Airwave invests in training with QA-IQ

Critical Firelink project supported by technical skills

19 November, 2007
QA-IQ is to deliver technical and end-user skills training to support the critical Firelink communications project for the English, Scottish and Welsh Fire and Rescue Services (FRS), having been appointed by Airwave (formerly O2 Airwave) to design and deliver a comprehensive training programme for technical staff, end-users and FRS instructors. In addition, QA-IQ will provide a fully managed service incorporating additional training from key technology vendors into the programme.

QA-IQ will supply specialist TETRA Communication instructors to develop and deliver a programme of learning over the next three years to support the upgrade of the Fire and Rescue Services’ communications to the secure Tetra system as part of the Firelink initiative.

Patrick Hamilton, Customer Training Manager at Airwave, explains; “Training is an essential part of the development and launch of the secure communications system and we needed to ensure that it was going to be delivered by a training partner that met our high standards. QA-IQ has the experience of working with both the telecoms industry and the public sector that is so important for this project. QA-IQ’s instructors have extensive knowledge of these systems and we are confident that they will develop and manage a training solution that meets our specific requirements.”

Managing Director at QA-IQ, John Kauffman, adds; “QA-IQ has worked hard to develop a strong methodology to support our course development architecture and this, combined with our robust internal processes and Programme Management methodologies, helped us to demonstrate to Airwave that we can develop and manage the training needed for a project of this size. We will be managing the training process from end-to-end and are looking forward to working with Airwave to design and deliver a really exciting and effective programme that will significantly contribute to the success of this project.”

The seven courses to be developed will include fifteen modules and will be delivered to the fourteen FRS regions in the UK. As well as core technical training for the Control Centres, System Managers, Maintenance teams, and Fleet Mapping Managers who will be using the new hardware, QA-IQ will also train and support the FRS’s own instructors to cascade training throughout the UK FRS’s sixty thousand operational users.

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