FOCUS
Heart of the matter A year after Grenfell and post the Hackitt
report, FPA Infozone talks at FIREX sought to address urgent questions. F&RM reports
our future, economic and otherwise. The Grenfell Tower tragedy hit just before FIREX 2017, and one year on, the mood at FIREX 2018 made it clear that on that subject the long game cannot be tolerated. Swifter answers and outcomes are needed when lives and buildings are at risk. Large audiences at our Grenfell updates in
T
the FPA Infozone were keen to know how things are moving forward and what happens after the Hackitt report; to get to the heart of the matter and discover how outcomes might be infl uenced – after all, actions speak louder than words. As these overviews show, hard work is going on apace across the sector to help protect lives and property, and prevent another such disaster.
Digital switch
FPA Infozone sponsors BT Redcare explored the replacement of the UK analogue telephone network with a digital service, Sodhi Dhillon noting that this ‘dawn of a new era’ would ‘impact and affect’ businesses – the switchover is due by 2025. Telephones are ‘one of the only things’ not yet
32 JULY/AUGUST 2018
www.frmjournal.com
HE BREXIT referendum coincided with FIREX 2016 and we are still adjusting to the ‘long game’ and frustrating lack of clarity about
digital, and are regarded as old, dated and ‘not fi t for service’. Digital will offer users extra features and services as part of an international trend, Mr Dhillon adding that ‘many countries’ and major international telecoms companies ‘are drawing far ahead’ of the UK, or are ‘already there’. The technology will utilise fi bre and copper
networks to offer telecommunications through voice over internet protocol (VOIP), and Mr Dhillon also highlighted ‘different paths’ voice calls and broadband take, and the ‘primary’ role of the hub in future for voice and data. With products launching this year, the aim
is to have ‘all connectivity from the router, not phone line extensions’, with sockets becoming redundant and causing interference with wireless technology. Interim solutions include handsets connected to hubs, BT briefing industry that ‘things are changing’ and ‘will work differently’. Rob McLaughlin explained the impact on
Redcare products, some futureproofed already and unaffected, while others only require a ‘small adjustment’. Analogue and digital diallers will be affected, with ‘no guarantee’ some will work if not tested, but this is an opportunity to ‘remove old technology and replace’ it, those electing not to do so leaving themselves ‘in the lap of the gods’.
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