectively; a large part of that is looking at alternative, new technologies. Motorola Solutions aligns with many of our key objectives and, when our long-term partner for event communications, DCRS, told us about WAVE PTX, we could immediately see the benefits for VCR. It’s a cost-effective system that is quick and easy to deploy. Perfect for these types of events.”
Solution
Prior to the event, DCRS checked the TLK 100 radios and configured each handset with a username and radio number, before dispatching them to the relevant locations. Ops People then ran on-site radio checks from the Thursday prior to the event, to ensure all systems were fully operational, with strong mobile network signal. Indeed, if there had been any buildings where the signal had been weak, DCRS had the option of remotely updating relevant handsets to enable Wi-Fi connectivity. And DCRS provided remote support and over-the-air programming via the WAVE PTX portal, before and during the event, for any changes or reconfigurations needed, which was an important factor for Ops People.
On event day, teams from the Royal Automobile Club, Ops People, volunteers and third-party contractors, such as medical support, all communicated over WAVE PTX. The TLK 100 radios were mostly deployed at the three main sites: the start at Hyde Park, event control and midway point at Crawley, and the finish line at Brighton, as well as at various checkpoints along the course. Hundreds of calls were made over the first 11 channels, which had been set up for the three main locations or course wide for users such as route control, security checkpoints and refuelling. The 12th channel was an all-call emergency channel, which would interrupt any ongoing communications and go out to all users in the case of an incident. Talk groups included event operations, marshals, traffic management, route control, security, hospitality, safety advisers and medical teams.
Ops People also commissioned two WAVE PTX Dispatch licences for the event, which enabled dispatchers and controllers to log in from any location to locate, track and dispatch radio users. As it was, the dispatch app was mostly utilised at event control in Crawley, in conjunction with the event control logger. This enabled any participants who had broken down, for example, to be exactly pinpointed by race control who were travelling the route, so the RAC Motoring Services could be quickly and accurately dispatched to provide assistance. Dispatchers could also quickly and easily locate security and safety teams, the lead and tail cars and the timing cars. WAVE PTX Dispatch also recorded all voice and data communications as well as location data; DCRS securely downloaded and transferred this data to Ops People post event, so they could retain this information in case it is needed in the future.
Benefit
WAVE PTX delivered reliable, wide-area PoC communications at the event along the whole course and in the support vehicles. Feedback from all parties was exceptionally positive, with users particularly praising the audio quality, saying they could always hear messages, irrespective of background noise at either end of the call.
Steve Luscombe of DCRS commented: “We are finding that WAVE PTX is an excellent solution for event organisers that require wide area radio communications. Its high-quality audio and ease of use make it a perfect solution for hire over short-term periods. We are investing in additional WAVE PTX products in order to expand our Motorola hire fleet.”
As Fay Morris from Ops People summarises:
“WAVE PTX delivers so much more than just seamless, instant communications. What it offers in the way of functionality (in terms of tracking and recording, for example) and practicality (with easy-to-use, robust radios, with great battery life, small chargers and being able to have user IDs on the screen for quick reference when you receive a call) meets all our requirements when managing an event like VCR. And, not having to install any infrastructure or get Ofcom spectrum licences saved us time and cost – both important factors when managing events!”