EMS Sky Connect Fact Sheet

Solutions At-A-Glance

Iridium Telephony for Aircraft

With its SATTALK product, EMS Sky Connect makes it easy for aircrews to use the Iridium portable telephone by interconnecting it to their headsets. This capability allows Iridium phone calls to supplement regular radio communications for civilian and military aircraft flying in remote regions around the world.

The proven viability of Iridium on board aircraft led to the development of several systems directed at the corporate marketplace. The premier Executive product equipped corporate jets with cordless telephones and worldwide telephony at a fraction of the cost of existing satellite- or ground-based aircraft telephones. Low-speed data access was also available with the Executive.

WConcurrently with the successes in the corporate aircraft arena, a demand for Iridium voice services developed for helicopters in several industries. In the Gulf of Mexico, after repeated disruptions with legacy communications services following hurricanes, Satcom systems were rapidly adopted by all operators of helicopters in the off-shore oil industry. Voice telephony was typically coupled with autonomous flight tracking using Iridium short-burst data (SBD).

Affordable Worldwide Tracking Services

As soon as Iridium announced the commercial availability of its SBD service, EMS Sky Connect pioneered airborne tracking that truly works around the world, from the North to the South Poles. Within six months of the TRACKER product launch, several high-visibility operators adopted TRACKER as a key component for their mission operations.

Sponsored by the U.S. State Department, TRACKER systems featuring voice telephony were installed on all aircraft being used for Plan Colombia drug eradication and interdiction missions. Operating in mountainous jungle terrain, Iridium-based tracking is the only technology that provides commanders with full-time fleet status.

Now EagleMed, one of the biggest air ambulance services in the Midwestern U.S., rewrote their operations plan based on the promise of real-time fleet monitoring. Since deploying TRACKERs into their aircraft (helicopters and fixed-wing), EagleMed manages 20 aircraft at eight bases located in five states from a single dispatch center. By reducing expenses through better aircraft management and offering hospitals up-to-the-minute arrival times, profits and revenue increased several hundred percent.

EMS Sky Connect TRACKERS are in use throughout the world, mostly on helicopters that often fly in remote areas without the benefit of radar control. With integrated messaging and voice telephony, aircrews are never out of touch. Whether for mission reassignment, mechanical troubleshooting, or urgent safety-of-flight issues, Iridium provides the most reliable method for supporting and managing aircraft. Adaptable to any type of mission – from fire-fighting to air taxi to pipeline patrol – TRACKER systems offer one of the fastest and provable ROI of any avionics systems available.

Customer Base

Sky Connect supports oil & gas exploration/production, as well as forest fire fighting, emergency transport and law enforcement. Its customer base includes Bell Helicopter, Augusta/Westland, Chevron, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., MedSTAR Transport, Airlift Northwest, Cook Children’s Medial Center, as well as Rotorcraft Leasing, Era Helicopter LLC., and Jakarta-based charter operator PT Travira Air.