Powerful Critical Communications for Utility Companies and Grid Operators

CONET is Achilles Qualified
As your partner in procurement and sourcing, Achilles aims at offering a new kind of technology and solution procurement with less risk, less cost and less compliance issues through its established communities for special industrial sectors and technological challenges. For Utilities Nordics & Central Europe, CONET with its UC Radio Suite is a listed qualified member of the Achilles community.

While changed energy policies and progressing digitalization support environmental protection, efficiency and transparency, they also increase the complexity in the operational processes of utility companies. The UC Radio Suite integrates all communication channels and platforms including multiline channels / trading and mobile applications on a single centralized and easy-to-use interface. The flexible switching operations and the information exchange necessary for avoiding shortages and overvoltages alike become more reliable and easier to manage.

Emergencies caused by damaged equipment or infrastructure as well as situations of crisis due to extreme weather conditions or large-scale blackouts lead to special challenges for communication and control. The high availability and resilience of the UC Radio Suite enable reliable communication even in such emergency and crisis scenarios. The UCRS directly connects emergency services, public crisis and control centers, satellite phones, digital radio like TETRA or P25 and private mobile radio with the grid control centers and offers additional mobile support on distributed premises with optional supplementary modules like smartphone applications and a mobile command flight case.

Being an integral part of critical infrastructures (German: KRITIS), utility companies have to comply with especially high demands towards safeguarding against physical attacks, sabotage and blackouts as well as securing their IT and communication systems against cyber attacks. The UC Radio Suite strengthens the infrastructures' overall resilience, offers extensive backup and redundancy mechanisms and provides the necessary transparency and traceability. The completely software-based solution facilitates flexible functional adjustments and security-relevant updates at any time - efficiently and without downtime.

The UC Radio Suite combines integration capability, flexibility, functional power and reliability, thereby offering the perfectly suited support for the communicative challenges in grid control centers and distribution sites.

• Freely customizable graphical user interface
• Flexible multiline communication and conferencing
• Highly available and resilient control center communication
• Fully integrated mobile solutions for smartphones and tablets
• Internet-based, standardized and easily scalable
• Sustainable, future-proof solutions based on established industry standards
• High usability via flexible multi-touch interfaces
• Increased acceptance by users and employee representatives
• Strong security levels in IT security and data protection
• Compliance with the German BDEW recommendations and international communication standards

With our mobile communication applications for smartphones and tablets you increase the efficiency of your operating and emergency processes in regular operation and facilitate reliable communication also in large-scale crisis or blackout scenarios.

Under normal supply conditions, the grid management, dispatching and control centers communicate with their operating staff via public mobile radio networks and their own private radio networks. In case of a blackout, wireless hotspots, e.g. at the substations, can secure interruption-free communication with the connected control systems of the grid management.

In both these scenarios, CONET Communication Apps support your grid control management perfectly. They provide comprehensive communication services for voice and data transmission, are completely integrated with the existing communication and control systems and easily customizable for your special needs and operating processes.

Guaranteed Availability – Unlimited Mobility

The easy-to-use apps cover all the extensive usability options offered by modern mobile phones and tablets and increase the availability of your operating staff at your premises as well as substations and distributed locations via their own smart devices - in regular operations and blackout scenarios alike.

The respective business processes in critical infrastructure management include critical communications with the communication, control and workforce systems of the grid operators.

Therefore, CONET follows a comprehensive "security-by-design" approach in developing critical communication solutions, thus safeguarding that all regulatory and legal conditions are met, the compliance with high and very high security standards is facilitated and that a consistent traceability is ensured via suitable monitoring and documentation mechanisms.

Key Features of Critical Communication Apps for Utility Companies and Grid Operators:

• Use of modern technology and usability concepts of smartphones and tablets
• Integrated, web-based communication between control center and operating staff
• Increased safety for the onsite staff
• Reliable functionality and capability in regular as well as emergency operation

• Sustainable, future-proof solutions based on established industry standards

• High usability and thus increased acceptance by users

• Strong security levels in IT security and data protection

• Control Room Communications
• Architecture & Modules
• Projects & Partners