SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Birmingham International Airport is the UK’s sixth largest Airport with over 9.2 million passengers passing through its two terminals in 2007. In line with European legislation, Birmingham International Airport had a requirement to create special assistance areas at the airport to aid passengers with reduced mobility.  These areas would include seating and a help point telephone where the passengers could call and wait for assistance from Customer Care agents.  

Birmingham International Airport approached GAI-Tronics to provide Help Point telephones for these areas, which would directly contact the Special Assistance reception desk, located on the ground floor of Terminal 1.  The Help Points needed to be user friendly for all disabilities; weather and vandal resistant for public locations in and outdoors; and also customised to fit in with the surrounding décor.

The Help Points are situated close to the disabled parking areas in the car parks and also in each terminal at the airport so that passengers can ask for help at any stage of their visit to Birmingham Airport. The Special Assistance Reception Desk has a dedicated team to respond to any calls made from the help points.

SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY

The Help Point telephones have a large, palm-operable button on the front with Braille wording for partially sighted or blind passengers. An induction loop is fitted as standard to these telephones to assist with hard of hearing users. The hands-free phones are designed to work well in noisy environments, allowing both ends of the call to be heard clearly.

The telephones have one button which, when pressed, is programmed to call through to the Special Assistance reception desk where a dedicated team will respond to any requirements.

The Help Points were delivered in custom colour with customised faceplate design to incorporate the wheelchair logo and specific text to fit in with their location.

Mark Bailey, Network Manager at Birmingham International Airport, comments “Birmingham International Airport is pleased with the help points and has seen a positive response to the Special Assistance areas.”

GAI-Tronics telephones are found around many airports in the UK and world-wide, due to their rugged construction and reliability in harsh environments.