Zenitel is poised to transform the transportation sector with its Unified Critical Communication Platform.
Karin Skovgaard, Marketing Manager at Zenitel Safety and Security, sat down with Hanne Eriksen, SVP of Zenitel Transportation Solutions, to dive into the key customer needs and technology trends of the transportation sector, and how Zenitel’s Unified critical communication solutions are set to transform safety and communications for public transportation operators and passengers.
Hanne Erikssen
SVP of Transportation Solutions at Zenitel
What are the key needs and concerns of public transport operators?
"Keeping people safe and well informed while traveling from A to B is the most important need for a rail, metro, tram operator. This is also the case in an airport environment from check-in to take-off and in road tunnels from cars entering the tunnel until people in the cars are safe outside in the other end," says Hanne.
To ensure a safer environment for passengers and staff, our customers prioritize investing in safety and security technologies such as a communication solution, that helps passengers and staff to hear, be heard and to understand all messages and alerts in an emergency. In a highly regulated industry like rail transport, complying with all relevant standards, and regulations and having all the necessary certifications is also of high importance.
Zenitel has been a pioneer in delivering communication solutions such as Public Address system and Help Points for the transportation vertical for many decades, with a global footprint.
Greater return on their investment, delivered sustainably
Delivering a technology that simply works is no longer sufficient to meet our customers' needs. Since safety and security solutions must effectively work for 15 years or more, the maintenance cost of the solutions is a critical factor in a purchasing decision. Customers are looking for a technology with lower maintenance costs that is easy to manage and monitor—all in a sustainable way. Therefore, there is increased attention on carbon footprint, as evidenced by customer requests regarding the carbon impact of our products and detailed information on their material composition.
Cybersecurity is non-negotiable
As public transportation systems worldwide integrate digital innovations to enhance efficiency, safety, and passenger experiences, they also become increasingly attractive targets for cyber threats. Protecting public transit infrastructure from these threats has become a critical priority. This is not a one-time effort but rather an ongoing effort that requires close collaboration with suppliers. Consequently, our customers are looking for suppliers who can assist them with maintenance, software updates, and extended technical support to effectively mitigate cyber threats.
Make life lot easier
With the increasing pressure to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and meet the growing demands for sustainability and digital innovation, many public transportation operators are rethinking their supplier strategies. Here, supplier consolidation plays an increasingly important role. Operators have begun to realize the benefits of reducing the number of suppliers and focusing on strategic partnerships, which can lead to a more agile, cost-effective, and sustainable public transportation network. The more products and services they can get from a few selected suppliers, the better result for their customers. One stop shopping with fewer suppliers to qualify and work with is high on most of our customers wish list.
Trust makes all a difference
"We have witnessed that our customers prefer to work with suppliers who not only deliver reliable products and solutions but also go above and beyond to support their projects throughout the entire life cycle. When customers trust a supplier and establish long-lasting partnerships through positive experiences on successful projects, they are more likely to return to the same supplier for both products and services. Our goal is to be one of those trusted suppliers they choose repeatedly," Hanne further adds.
How is Zenitel is prepared to address these customer needs?
"With the strategic focus we have of Zenitel of being the technology leader in the critical communication area – we automatically tick several of the important customer needs above. Zenitel also have substantive experience in professionally supporting our important installed base and ensuring that our systems and solutions are backwards compatible and easy to maintain for the longevity of the project. When we add the great audio quality we offer, the global reach, and the continuously increasing focus on sustainability and cybersecurity – we are an ideal partner to work with for our customers based on their main requirements and important needs.
We do need to focus even more on the whole customer journey and make it easy to work with us on all levels of a project. A first step to ensure this is through the right momentum from the first request sent to us, via effective quoting of the best fit for purpose solutions. It is very important, with good technical clarifications and alignment phases with customers as a second step. Finally, by working closely with our customers in the project realization and delivery phase with quick response time and clear communication. This will also contribute to a greater will and wish to work with us in the service and maintenance phase of the same project".
Why do you believe that Zenitel has been successful with delivering hundreds of public address and voice alarm systems in many parts of the world?
"I believe this is a mix of several factors. Fantastic products, systems and solutions dedicated and developed especially for the rail industry by being close to end-customers and specifiers is a very important factor. However, I don’t think this alone would cut it. In my view the combination of people talking to people both internally and externally, relationships being built, going the extra mile when needed, and then adding a very good product/solution offering on top, is the success formula. To sustain and grow this position, we also need to listen carefully to the market. What is important for our customers today, might be different tomorrow. The world keeps changing and we need to change with it. By having close relationships with our customers, we will know what is required and be able to feed this information into the rest of our organisation".
Finally, could you please give us a summary on what is unique about Zenitel’s PAVA solution?
With more than 125 years of combined experience in public address and voice alarm (PA/VA) solutions, Zenitel is truly a trusted communication partner in many parts of the world. This extensive experience has helped us to expertly engineer our products to deliver on customer needs in a unique way. Some of the highlights are below:
- We began our journey in the rail industry in the UK, engineering our products from the ground up in collaboration with UK rail operators. Our unique combination of in-depth knowledge of the rail market and decades of audio experience positions us as a distinct choice in the marketplace. No one else understands the rail industry as thoroughly as we do at Zenitel.
- There is a saying, “no one gets fired for buying IBM”. We are the IBMs of the critical communication world. I do not make this claim lightly. Our PAVA solutions are designed to deliver exceptional audio performance for all types of announcements and background music. All our PAVA product lines feature professional quality DSP, full-range frequency processing, and uncompressed native audio, giving you high-quality audio consistently, even in challenging environment like the London Underground.
- Scalability and flexibility that comes with our PAVA system. Our solution gives you the flexibility to combine centralised and decentralised architectures and rackmount or wall-mount installation, dynamic configuration options for zone count and output power, and more.
- Our sustainability commitment. At Zenitel, we strive to make a positive impact on the environment and contribute to our customer’s sustainability goals. Not only do we deliver energy efficient PAVA solutions, but our products are also designed with minimal environmental footprint in mind. We adhere to an eco-design approach, using long-lasting components and basing our products on future-ready technology platforms with backward compatibility.
- Another differentiator for us is the ability to easily and seamlessly integrate with our customers software. Whether that is a full-fledged custom control system integration, or an API/SDK enabler depends on the projects. We will continue to focus on making it easy to integrate and incorporate our products/systems into our customers total solutions. This is and can continue to be a barrier towards competition.
- We deliver all critical communication needs through a single platform. By integrating intercoms, IP speakers, radios, Public Address, and Voice Alarm systems into our Zenitel Connect Pro platform, we empower our customers to eliminate communication silos among security, operations, and safety teams. This unified approach not only offers operational benefits but also supports supplier consolidation by providing a comprehensive solution for all communication needs.
“Zenitel can and should be THE ultimate choice when you need a critical communication solution for your next public transportation project” Hanne says with pride. Being able to seamlessly integrate public address and voice alarm systems with Intercoms/Help Points, IP Speakers, and a unified software console to monitor and control all your communication assets, together with our ability to deliver on customization – I see a bright future for our growth both in the transportation vertical and all other areas".
Interview conducted by
Karin Skovgaard
Marketing Manager
Zenitel Safety and Security
