29th March 2022. The National Coastwatch Institution, the charity that provides eyes along the coast to save lives at sea, has chosen Windsor Telecom as its managed communications provider. This forms a key part of the new five-year plan, recently launched by their Royal Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, at Trinity House, to expand and further raise awareness of their lifesaving work.

Windsor Telecom will manage and upgrade connectivity and communications to all 57 stations around the UK coastline, as well as supporting new innovations such as wireless monitoring and rescue cameras in remote locations to better support the 2,500 volunteer watchkeepers. Windsor Telecom will deliver site by site upgrades to the best available internet connections, using a mix of Fibre Broadband and 4G or 5G mobile connectivity and the replacement of legacy PSTN voice services with cloud telephony and DECT handsets

For over 25 years, NCI has been working alongside HM Coastguard and the RNLI to help save lives at sea and during 2021 they dealt with more than 700 incidents, but for too long many NCI stations have been relatively cut off when watching the remote areas’ they serve by relying on often outdated technology. That’s about to change with a 5-year plan to expand the service into new locations and take on more vital education and prevention work, as they work collaboratively with other search and rescue organisations.

Stephen Hand, General Secretary and IT Trustee at NCI comments: “Modernising our ability to communicate and share information swiftly and reliably is key to strengthening our ability to support our search and rescue partners in particular Maritime and Coastguard Agency and RNLI, so it’s important that we choose the right technology partner to join us on our 5-year plan. Windsor Telecom proved from the outset that they understood both our needs and culture, seeking a partnership that would contribute to our vision and help modernise NCI. We’re very excited to get started and can’t wait to see what the digital future brings.”

Pete Tomlinson, CEO at Windsor Telecom comments: “As a lifelong sailor who can remember a time before the internet and communications services were ubiquitous, I know first-hand how helpful these tools can be, especially in an emergency. I also know first-hand what a fantastic job the NCI and their volunteers do, keeping eyes along the coast and feel privileged to be working alongside them to move into a digital future.”