Royal Navy expands e-bluey capability
with DFTS connection
Case Study
The Royal Navy is to equip an additional eight ships with a Secure Internet service
for e-bluey mail, which will be delivered under the Defence Fixed Telecommunications Service (DFTS), the successful £1.5 billion BT-led Private Finance
Initiative.
The DFTS Internet Gateway Service (IGS) effectively allows British servicemen and
women deployed on operations around the world to stay touch – more easily than
ever before – with their families and friends at home. IGS has already been
installed on HMS Ocean and HMS Ark Royal, and its connectivity within the DFTS
network is enabling swift telecommunication links for the secure delivery of ebluey data transfer across the web.
Indeed, “IGS has been a welcomed service by the crews and is also a boost to their
morale”, says warrant officer Neil Davies of the British Forces Post Office (BFPO),
which works closely with the DFN Integrated Project Team (IPT) and BT on
delivering the project.
The ships lined up for the installations are HMS Albion; HMS Bulwark; HMS
Illustrious; HMS Invincible; Sir Bedivere; Sir Gallahad; Sir Percival; and Sir
Tristram, a number of which will be fully equipped and online before the end of
the year.
Neil Davies points out: “The earlier installations carried out on HMS Ocean and HMS
Ark Royal were extremely successful. Within the first few months of going online, some
3000 e-blueys were received via the DFTS link between February and May this year”.
He adds: “A huge vote of thanks goes to the IPT’s, which provided immense
assistance, especially in advising us on system improvements so that better download
performance could be achieved”.
Neil points out that one of the lessons learned, concerned the training of ebluey operators. He explained that the training would now be carried out from a
central location on shore, instead of on the ships, simply because individuals
were often called away to tend to duties on board, which obviously interrupted
the training.
Service personnel have traditionally received the Forces blue-coloured
aerogrammes, hence the name bluey. These letters can take days or even weeks
to arrive using conventional post. Today, the e-bluey – via the DFTS IGS - is the
modern alternative, which can take only minutes to reach military personnel in
the field.
e-blueys are secure and they remain private in delivery to the recipient.
Messages are stored on a server then downloaded to the operational theatres.
Finally, they are printed, envelope-sealed automatically by a special machine to
preserve privacy – and delivered using the conventional military mail service.
The global reach of DFTS is capable of providing information resources to prefront-line teams and in operational theatres around the world such as Iraq and
Afghanistan. And, as John Seale, BT Programme Director for DFTS, says: “The
Internet Gateway Service is part of the coherent IT communications network which is
working successfully and efficiently for Defence.”
For further information contact: Customer Assured Service Centre on 0800 389
2272. Alternatively, visit our website at dfts.r.mil.uk or bt.com/defence.
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