Solutions Overview

Products and Solutions Overview. What makes us different?

Founded in 2001 our company has rapidly become the UK market leader in the provision of Video Voice Data and Internet over Satellite and Wireless onboard a variety of vehicles within our key market sectors and we probably have more customers and positive references from those customers than the rest of the competition put together. We are happy to demonstrate this whenever we are asked.

We have achieved this by being the pioneers in every field of our activities;

• • We introduced the concept into the UK Emergency Services of delivering broadband via satellite on Incident Command and Response Vehicles so that within three to four minutes of arriving at a scene our customers can be running mission critical applications and communications on as much bandwidth as they need.
• • We introduced the concept of providing these vehicles with their own independent GSM network generated from these vehicles so that irrespective of the presence or capability of any incumbent national cellular network our customers will always have cellphone connectivity.
• • We developed and introduced a Satellite GSM PBX Communications HUB that delivers corporate PBX functionality wherever our customers vehicles are deployed that joins together seamlessly the technologies of Cellphones, VOIP Phones and Private Mobile Radio providing an ease of use, resilience and convergence capability never seen before in this environment.
• • We introduced vehicle based, rapidly deployable and body worn camera capability that allows high quality video to be viewed and delivered anywhere within economical levels of bandwidth which allows our customers to engage any number of authorised experts anywhere in the world to assist with the process of dealing with any incident more quickly and more effectively.

We have achieved this by identifying all the areas that present obstacles to the delivery of best of breed solutions and service and the highest customer satisfaction and by investing in the people, systems and solutions to reduce or eradicate those obstacles and are committed to the continuance of this ethos and process;

• • We provide and manage our own satellite bandwidth and share it with no one allowing us to provide multiple variations in bandwidth offerings and SLA’s ensuring that this fundamental part of the equation does what it says on the tin.
• • Everything we provide is supplied, integrated, managed and supported by our own staff; nothing is subcontracted in our core business meaning that if things do go wrong our customers and we know who owns the problem and who will fix the problem. We don’t play pass the parcel called problem with our customers – it’s called being accountable and taking responsibility.
• • We are constantly provided with references that compliment our attitude, innovation and our understanding of our customers needs, concerns and operational priorities proving that we actually delivery what others only print or talk about.

We appreciate that most businesses say similar things – all we ask is for the opportunity for you to put us to the test.

Core Activities.

When visiting our website and examining our markets it would be very easy to assume that Excelerate is predominantly involved in large scale integrated projects concerning the UK’s Police, Fire and Ambulance Services. True, this could be described as our core business and we are by any measure the market leader in this field but as you can see from the menu tabs at the top of our website we are engaged in many other sectors, at many different levels in many different ways although all generally have a common strand – how to send and receive information consisting of data, video and voice at broadband speeds anywhere you might want to be, economically.

In the same way that Motor Racing is vital to the forward development of the motor industry then so too is the Emergency Services to our own as it constantly challenges us to develop an increasing number of applications and services to be run over our core solution of satellite and wireless. As we constantly step up to the challenges and ideas presented to Excelerate by this demanding market sector there are inevitable spin offs that can be applied, sometimes differently to a whole list of other market sectors and customers.

The key to yours and our progress is the ability to use our joint imaginations and to be brave enough to sometimes try what hasn’t been tried before. It is interesting isn’t it – those who try new ideas which work are seen to be pioneers and heroes and those that don’t quite turn out to plan are seen to be mavericks. Our job is to ensure that failure is kept to a minimum and its risk is constrained to new developments and not the myriad of tried and tested solutions that are endorsed by the largest customer base of its kind in Europe. We are by any measure the market leader in our field with probably more customers than our competitors combined – and that can’t happen to a failure.

Single Products, Integrated Solutions, Design and Build Projects – The choice is yours.

Just about all of the solutions in our overall portfolio are capable of being used as single standalone products although we develop most offerings as part of an integrated requirement. For example just about all of our emergency services customers specify CCTV, thermal and normal cameras when we commence a project to provide a full range of solutions on an Incident Response or Control Vehicle. Having seen how all these solutions work together our customers inevitably think of ways to deploy a proportion of them in standalone applications which can then be linked into the vehicle and headquarters network remotely and even beyond. This is just one example.

Core Satellite Network – Broadband via Satellite.

If there is a core business in Excelerate it is our privately managed in real time satellite network which gives us the ability to deploy vehicle based, portable and fixed site satellite terminals (VSAT’s) and then to ensure the delivery of the amount of bandwidth up and down that our customers have specified or need. Our Ofcom Licence allows us to deploy as many terminals as we wish within our annual licence fee and for our customers to deploy at will without intervention from the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom provided we and our customers adhere to some simple unobtrusive guidelines.

Excelerate operates its satellite services under a Virtual Network Operator Licence (VNO) which means that we buy in unshared satellite capacity and we allocate it to customers as determined by our customers needs, requirements, SLA’s or contracts. From our Network Operations Centre based at our Cardiff Headquarters the health of the network and the capacity being delivered to our customer sites is monitored and managed to ensure our performance obligations. It is important to note that in this business model our satellite capacity is just that, it isn’t shared with anyone else nor can it be “hijacked” or commandeered by any other operator or user, in any circumstances. Not only does our business model protect our satellite capacity, which we increase as we grow our customer base, but it also allows Excelerate to design commercial packages in 64Kbps increments in either direction to suit our customer’s requirements and budgets. These include economical contended services (contended within our own network) to completely uncontended or dedicated bandwidth for higher SLA’s and applications.

Most of our satellite business is in the VSAT arena for customer economic reasons but as costs come down then more and more customers will be able to justify the move into point to point services where the satellite IP stream is passed directly between a customer site via the satellite directly to another customer site without the need to be transported over the internet. This is considered the ultimate in terms of security and resilience but as usual it is a matter of weighing up the cost comparisons. Either way we can offer and manage all the options and flavours currently available.

Although Excelerate is the UK’s major provider of vehicle based systems where our clients enjoy the benefits of as much broadband as they need within four minutes of arriving at an incident Excelerate does have customers with fixed site locations. We have customers with buildings equipped with our satellite solutions in major population areas where the commercial justification is one of business continuity. In other words how can I continue to operate if I lose my terrestrial telecoms or broadband link? Business continuity and resilience applications for satellite are a big growth area and one which should be a major consideration for any CEO or Finance Director and potentially the customer’s insurers. In some cases depending on the size of company the successful addressing business resilience and continuity issues may even affect the company’s annual audit report. We have other fixed satellite solutions in rural communities or business devoid of terrestrial broadband so that they can enjoy the benefits that their city based colleagues enjoy and some businesses who use satellite as their dedicated communications bearer due to its increased resilience over a terrestrial alternative. The choice is yours.

It’s what you do with it that matters.

Look at it this way. If the only thing you could do over the internet was send and receive emails would it have grown to where it is and would there have been the need or the stimulus for broadband? The answer is no. In the internet world the key driver apart from price is content and in our environment it is a mixture of content and applications. Would everyone have a television if there weren’t programmes to watch? Same answer. As 78% of all satellite revenues are derived from television broadcasting would there be a satellite industry if there weren’t countless millions of televisions all eager to suck up news, sport and international programming from afar? The point we hope is taken.

The growth of Excelerate’s early business was at the same characteristically slower rate at the start whilst customers worked out what they could do over a private satellite broadband network. Whilst the advantages of being assured of broadband anywhere was obvious and compelling using our early internet analogy above and just using the service for emails was not enough for most customers and difficult to cost justify. The fact is that we needed to think of more things that could be done over a satellite broadband network to stimulate demand and our customers wanted to be able to do more things anyway. Just as importantly they wanted a supplier who understood the whole jigsaw, could supply it, manage it and support it. Amazing in a couple of paragraphs we have just explained why we were born, what stifled our early growth and what the catalyst was for an explosion in growth.

Below is a brief description of some of the solutions and applications we provide which are implemented by Excelerate and which use Satellite and Wireless as the bearers for the IP Links that connect all devices and transport the data, voice and video from and to any location in real time. This list is growing all the time as we and our customers think of new things that can be done over the core satellite network from and to anywhere our customers need to work or function. In fact the best way to approach this is to imagine anything you can do within your general corporate environment and then be aware that it can be done remotely at broadband speeds with resilience.

Wireless Expandability

With satellite forming the backhaul to the wider world, our wireless solutions extend the range of operations and we provide a number of transmission technologies that take into account specific operational needs and environmental conditions. Wireless-enabled vehicles can interconnect and our patented, rapidly deployable wireless nodes allow rapid and easy extension of operational perimeters allowing wireless devices such as tablet PC’s, PDA’s, VOIP phones and cameras to operate within the designated zone or cordon.

Voice Communications

Utilising our satellite, wireless and Private GSM Service we provide a comprehensive suite of different voice capabilities ensuring maximum availability and resilience even when normal terrestrial services are not available or have been compromised. Excelerate’s Communications Management Solution (ECMS) provides a fully integrated and functional satellite and GSM PBX to deliver seamless connectivity as if it was part of a customer’s core telecoms network. ECMS can patch and record every voice device being pushed through it and users of VOIP handsets, GSM, VHF, UHF and Airwave can be connected to each other.

We also provide and manage a fully functional, cost effective private GSM network anywhere it is required whether it be vehicle, land or sea-based. Excelerate Technology is the first company in Europe to deliver a private GSM network that travels with the customer. Our RapidNet Private GSM network can be complimented with our encrypted GSM handsets to ensure calls are secure although these handsets will work on other CSD enabled networks too anywhere in the world. Of course, not all our customers require this level of sophistication and simpler solutions are also part of our comprehensive portfolio.

Video Applications

Our ability to deliver consistent, high quality bandwidth anywhere via satellite and wireless has created a high demand for integrated vehicle, land, sea and body worn CCTV solutions. They enhance security and operational capability by providing our customers with the means to view high quality video using internet and 3G connections anywhere in the world. We provide body worn solutions that utilise a variety of transmission standards including COFDM, Wireless, GSM and 3G to suit the purpose and the levels of resilience required. Our camera solutions offer normal and thermal capability with recording both locally and remotely, and comply with all legislation for using recorded material for evidential purposes.

Network Configuration, Security and Data Storage

Excelerate Technology provides both the expertise and the hardware to ensure that end-to-end connectivity is secure and private with all data stored safely and archived for rapid and easy retrieval by authorised personnel. Our own satellite and GSM specific VPN technology ensures our customers applications run fast and smooth with a stable connection. Our engineers are qualified in the field of VPN network security and configuration and work with our customers to ensure integration is painless and operation and security is never compromised.

Information Displays?

Our turnkey end-to-end integration capabilities extend to ensuring that our customers can view the information that is being relayed in the way that suits their operational requirements. We configure complex multi-screen applications to ensure the greatest range of possibilities in the most user friendly way. Excelerate provides a complete range of solutions from single displays and video walls in operational areas, to large touchscreen or smartboard enabled plasma and LCD panels through to external high brightness, anti-glare displays for large scale external briefings and public information applications. We are committed to meeting the needs of customers and providing them with the most appropriate technology to meet specific business requirements.

Strategic Emergency Planning Software (STEPS)

Our product portfolio continues to expand to meet the increasing requirements of organisations across many different market sectors for satellite bandwidth. There are no limitations to the benefits that can be achieved by investing in satellite solutions. The more things our customers can do over the satellite IP connection the more compelling the requirement and the decision to use satellite. The greater the number of applications the more cost effective the continuous investment in bandwidth actually becomes.

An obvious application is the ability to provide and integrate informative and user friendly visual planning tools with full GIS and Mapping that can be interfaced with other headquarters based applications. From the moment that the satellite connection is made, the information provided is right up to date and all operational decisions and changes can be conveyed to other users of the software anywhere in the world near instantly. STEPS provides location-based intelligence about an area, buildings, infrastructure, assets and threats overlaid with operational collateral that allows faster and more informed management of incidents and the automatic sharing of information in real time with colleagues or other participating agencies anywhere to improve communication and incident appraisal.