Ken Bannard
Koerr Inc.
Canada’s growing natural resource sector drives almost 20% of the country’s GDP. These companies however, operate largely outside the reach of traditional cellular and GSM networks, as well as electrical infrastructure. That results in unique challenges in productivity, safety and compliance for these wealth-generating companies. Fortunately, Globalstar’s SmartOne trackers are perfectly suited for such rugged work environments.
“Perhaps the number one benefit of using satellite is the ability to meet the Alberta environmental board regulations for monitoring of critical alarm conditions,” says Ken Bannard, President of Koerr Inc., a service provider to Canada’s oil and gas industry. “In the past, this was a struggle because of a lack of infrastructure. Since SmartOne does not require external power, it’s no longer a problem.”
Bannard knows first-hand that his clients in the oil and gas sector face major challenges, primarily the lack of power infrastructure and cell coverage in remote and harsh conditions. Without a reliable communications connection, companies can’t ensure productivity, compliance with environmental regulations or the safety of their workforce.
“Perhaps the number one benefit of using satellite is the ability to meet the Alberta environmental board regulations for monitoring of critical alarm conditions. In the past, this was a struggle because of a lack of infrastructure. Since SmartOne does not require external power, it’s no longer a problem.”
In order to meet these challenges, Koerr needed to develop innovative satellite solution that include the top priorities of his clients: reliability, ease of deployment, cost-effective devices and service plans, and all-in-one battery-powered technology with discrete inputs for increased functionality and flexibility. Today, Bannard uses Globalstar’s SmartOne C Monitor to track clients’ oil and gas processes.
Now, Koerr can minimize the environmental impact of oil spills caused by packing failures. The company can detect alarmingly high tank levels. All processes that may have previously been considered too costly to monitor, due to a lack of power infrastructure, are now under the watchful eye of the SmartOne data modem. Koerr’s application operates around the clock to provide immediate alarms—as well as process, communication and battery status history—to operators via a web access host.
“Since we started working with the units, our response times have gone from 15 minutes for an alert to ring through to within one minute,” Bannard says.
Koerr’s adoption of Globalstar technology is just one example of how Canada’s resource companies are looking to the next generation of satellite solutions for dependable, fast mobile coverage. These solutions connect remote workers, as well as the growing machine-to-machine networks, to the head office.
Exploration and production companies generate large volumes of data and need to have consistent, ready access to internet-driven applications on isolated project sites. Oil and gas companies must ensure reliable, real-time communications between all sites and control centers in the most cost-effective way possible. To that end, innovative, affordable and reliable satellite voice and data solutions are transforming operations on exploration sites, drilling projects and oil rigs.