Business profile
There’s a saying ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. But what if you have to? DAC’s trackside telephone expertise got there in the end
W
hen DAC acquired the commercial telephone business of RACAL Acoustics, the
products had been in use since 1985, and while they were well-respected and reliable, due to RoHS legislation they could no longer be sold in the EU. So how do you go about making a product better without changing the inherent characteristics that have made it so successful? When faced with this dilemma DAC decided to canvass the people that know best rather than believe it had all the answers, a mindset not often taken in developing new products. However upon approaching stakeholders in the rail business - the major users of the product, it wasn’t as easy as first thought. At first it was very difficult to get hold of anyone who seemed to care that much, apathy seemed to be the key emotion. There were products that did a similar job, albeit not very well, so the interest level was low and this new approach was alien to many. Eventually DAC was directed
to a company, Eastern Voice and Data, which had been repairing trackside telephones for many years for the rail industry. Eastern Voice and Data had seen thousands of phones come in for repair over the years and had an almost oracle- like sense of the common problems that plagued these type of devices. DAC was able to establish a number of
the most frequent problems seen across the broad product mix that had been deployed over the years. After all, these products were used in very harsh trackside environments, which understandably took their toll.
RA708 telephone range Taking these gems of information on- board, DAC set about finding solutions to these problems, most of which, not surprisingly were moisture related. Having tackled all the main areas of generic weakness in this type of telephone, the company found solutions to the problems without compromising the original product concept, while at the
same time greatly improving the service life of the RA708 telephone range. Next on the list was bringing the electronics up to date and compliant with RoHS regulations. Having been given the latest version of Network Rail’s product requirements for trackside telephones, DAC set about developing new electronics to meet Network Rail standards, while taking time to find out what further enhancements would be desirable. In discussion with a Network Rail
engineer on requirements for the telephones, one item in the specification became a point of contention; it stated it must have a solid state hook switch. DAC had a moving hook switch, which it perceived to be better, as users, particularly the public, are used to this type of device for hanging up a call. Also, bearing in mind that these phones are to be used by the public at for example, level crossings, it seemed to be the much more easily understandable solution. During the debate the phone was set
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