Glentel helps Parks Canada with Zetron VoIP

Canada’s National Parks contain thousands of acres of some of the most spectacular scenic grandeur and unspoiled wilderness in North America. Parks Canada, the federal government agency responsible for administering the national parks, ensures that they are kept in pristine condition for current and future generations of Canadians and for the thousands of tourists from around the world who visit the parks each year.

A voice in the wilderness: 15 years ago, the Parks Canada dispatch system consisted of little more than a modified scanning base station. The current radio system has come a long way from there and includes a combination of technologies including solar or wind-powered repeaters perched on icy mountain tops and advanced capabilities such as VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) all routed through Zetron’s Integrator RD Radio Dispatch Consoles and multiple channel Model 4048 Common Control Units (CCUs).
‘Zetron consoles form the primary communications system for both the Banff and Jasper parks,” explains Mike Foreman, Head of Telecom Services with Banff National Park. “Banff originally had a single pushbutton Zetron Model 4018 with a Model 4024 Common Control Unit (CCU) in the backroom. Two years ago we upgraded both parks to Integrator RD Radio Dispatch Consoles and we are now using the Model 4048 CCU in Jasper. The upgrade work was shared between two Canadian Zetron resellers: Glentel, Inc. and Westcan Wireless. The project was spearheaded by Martin Visser, Telecom Project Manager with Public Works Canada.”

Seasonal greetings: Foreman explains that the radio system experiences wild swings in the number of users, with as many as two to three hundred users in the busy summer months, dropping down to around 100 during the winter months when many of the parks are snow-bound.
“Radio system users include our service personnel, camp ground personnel, tradespeople, and scientific personnel, as well as our Park Wardens,” Foreman says. “The Warden Service is a federal law enforcement agency much like the RCMP or Customs, and is divided into law enforcement, public safety, rescue, and scientific staff, etc.”

Extending the consoles’ reach: The Banff National Park dispatch is equipped with two positions of Zetron’s Integrator RD Radio Dispatch Controllers and a Model 4024 Common Control Unit. Banff provides dispatch for the Banff park and for two additional mountain parks, Kootenay and Yoho.
At the Banff dispatch, one of the older Model 4018s has been relocated to another room where it is now used for coordinating rescues.
“Our Telecommunications Technician in Jasper, Ron Zinck, really has his hands full” Foreman says, “because the Jasper dispatch not only provides dispatch for the park, but also functions as a full-blown 9-1-1 center for the region, accepting 9-1-1 calls and dispatching local law enforcement, ambulance, EMS, and fire.”

Although Banff and Jasper operate separate, independent console systems, they can also communicate with each other. Moreover, thanks to the Zetron radio or telephone consoles’ VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) capabilities, Jasper is able to provide dispatch service for a number of national parks scattered across Canada.

“The other parks are able to call up to Jasper for whatever dispatching functions they need performed, including CPIC checks,” Foreman explains. “We can actually run Canadian or US license plates, as we have access to the US system through our CPIC system.”
Both the Banff and Jasper dispatches have IRRs (Instant Recall Recorders) installed for both radio and telephone traffic, in addition to a logging recorder. Foreman adds that the Parks Canada dispatchers make regular use of the IRR capability, especially at the Jasper dispatch which handles 9-1-1 calls.

The list of parks that Jasper dispatches for using the consoles VoIP capabilities is impressive:

• Bruce Peninsula/Fathom Five National Parks—ON
• Cape Breton Highlands National Park—NS
• Georgian Bay National Park—ON
• Gros Morne National Park—NL
• Gulf Islands National Park—BC
• Gwaii Haanas National Park—BC
• Kluane National Park—YT
• Mount Reve National Parks—BC
• Pacific Rim National Park—BC
• Point Pelee National Park—ON
• Prince Edward Island National Park—PE
• Pukaskwa National Park—ON
• Riding Mountain National Park—MB
• Terra Nova National Park—NL
• Wood Buffalo National Park—AB

From the mountains to the valley: Many of Canada’s mountain parks offer extreme environments, which means the radio system must also cope with extremes of heat, cold, and elevation.
“We have a large number of mountaintop repeaters,” Foreman says. “In the last two years I have added five more repeater sites at the Banff Park alone. They all employ VHF radios on the l60 MHz high band with a number of UHF links. Our mountain top repeater sites are solar powered, with the exception of one site where we recently installed a wind turbine. Again, the repeaters were part of our brand new radio system upgrade, and everything is routed through the Zetron console system.”
Even with solar panels and wind power, keeping the mountain top repeater sites up and running through a long, cold Canadian winter can be a challenge. Fortunately, the sites are remotely monitored, so if voltage starts to drop—indicating, for example, that the solar panels are being covered by snow—Foreman and his colleagues can fly up to the site by helicopter to clean snow off the panels or perform other necessary maintenance and repairs. Foreman recalls that, on one such trip, the entire repeater site was buried under a huge drift and required two hours of digging to uncover.

A legacy for the future: Today, park wardens are required to fulfill multiple responsibilities in addition to their traditional warden roles, including law enforcement and firefighting. With so much at stake, mission critical communications are essential. Zetron is proud that its equipment is helping Parks Canada protect these spectacular World Heritage Sites for future generations. Article provided by Zetron.