Beacon develops major business application for Managing and Issuing Radio Licences

Overview

JFMG Ltd has been contracted by Ofcom (Office of Communications) since April 1997 to manage and license the part of the radio spectrum used for Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) in the UK. PMSE includes the use of radio for microphones and production services for theatrical performances, radio and television programmes, rock and pop shows, sporting events, conferences and in places of worship.

The company has been successfully managing radio spectrum since 1997 for the UK Radiocommunications Agency (RA) and now Ofcom.

The work covers a wide range of frequencies and uses from a church's VHF radio microphone, through to a rally team's UHF communications, to a broadcaster's temporary microwave link carrying live event coverage to the studio. These services often demand use of radio spectrum that is free from interference and each use normally requires a licence under the 1949 Wireless Telegraphy Act (WT Act).

JFMG provides day-to-day co-ordination of the use of the available frequencies, to minimise the risk of interference between users, and issues the necessary WT Act licences on behalf of Ofcom.

Business Requirements

JFMG required an application that could be used by their staff to manage the provision of licences throughout the UK. They needed this system to be installed on client PCs in their offices and which could also be accessed remotely.

In addition, JFMG required an E-commerce section on their website to provide cut-down facilities to customers over the Internet such as those for annual licence renewal, shared radio microphones, handling credit card payments, etc.

Our Solution

Beacon developed a major system for JFMG called the ‘JFMG Integrated Business System’ (JIBS). This application can be installed on several client PC computers in the JFMG offices or it can be served using Terminal Server from an NT Server. It allows the full management of the provision of licences throughout the UK.

Beacon also designed an E-commerce section and implemented this as a portal from the main JFMG website. It provides facilities for:

• Annual Licence renewal
• Shared Radio Microphones purchase and renewal
• Wireless Camera booking frequencies
• Wireless Microphone booking frequencies
• Availability Checks
• Summary Information
• Download of Application forms
• Basket Type purchase system
• Credit Card Payment

All applications were developed using .NET with a SQL Server database back-end. This was the first project undertaken by Beacon using the then new .NET technology. The first project was a Windows desktop business application. The second application provided JFMG’s existing customer base with access to a cut-down version of the business facilities to book the use of the airwaves on-line. This was developed as an internet application using ASP.NET. The system was designed using the traditional UI, business and data layers.

The system has been used successfully for several years and various extensions have been developed. The main business system has hardly changed and has become the main application of the company. Beacon has provided support for the system and has introduced further enhancements such as providing new reports and modifications to handle price changes.

The website has been enhanced over time to support more licensing features. These include Wireless Cameras and Microphones. Wireless Cameras have taken over news and outside broadcasting and are now used by broadcasters for the coverage of broadcasts like the Open Golf Tournament. The most recent enhancements have been developed using the latest features of .NET in order to deliver projects faster and reduce costs. In addition, Master Pages were successfully used to give a consistent page appearance.

“The JIBS system has become a major application for our business and now forms the backbone of our technology. An essential component of JIBS is the E-commerce section which has dramatically improved our business capability. As a result of our excellent working relationship with Beacon, we were able to implement this system quickly and efficiently.”

Philip Harris, Principal Engineer, JFMG

 Technology used

• Microsoft .NET
• Microsoft ASP.NET
• Visual Basic, C# and Java
• Microsoft SQL Server