Live ESN demonstration at BAPCO 2018 is a hit with users

The demonstration took place using a beta release of the BSR1 software drop, which contains a lot of the core functionality required by ESN users. Calls were made between EE in Bristol and the Ricoh Arena in Coventry (BAPCO 2018’s venue).

Matt Hall, solutions architect at EE, explained that all the pre-emption and priority capabilities, together with intelligent access class barring capabilities were present and that the latter was tested during the Notting Hill carnival.

Simon McCutcheon, head of service governance at Motorola Solutions, explained that as his company’s team in Basingstoke received the first ESN devices from Samsung two weeks ago, the hardware/software integration “is not there yet”, though it was sufficient for the demonstration.

He showed the apps that will be used to access ESN’s core services: PSX Cockpit, which will allow users to sign into the other ESN applications; PSX PTT, for PTT calls; PSX Messaging, PSX Secure Calling, which allows end-to-end encrypted duplex telephony as a VoIP call over LTE, with pre-emption and priority. With the PSX PTT app, when a call is being made it shows the call sign of a person making a call and the number of people in the communications group (ESN’s equivalent of talk groups, given that the same groups are used for sharing messages and images). The app is used for both group calls and “point-to-point” calls.