Frequentis to Conquer the Seas

His "master`s certificate" is displayed on the wall in his office.  Hannes Bardach had to take the master`s test when he took over the direction of Frequentis in 1983. "My diploma from the technical university wasn`t enough at the time," Bardach said, adding "but education never hurt anyone." Frequentis had 46 employees and was a medium-sized Viennese company in 1983. Today, Frequentis has over 1,000 employees around the world and has grown to become a global player and the market leader in some areas.

Bardach collects his various awards in a glass case in his office, including a very special one that employees built for him out of Lego blocks – a control center with different vehicles: a helicopter, a police motorcycle, a fire truck and a combined offroad/amphibious truck. The Lego creations represent the business areas of Frequentis. Now, the employees have another vehicle to build: a ship. Because the Austrian technology company is in the process of conquering the world`s oceans with its communication solutions – after Canada, Australia is now the second seafaring nation to adopt a maritime solution from Frequentis.

Transponder technologyIn the 1990s, Frequentis developed a new transponder technology that transmits data over a specific frequency, for example the device`s GPS location and other information. This system was used in two areas: air traffic control and shipping. In air traffic control, it is especially common in Scandinavia. And in the worldwide shipping industry, it has become a "must have," as it allows a ship to be located very easily like with radar, but without using radar. Every ship is equipped with a transponder, and when it comes within range of another ship, the other ship is warned.

"We set standards""Twenty percent of the world`s oceans are now controlled with Frequentis technology," Bardach said. The Canadian coast has been covered by a Frequentis information system for several years already, and the most recent order for such a system came from Australia. "Canada and Australia are the world`s two leading seafaring nations, " Bardach explained, "both are members of all relevant organizations – which is important for us because we want to set standards with our products. One of our fundamental principles is: `We set standards.`"

Maritime distress systemsThe company expanded into maritime systems a few years ago when it began working on a worldwide electronic SOS solution called the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS). In case of emergency, this maritime distress system communicates using different technologies depending on where the vessel is: by mobile telephony, VHF radio, medium-wave radio, geostationary satellites, and – in polar regions – polar satellites. "When the ship is in distress, the captain pushes a button, and the SOS call is received by the coast guard and other ships," Bardach explained. This solution is built on Frequentis know-how in Canada, and now also in Australia. Bardach: "Our maritime technology is still broken down into individual elements. Our vision is a workstation that helps the pilot on shore manage everything and communicate using a uniform medium."

River information systemFrequentis has achieved major successes not only on the oceans, but also in ports and on rivers and lakes. For example, the harbor in Singapore was equipped by Frequentis, as was the port in Hamburg, and you cannot enter Great Britain without Frequentis technology – the country uses all of the Austrian technology company`s systems: civilian and military air traffic control, GSM-R dispatchers for the rail system (in collaboration with the Kapsch Group), maritime communication, Scotland Yard communicates using Frequentis technology, and 60,000 surveillance cameras are also controlled by a Frequentis system.

Together with Via Donau, Frequentis has developed the Donau River Information System (DoRIS) for the Danube, the first river information system in Europe that has since gone into use around the world, including on the Nile in Egypt.

World market leader"Our goal is to become the world`s number one in control center solutions, because everything we do, we do around the world," Bardach said. "That is an ambitious vision, but up until now, we have reached every goal we have set for ourselves thanks to our highly motivated team." In the 1990s, Bardach wanted to become the European market leader in air traffic control – and succeeded. At the end of the last century, his goal was to generate a billion schillings in revenue by the year 2000. He achieved this goal in 1999. Now, he wants to be the market leader in control centers in five to ten years and wants to be a global player with more branch offices and equity holdings. "But the world headquarters will always be in Vienna."

Frequentis was established in Vienna in 1947, currently has more than 1,000 employees, is represented in 50 countries and concentrates on information systems and control center solutions for key safety-critical areas including control centers for air traffic control, air defense, police, public transportation and shipping. Frequentis bases its solutions on three components, namely voice communication, data communication, and a clear situation overview.