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BNSF Railway Co. recently contracted Avaya Inc. and ObjectTel to install an interoperable communication system for more than 1,100 radios used by train crews and track maintenance workers systemwide.

The companies provided an Internet Protocol-based converged voice, data and radio network to expand communication system functionality, improve response times and reduce operating costs by eliminating the amount of necessary hardware.

Previously, BNSF operated two separate radio networks, which were installed by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroads prior to the 1995 merger and weren’t interoperable. Avaya and ObjectTel created an interoperable CLASSONE™ Dispatch radio-to-telephone system that replaces multiple radio and voice systems with a single company-wide communications infrastructure. A contact center consolidates help desk support, wayside maintenance, crew management and remote dispatch functions.

"We needed a new centralized solution that could help us immediately and reliably communicate, whether one to one or with teams of individuals all at once," said BNSF Director of Telecommunications John Hicks in a prepared statement.