Perth-based satellite connectivity firm Orion Satellite Systems has been named as a finalist in the 2021 CRN Impact Awards for its recent network upgrade.
Orion offers internet, voice, broadband data, fixed land remote systems and other telco services for businesses delivered through satellite technology.
The company upgraded its network in 2020, replacing satellite hubs to Time-division multiple access (TDMA) hubs from vendor UHP Networks, as well as developing a new customer portal, Horizon. The upgrade came as the incumbent hubs were reaching end-of-life, and Orion also wanted new technology that would offer more scope for product development.
The project also included migrating customer connections and the provision, delivery and installation assistance of new hardware to customers.
Orion said the upgrade resolves the need to scale connectivity based on usage peaks and troughs via burstable bandwidth, as well as visibility of performance for all sites and services, both through the Horizon portal.
Customers, both active and passive, were invited by Orion to move to the new hubs and the migration involved completely replacing all hardware due to compatibility issues. Horizon has also allowed customers in remote areas to commit to a monthly amount within their budget and scale their bandwidth to cater to spikes in activity.
The company said it managed to upgrade all customers within its deadline, citing support from strategic marketing communications to distribute messages, which was integrated with marketing technology to book and manage customer meetings.
Craig Chitty, operations manager at Orion customer Strike Drilling, said, “Working in the exploration drilling sector we rely heavily on effective communications. Given the remote locations in which we operate, it is a must that we have a reliable system for management and the crews to use.”
“Orion has provided a robust and effective system over many years and the recent UHP upgrades have significantly improved the stability and function of the systems. The rollout process for the UHP upgrades have been made simpler by the excellent communication from Amy and the team at Orion.
Chitty added that all of the upgrades arrived as expected and that the continued support from Orion was efficient, and the few issues that arose were dealt with expediently.
Katrina-Lee O’Brien, owner of another Orion customer Earthmoving said [Orion senior account manager] Amy Baxter and the Orion team had been very supportive during the migration.
“We have received regular and clear communication at every stage. Amy provided training to myself and the team on how to use the portal. The portal is very simple and easy to use.
“Having the ability to jump online and scale our bandwidth is very attractive to us. We regularly run projects that require varying amounts of bandwidth. Horizon enables us to pay for the connectivity we need and use and to adjust it as we wish. It’s impressive and I definitely haven’t seen or heard of anyone being able to offer the same flexibility and service.”Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
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