When a reliable connection matters the Coastguard Whitianga looks to Wireless Nation

Coastguard Whitianga oversees the waters from the top of the Coromandel to Hot Water Beach and out to the 12nm limit and beyond. When needed their volunteers and vessels are also available to support Coastguard Tairua-Pauanui. Whitianga Coastguard is the second busiest unit in the Eastern region.

We sat down with Diane Phillips, the Coastguard Whitianga Administration Officer, to find out more about what this incredible group of volunteers does and how Wireless Nation is keeping them connected when it really matters.

What is a bit unique about your particular Coastguard branch?

We have one of the largest territories of water in New Zealand. We also have an incredible group of volunteers who are stable, dependable and well trained. During the summer holidays, the Whitianga population and visitors to our town can triple and that results in a massive increase of people enjoying varied water activities.

Our unit has been running the Alan Jackson Memorial Cadetship for six years. This is an award winning, community outreach programme for youth aged 15-17, in partnership with the Mercury Bay Area School. Our unit also has an Incident Management Team with search and rescue capability.

We have the resources and qualified crew to host and support Coastguard Rescue Vessels and Police.

That’s so great you have such committed volunteers. What is the membership base like?

Three years ago, we transferred our local members to the national Coastguard Database and now service all Coastguard Members who visit our region.

What is a typical busy day during the summer?

Gosh, there is no typical day! It varies depending on the number of people, the weather, special events, and more. We look after a large territory of water and we see everything from mayday calls, to medical emergencies, to simple tows back to shore from mechanical problems, etc. No two days are the same.

Can you tell us more about how things work during peak times?

Sure. As I mentioned, things can vary greatly day-to-day. That said, during the summer we can have up to 300 radio calls a day, and trip reports from the Coastguard Trip Report App, which we also monitor.

Our radio operators can take back-to-back VHF calls so we need to stay on the ready at all times. Again, it could be someone that is simply out of fuel, or something much more serious. A busy day from memory, involved six call-outs. With our two 9m rescue vessels, we can tailor our responses to call out demands.

Why is connectivity important and why did you choose Wireless Nation as your supplier?

Wireless Nation’s proposal covered all services we required, cohesively as a full solution to our needs.

We have unlimited fibre with great WiFi coverage across the premises using Plume which includes cyber security and automatic adaptive optimisations.

Our telephone requirements were addressed with a simple cloud-based phone system.

We also needed portable data plans for tablets. It is so great we can get this all in one place, from one provider, from a company that supports Coastguard financially too! It’s awesome they also give our members discounts for their own personal telco needs as well.

What do you like about working with Wireless Nation? 

The fact that we don’t have to think about it frankly. We have had very few issues, but when we did during the initial set up, things were resolved quickly and we were able to sort things straight away.

This matters, especially if there is an emergency.

Is there anything else that you can say about your experience?

Again, that we don’t have to even think about staying connected or getting online. In emergency services, that’s what you want – something seamless.

This means the provider should not be on your mind so you can do what you need to as a volunteer with laser focus.

We have never had an issue since we set it up. Dealing with Wireless Nation has been awesome.

They make things easy and in emergency services, reliability is what counts. We can help people who may be in danger knowing that our Telco is supporting us with a rock solid stable system.

Thanks so much for your time Diane, we are thrilled that you have had such a great experience with us.

We are so proud to support the Coastguard and fantastic people such as yourself who dedicate themselves to keeping Kiwis safe on the water.