Local toll specialist company, TolLink, has upgraded its network in a R2 million project implementing HP switches at tollgates along the N4 Maputo Corridor toll route, with IT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix.
The route includes five toll plazas (totalling 64 lanes), three in SA and two in Mozambique, as well as an operations centre in each country.
TolLink is a systems integration company offering a one-stop service when equipping a toll road. These services include the operational planning of the toll road and facilities, planning, design and construction management of toll facilities as well as the supply of TolLink Toll Management Information Systems (TMIS) and TolLink Traffic Information Detection System (TIDS).
The TMIS management tool enables head office to access individual plazas and analyse data, including shift audits, receipt of sundry payments and float management. The TIDS enables the toll road authority to monitor all aspects of toll road usage, comparing before and after situations, including factors such as tariff increases and so on.
According to Justice Maphosa, account manager at Datacentrix Infrastructure, TolLink needed to replace the old switches it was using to cater for future growth, bandwidth and load needs. "A critical requirement of the new equipment was that it be highly reliable and would assist TolLink in accelerating the rate of data processed for each individual vehicle pass through each lane of every tollgate.
"This means that the delay per transaction is diminished and tollgate operators have improved on the rate of payments made, from four to five per minute. An additional benefit is the decrease in frustration of drivers using the toll route, preventing them from feeling compelled to seek alternative routes."
Datacentrix felt HP`s ProCurve switches would provide the ideal solution for TolLink due to the enhanced return on investment of the equipment, its proven reliability and the ability for the network to seamlessly adapt to changing business requirements. The ProCurve equipment also has a lifetime warranty.
Says Dr Nardus Truter, CEO of TolLink: "After taking over at TolLink in January this year, the first step was to evaluate all existing suppliers and negotiate deals with them based on annual volumes. Initially, we looked at three current IT partners and decided to give the lion`s share of business to Datacentrix.
"Datacentrix has proven itself to be highly reliable with best-of-breed solution offerings at competitive prices. We have received exceptional service from the company and believe that all of these factors are critical to building long-term relationships," he adds.
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