Drei

Hutchison Drei Austria GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited (Hong Kong), is part of 3Group Europe and is one of the leading telecoms providers in Austria. In the 2023 financial year, the company generated revenue of EUR 976 million and serves 4.1 million users.

Drei offers mobile, internet, landline, TV and business solutions from a single source and operates the largest shop network of all Austrian telecoms providers as well as comprehensive customer service. The aim is to make digitalisation accessible and affordable for everyone in Austria. In 2023, more than 1.68 million terabytes of data flowed through the Drei network for the first time.

Problem

Drei Austria's technical department is responsible for the smooth operation of the entire network. This includes being able to react quickly to a wide variety of events such as faults on radio masts, IT attacks or other problems. Rapid alerting and a quick response are essential to ensure the functionality of the network at all times and to minimise potential downtimes.

The challenge was that Drei needed a flexible and location-independent solution to be able to access and respond to critical incidents immediately. A suitable app or software that would enable employees to remain capable of acting at any time and from anywhere and could be used individually was missing.

Solution

safeREACH was introduced by Drei to ensure the secure operation of the Drei network and effectively overcome the challenges it faces. safeREACH enables the escalation manager or the NOC (Network Operations Centre) to react flexibly to critical events regardless of location. This enables Drei to respond to a wide range of disruptions and other potential problems in a targeted manner.

safeREACH provides an immediate alert in the event of incidents and ensures that every report is forwarded to the relevant people. In the event of an emergency, the team comes together in safeREACH's virtual crisis room and can thus work immediately and completely independently of its own infrastructure to resolve the problem at hand.

safeREACH is now also used by Drei Austria for first responder alerts and fire alerts.

How is safeREACH used in your company?

We currently use safeREACH in three different areas. The first area is the alerting of first responders at our headquarters. In the event of a medical emergency, safeREACH is used to alert the designated first responders directly.

The second area of operation is fire alarms. Our fire alarm system is linked directly to the system via an SMS interface, which means that alarms and fault messages are sent out fully automatically via safeREACH. Here we differentiate in the type of notification, as a fire alarm requires an immediate response, while a fault message does not necessarily have the highest priority. We therefore send alarms in the event of a fire and information messages in the event of faults in the fire alarm system.

The third area is the one that I personally deal with the most, namely the simultaneous alerting of the technical operations team or the convening of the crisis team in the event of a crisis. This involves ensuring the smooth operation of the Drei network. If there are problems in our own network or internal means of communication that could affect operations, we must be able to react quickly and take action. The problems can be very diverse, such as physical threats, a software failure or something completely different. The good thing is that we can cover all of this with safeREACH and are flexible. 

What do you see as the advantages of safeREACH?

The biggest plus point for us is the whole system. safeREACH has everything we need. The overall package is just perfect. Especially in the technical department, we have to be able to react flexibly to different situations and have the right solution for everything despite the diversity. This is exactly what safeREACH provides and what makes it so valuable to us.

I can also emphasise the ease of use. safeREACH is very user-friendly in my opinion and makes it easy to find your way around. You don't have to be an IT specialist to create scenarios, trigger alarms or create reports. Everyone in our team knew very quickly what to do. This makes it easier for us to be successful in many situations.

How do you feel about working with safeREACH?

We have an excellent dialogue with safeREACH. In the occasional cases where we need help, we always have a contact person who takes care of it. We always get quick feedback or suggestions for solutions. I am also sure that this will always be the case in the future.

If you had to describe safeREACH in three words, which ones come to mind spontaneously?

Reliable. Customisable. User-friendly.