Digital transformation is changing the way we live, work and travel and people now expect to send and receive information whenever and wherever they want. In addition, the pandemic and other global factors such as climate change, energy prices and the need to streamline supply chains have further accelerated the drive to adopt new technology in all areas of our lives.
But this digital shift has been happening at pace for years across industry, service operations and customer experience. If we take the rail industry as an example, digital technology has been constantly evolving within railway stations to transform the way they are managed.
What is SISS and why is it important?
Digital systems in rail stations such as CCTV, Public Address (PA) and Customer Information Systems (CIS) that previously operated independently of each other have been integrated to work together across much larger areas of the station. Known as Station Information Security Systems (SISS), the technology is not dependent on manpower to link the different elements making it significantly safer and more efficient.
SISS uses smart technology and provides much more powerful connectivity using IP data driven devices to create a more connected system. A good example to demonstrate the importance of SISS is the speed of communication and automated co-ordination of actions required in response to a safety incident. As soon as an incident is detected, it can create a public announcement to notify passengers of the incident, any related delay to trains, platform closures or station evacuation procedures. This action can also trigger other automatic notifications to emergency services or engineers who need to get to the site quickly.
An additional benefit of SISS for rail infrastructure operators, engineers and station managers is that it can be housed in and protected by a single enclosure; this means fewer SISS cabinets for engineers to maintain and a smaller footprint in and around the station.
In the future, SISS will evolve even further with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which will be able to find and deliver information considerably quicker than humans – in seconds rather than hours. To prepare for this, we’ve future-proofed our SISS cabinet COMMSAFE™ to accommodate such changes and to provide maximum protection to keep your systems safe inside.
Consultation is key to protecting your SISS equipment
Considering the critical role of the equipment within SISS cabinets, they must be fit for purpose, robust and adaptable enough for the needs of the station. The key to getting the right specification is an upfront, detailed discussion with an expert enclosure manufacturer that understands rail applications.
Not all providers of SISS cabinets offer consultancy as an integral service, but rail infrastructure operators who are looking for a “right first time” enclosure should insist on this. It is during the consultation process that an experienced and knowledgeable provider will ask the right questions, drill down and make sure that the SISS cabinet you are specifying will meet your needs. A good consultant will want to know what kind of equipment is going inside the cabinet, what the application is and where it is going to be sited. This will enable them to calculate factors such as thermal management – in other words, how much heat needs to be taken out of the SISS cabinet.
The most common cause of SISS failure is the equipment getting too hot and overheating, and a SISS cabinet that will be heavily exposed to sunlight must be precisely specified. A well-specified cabinet to house station information and security systems (SISS) will also give its contents robust defence against electro-magnetic fields, shock and vibration and a whole raft of other daily challenges.
Consult, design, make, protect
Our approach – the Rainford Way – is summed up in four words: Consult, Design, Make, Protect. We design our COMMSAFE™ enclosures based on a meticulous consultation to ensure all potential challenges are accounted for. Depending on your brief, we may go through two or three consultation stages because, with SISS cabinets containing as much as £100k of essential equipment, it’s vital that your system is given the best possible protection.
Only when a customer approves the design do we ‘make’ and then ‘protect’ the system on site. Our SISS cabinets are designed to comply with stringent customer specifications.
The contents of the SISS cabinet are the brains of the station, controlling its every movement, and protecting that data is crucial to ensure the most efficient and safest rail service possible. We are experts in designing and manufacturing enclosures that mitigate against risk and properly protect our customers’ assets.
Some enclosure providers sell SISS cabinets in flat pack from catalogues, but considering the importance of what’s inside, and the need to future proof, we believe that only thorough consultation delivers the right results.
