What do you do when you are dissatisfied with the indoor coverage in the part of the city that is your responsibility? You do something about it – that is the attitude at Frederiksberg Fire Brigade.

It is not an easy job to establish SINE coverage in the Danish cities. The concentration of residents – hence tall buildings, closed backyards and underground parking lots –  can be a challenge when police, fire fighters, ambulance crews and other rescue operators  need to communicate using their terminals during an emergency operation. It is difficult for the signals to pass through building materials as concrete and steel.

Jack Creutzberg, System Administrator at Frederiksberg Fire Brigade, dug into the technology behind SINE and took up a dialogue with Dansk Beredskabskommunikation (DBK) on the subject. The result came in the form of a DMO repeater solution, which enhances the indoor coverage in buildings and other special areas that experience poor radio coverage.

The solution is ingenious however simple:  In enclosed spaces, for instance a parking cellar, the team leader brings with him a “suitcase” with a battery powered DMO repeater. When the outside rescue manager sees the signal strength beginning to fade, he tells the team leader to place the box on the floor. Continuing onwards, the team leader will, via the DMO repeater, have a clear and strong radio signal going further in, securing contact with the rest of the team. The DMO repeater has been tested during the last couple of month and the results are extremely positive.

“When we use the DMO repeater solution our rescuers can communicate unimpeded with each other. It’s a great improvement. The radio signals used to be unstable when the team leader entered a building with his fire squad, but that is not the case anymore”, says Michael Nyrand, Operational leader at Frederiksberg Fire Brigade.

When the tests are completed Frederiksberg Fire Brigade will complete a detailed report. But Jack Creutzberg and Michael Nyrand have no doubt that the solution is there to stay. The DMO repeater solution has improved the indoor coverage during operations significantly and thereby increased the safety for as well citizens as the rescuers in the fire brigade at Frederiksberg.