| FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 - ISSUE NO. 182 |
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging and Paging, Please allow me to remind you of the AAPC Emerging Technologies Symposium, November 3-4, 2005, in Scottsdale Resort & Conference Center, Scottsdale, Arizona. I hope that many of you reading this will attend. Can you think of anything better than taking a couple of days off and hanging out with friends and colleagues at a resort in Arizona? I am going to be speaking on "The excellent reliability of paging systems in critical situations and how the paging industry can and should promote itself." I also hope to have some very interesting things to say about the Wireless Messaging Association meeting in Helsinki, Finland. I have been asked to speak at this meeting as well (Oct. 19-20). I am really looking forward to this, as we look for new ways to work together to promote Wireless Messaging.
EMMA (the European Mobile Messaging Association) and the Wireless Messaging Association of the UK are planning to merge next year and to form a "Global EMMA." One of the things we want to do is periodically publish a joint newsletter. So we will be discussing this possibility. I have often said that our real competitors are not other messaging or paging companies, but other technologies (you know—the ones that rudely interrupt you with strange ringing sounds and require that you stop what ever you are doing and answer immediately, and then make you look for a pencil to write down a message from someone you didn't want to talk to in the first place—cell phones—ugh). And no, I don't have one.
Now on to the rest of the news and views. | 
A new issue of The Wireless Messaging Newsletter gets posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the Internet. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major Paging and Wireless Data companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers—so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get reader's comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Data communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my website. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. NOTE: This newsletter is best viewed at screen resolutions of 800x600 (good) or 1024x768 (better). Any current revision of web browser should work fine. Please notify me of any problems with viewing. This site is compliant with XHTML 1.0 transitional coding for easy access from wireless devices. (XML 1.0/ISO 8859-1.) |
| AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PAGING CARRIERS |
AAPC Emerging Technologies Symposium
Additional information and conference registration is available at www.pagingcarriers.org!
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| FEATURED ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER |
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| WIRELESS NEWS |
TOWERS OF BABBLE
The crazy quilt of communications equipment in the Bay Area could be a tremendous obstacle in dealing with a major emergency. Many systems cannot talk to each other, leaving the area with . . .
Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
When flames swept the Oakland hills 14 years ago, the city's outdated emergency communications systems were overwhelmed, delaying pleas for help when it mattered most.
Four years ago, hundreds of New York firefighters died in the World Trade Center after their radios couldn't pick up warnings from police, who spotted signs from helicopters overhead that the twin buildings were near collapse.
And last month, virtually the entire New Orleans communications system crashed after being hit by a triple whammy of hurricane-force winds, flooding and power outages.
Now, after another hurricane pounded the Gulf Coast over the weekend, local officials wonder how the Bay Area's radio communications systems would fare during a disaster such as a major earthquake.
"We are absolutely not prepared,'' said Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, D-Saratoga, who met with public safety officials recently to discuss the issue. "The public would be shocked to find out the woeful state of the ability of people who are supposed to protect us to take care of us.''
One of the biggest concerns is that Bay Area public safety agencies use a patchwork of radio frequencies and equipment, making it impossible for some officials to talk directly to one another. The Golden Gate Bridge alone involves 17 agencies, many of which use incompatible radios. The situation probably would be even worse after a major quake, when emergency crews would rush in from other parts of the state to help contain fires and rescue people trapped in the wreckage.
"Everyone is on a different frequency,'' said Annemarie Conroy, director of San Francisco's Office of Emergency Services. Even in San Francisco, where the city recently put the police, fire and most other city departments on the same state-of-the-art radio system, other agencies such as the city's Municipal Railway and the California Highway Patrol use separate systems.
Glitches can come up even on routine operations. Assistant Sheriff Rich Lucia of Alameda County pointed to one recent high-speed chase in the East Bay that involved deputies from his agency and officers from the CHP and the Oakland and Hayward police departments -- none of whom used the same radio system.
"It was a major chase, and yet nobody could talk to each other," Lucia said. "If we had a fully interoperable system, the dispatchers could have just told everyone to turn to channel 10."
In the case of the highway chase, the officers still were able to communicate by relaying messages through dispatchers. But that wasted precious time. And during a disaster, dispatchers probably would be overwhelmed by a flood of 911 calls and heavy radio traffic.
Golden Gate Bridge CHP Marin Source: San Francisco Office of Emergency Services |
No one expects the problems in the Bay Area to be as severe as in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, which knocked out the city's emergency phone and radio systems. Bay Area emergency communications systems are designed to withstand most temblors—antennas and emergency offices usually are well-fortified, and generators are on hand to provide power backup. Most local emergency agencies regularly hold earthquake drills, including testing their communications systems. California generally has a reputation of being better prepared for disasters than Louisiana does.
But some argue that more needs to be done.
"We are not nearly as prepared as we could be,'' said Randy Hagar, who helps oversee communications systems for Alameda County.
Cohn, a member of the Assembly's Public Safety Committee, said she hopes to hold joint legislative hearings by early November on whether California is prepared for the next big quake. One of the biggest concerns is the patchwork of emergency communications systems across the state.
"Communications is the linchpin,'' said John Powell, a communications consultant working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help local public safety agencies improve their systems. "You can't have command and control without communications."
Some point to San Diego and Imperial counties as a model that should be used across the state. The counties built an $80 million radio regional communications network that links more than 217 public safety agencies on the same system. The system was financed primarily by San Diego County and other municipalities participating in the system; $6 million came from outside grants.
Cohn estimates that building a similar system statewide would take $4 billion, though few local officials expect that to happen.
"It's always about money,'' Lucia said. "It costs a lot of money to build these systems."
Even if enough funding were available, some communications experts doubt enough radio spectrum is available to allow the whole state to operate on one system. In addition, Lucia said some local officials are reluctant to give up the authority to buy their own, customized systems.
Still, local agencies are working on improvements. Alameda and Contra Costa counties, for instance, are drafting plans to put all the city and county agencies on the same emergency radio system for roughly $60 million to $70 million. Hagar said the plan has broad support from public safety agencies but still needs approval from top county and city officials.
"It's not realistic to expect that the entire Bay Area will be on one radio system,'' Hagar said. "But we can do that on a regional basis."
Santa Clara County has spent years building its own system for the South Bay. Every public safety agency in the county has access to one radio channel to communicate with each other. In a disaster, that would allow top fire and police officials to coordinate relief efforts. But lower-level officers and firefighters could have trouble radioing each other about a specific incident because only a limited number of people can use one channel at one time.
"It's great, and it's leaps and bounds beyond what most other agencies have, but it's still just one channel," said Sheryl Contois, vice chair of the Silicon Valley Interoperability Project and the technical services coordinator for the Palo Alto Police Department.
Other efforts have stumbled. Oakland and San Francisco just learned they were rejected for a $6 million federal grant to help link several area networks together. The U.S. Justice Department, which administers the program, did not return calls seeking comment.
And legislation proposed by Cohn to address communications issues stalled in the state Senate. The bill would have encouraged agencies to buy standardized radio equipment instead of proprietary systems that don't always work with each other.
Not everyone is pessimistic about the current situation. Several officials noted that existing systems can be temporarily patched together in an emergency. Emergency crews can relay messages through dispatchers and commanders. And area fire departments generally carry standard handheld radios that can be used to talk to other departments at the scene of a fire.
"It's not as big a problem as (some people) make it out to be," said Don Root of the state Office of Emergency Services.
Nor is new technology a cure-all. In the Oakland hills fire in 1991, dispatchers were overwhelmed by calls coming in on an aging radio communications system, and some emergency crews couldn't talk to one another on the burning hillside. But Alameda County Fire Chief Bill McCammon, who was a firefighter on the lines at the time, said the blaze spread so fast that it would have been difficult to contain no matter how good communications were.
"I don't know that it would have made a significant difference," McCammon said. "The fire devastated such a wide area that we could never catch up."
Still, if there is a major earthquake, Powell and other experts said they are certain communications glitches will be an issue. They are almost always listed as a key problem on reports filed after disasters and emergency drills.
"We've joked we should just print it on the form,'' Powell said.
E-mail Todd Wallack at twallack@sfchronicle.com.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
USA Mobility, Inc. Mission Critical Paging and Messaging Capabilities 9-21-05
USA Mobility is the nation’s largest narrowband personal communications service (NPCS) company, providing mission critical wireless services for police, fire, rescue operations, hospitals, and government, along with many utilities and other businesses that responded to the emergency. In preparation for the hurricane, USA Mobility technical teams staged equipment and personnel just outside the storm’s path for rapid deployment. The hurricane recovery work demonstrated several of the distinguishing features of USA Mobility’s NPCS messaging—the speed and relative ease of restoration of service, based on a streamlined and cost-effective system design. USA Mobility’s 16,000-transmitter network is satellite controlled, and is therefore less dependent on the traditional wireline telephone system than wireless cellular two-way voice or mobile phone based data technologies. This architecture enabled rapid restoration of USA Mobility’s services. On Monday, August 29, the hurricane interrupted operations at 291 of the company’s tower locations along the Gulf Coast. Partial network coverage remained available during the storm and immediately thereafter. Within 48 hours, basic service was restored throughout New Orleans, southeast Louisiana, and Mississippi, the areas hit hardest by the storm. In contrast, most wireline and cellular telephone services have required far more time for restoration and in some cases were still off line weeks after the storm. USA Mobility’s paging availability far exceeded that of mobile phone providers in the affected areas and when you consider that most pagers operate on a standard AA battery, there is no concern of not being able to recharge when commercial power is out. Bottom line is that one-way and two-way pagers worked when most other wireless services didn't. This meant that emergency service responders, hospitals, utilities, police, businesses and citizens could receive messages on a pager and initiate messages from a two-way pager when their phones would not work. USA Mobility also supplied thousands of additional pagers to federal, state, and local emergency response organizations to help respond to the Katrina crisis. To understand why pagers work when mobile phones do not one must consider the very different network architectures. USA Mobility’s systems feature-high power transmissions of up to 3500 watts effective power with typical antenna heights of 300 feet or more in a simulcast network topology, in contrast to the 100 watts of power and 90-foot antenna heights of the typical cellular system. USA Mobility’s simulcast networks provide simultaneous delivery of a radio signal from several transmitters, which provides wider coverage area and better in-building penetration than other wireless technologies. This overlapping radio coverage provides natural redundancy in the event of the loss of one or more transmission towers. Cellular type networks, in comparison, assign a single channel in a single transmitter to a mobile connection, typically with a much smaller range, and then rely on the network to “hand off” the call to another tower, but only if a channel is available. Many federal government organizations need an emergency communication system that provides rapid messaging for one-to-one and one-to-many communications, where voice is not required or message content is sensitive to eavesdropping. The paging and text-messaging services of USA Mobility offer a premier emergency communication solution in these cases at a significantly reduced cost as compared to any wireless voice services. At a time when our nation is challenged with so many natural disasters a tried and true technology represents the most reliable form of wireless connectivity at ironically the lowest cost as compared to any other form of mass mobile wireless communications. The paging systems, customer service and engineering resources of USA Mobility should be the first choice of all federal, state, and local governments when considering their critical communications needs. Source: USA Mobility, Inc. Reprinted with permission. |
Federal Grant Augments "Ham Aid" Fund for Hurricane Volunteers
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 27, 2005—The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will provide the ARRL with an additional $77,000 to support Amateur Radio operators volunteering in the field in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The latest grant augments the recent $100,000 CNCS made available immediately following the Katrina disaster. The grant money, supplemented by contributions from individual donors, will subsidize "Ham Aid," a new League program to help defray out-of pocket expenses of Amateur Radio volunteers deployed in the field in disaster-stricken areas.
"The new funding of $77,000—added to the initial $100,000 award, for a total of $177,000—is gratefully accepted to assist ham radio operators who have incurred expenses related to their volunteer service," said ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH. "The per-diem awards of $25 per day up to a maximum award of four days, or $100 per person, will cover approximately 6000 'ham days' of service."
Ham Aid also will strengthen the role Amateur Radio can play in disaster response by funding the preparation of containerized complete Amateur Radio HF/VHF stations complete with radios, antennas, feed lines, repeaters and more, Hobart added. These are designed for deployment to disaster areas where the Amateur Radio infrastructure has been compromised or additional equipment is required beyond what's available.
Hobart says Ham Aid marks the first time in ARRL history that the League has been able to reimburse some of the expenses ham radio volunteers incur while responding to a disaster—especially if the service requires out-of-town travel. The ARRL established Ham Aid reimbursement procedures following the initial grant.
In addition to providing emergency communication within and outside hurricane-affected areas, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) members and individual radio amateurs have supplementing the communication needs of emergency management and relief agencies, including the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army.
The CNCS Ham Aid grant is effective for operations established and documented as of September 1, 2005, and the aid is earmarked for Hurricane Katrina deployments only at this point. Corporation funds may also sustain the Ham Aid program and help to rebuild the emergency communications capabilities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to ensure that the Gulf Coast is prepared, should disaster strike again.
The CNCS grants represent an emergency amendment to ARRL's three year Homeland Security training grant, which provided certification in emergency communication protocols to nearly 5500 Amateur Radio volunteer over the past three years. Hobart pointed out that CNCS helped make it possible for the League to train Amateur Radio volunteers. "Now they are making it possible for the hams to use that training," she added.
The recent grant extensions do not cover additional ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications training program reimbursements, however.
Hobart says the League will accept reimbursement request applications on a first-come, first served basis for as long as funds are available. For now, the program only covers per-diem reimbursements between September 1 and December 31, 2005. The period may be extended based on the availability of funds.
Hams seeking expense reimbursement must complete an on-line application form with the required information. The Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator on site during the radio operator's service in the field will verify dates of service and e-mail the validated electronic forms to ARRL Headquarters.
Source: ARRL
True emergency preparedness should be U.S. priority no. 1
Tuesday, September 27, 2005 - Bangor Daily News
Hurricane Katrina came ashore a few weeks ago and blew the clothes off the American emperor, leaving the nation bowed and naked. For those not too embarrassed to look at the many ugly truths exposed, there was much to learn.
Most searing were the images of New Orleans' poor, abandoned to their fate by a nation that has been progressively abandoning its poor for more than a decade. Most tedious, but of great importance, was the truth that America is ill prepared for most large disasters, whether caused by terrorists or by nature. The blame for that extends from the White House to your house.
Hurricane Katrina exposed what those of us on the ground of emergency preparedness all around the nation have known all along - that the billions spent in the days since Sept. 11, 2001 were spit into Category 5 hurricane winds in comparison to the amount of money and force of will needed to be truly prepared for even predictable disasters. We have not spent enough, we have not worked enough, we have not trained enough, and we are not ready. That is why Hurricane Katrina caught this country with its national pants down.
Preparing for emergencies is boring, difficult, tedious work, and akin to putting a new roof on your house. After all of the work and money, nothing looks different and the new roof goes unappreciated unless a disaster strikes, which it may never do. It was all worth the money only if the roof is still on after the storm has passed. Storm-proofing New Orleans (if that is possible) and preparing its population for the next Katrina will cost us upward of $20 billion, and we will not notice the improvement unless another hurricane lands without disastrous results.
Real emergency preparedness takes real work and real money. It involves paying emergency responders for repeated disaster exercises, exercises which strain tight budgets and are like deer with bull's-eyes tattooed to their rears when the budget hunters come looking for easy targets. You never see the results of all of that money until the disaster balloon goes up.
It involves developing legitimate evacuation plans for cities such as New Orleans and Houston, then practicing the plans repeatedly. It involves hospitals in flood-prone areas moving electrical systems and emergency backup power generators out of hospital basements (the Louisiana legislature refused approve $8 million to have this done at New Orleans two public hospitals, with predictable and deadly results). It requires stockpiling generator fuel, and practicing for disasters until staff go comatose from boredom. And then doing it again, all effort for which hospitals will not be reimbursed.
Real emergency preparedness involves individuals planning their own disaster care, with stockpiled food and water, a personal evacuation plan, contingency planning, and then repeated practice of the plan.
It involves paying billions to purchase emergency communication equipment that allows emergency responders, such as police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and others to be able to communicate with each other in a disaster. We have known for decades that in many communities those radios cannot talk each other, leaving firefighters unable to talk to police and both unable to talk to federal and state emergency management experts. In a disaster they might as well all be linked with tin cans tied to strings.
When the planes hit the World Trade Center four years ago this communication problem in New York City had catastrophic consequences. When Katrina hit New Orleans its police and firefighters had the same problem, four years and millions of dollars in federal emergency preparedness funds after 9-11.
If you are hit by a left hook once, they call your opponent lucky. If you get hit twice, they call you a sucker.
Some in the American business community have resisted safety initiatives that must be undertaken if we are to protect ourselves from disasters and prepare for the ones we either fail to, or cannot, prevent. The television broadcast industry has resisted the sharing of airwaves required for all types of emergency responders to be able to communicate with each other in a disaster.
Many of our nuclear power plants, chemical plants, and other potentially dangerous industrial sites are still inadequately protected because those industries do not want to pay the security costs, and because the federal government has refused to knuckle them under. A plane flown into one of them will make 9-11 a good day by comparison. Our ports remain security sieves because making them safe slows commerce.
The American public has resisted too; it seems no more willing than American industry to suck it up for safety and disaster preparation. Many who stayed in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast did so because they simply did not believe a disaster would really happen. Many of us will complain bitterly if our president has the courage to stand up and tell us that it is time for collective national sacrifice through higher taxes to pay for better emergency preparedness and the war in Iraq.
There is not enough discretionary spending left in the budget to cut our way out of the federal budget hole left by Katrina, previous Bush tax cuts, and the Medicare prescription drug benefit. We must have the will to pay for all of that, which will mean tax increases or billing our children via a larger national debt.
Our leaders, in the Bush administration and others, have not simply failed to tell us what true emergency preparedness costs, what work must be done, and what sacrifices must be made. They have also intermittently staffed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency charged with leading us through disasters, with political hacks instead of professional disaster preparedness experts.
Five of FEMA's current nine senior leaders are political appointees of the Bush administration, according to The Washington Post. That list includes recently fired FEMA head Michael Brown, whose previous management experience was in planning horse shows. It is no wonder then that Hurricane Katrina flattened FEMA like an old trailer. This dangerous approach to staffing FEMA reflects our national perspective that emergency preparedness and disaster management is not serious work. Some Americans in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast paid for that mistake with their lives.
We are not unwilling to do all of this work and pay all of this money for emergency preparedness simply because we want to watch reality TV while Rome burns, New Orleans floods, and the terrorists plot, however. The real reason we are unwilling is that we are not afraid enough to really sacrifice. We don't believe that the next Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane al-Qaida is really coming, or that the next disaster is going to catch us unprepared.
We still think this is Kansas, Toto, and don't yet realize the tornado of a new time has plunked us down in a different world. We want our safety from the high tides of hurricanes and Islamic fundamentalism, but we do not want to move off our coast of collective comfort to the higher ground of national sacrifice.
Until we wake up to the demands of true emergency preparedness we are a nation of New Orleanians, living below sea level with an old, leaky roof over our heads, waiting, witless, hopeless and helpless.
 | Dr. Erik Steele Erik Steele, D.O. is a physician, an administrator at Eastern Maine Medical Center, and is on the staff of several hospital emergency rooms in the region. |
Source: Bangor Daily News
Restaurant owner tells 9-11 story
By Tess Hollis
State & Local Editor
The Auburn (Alabama) Plainsman
September 29, 2005
When you walk into Philly Connection on South College Street, the first thing you notice is the friendly smile of Sonia Merchant.
Sonia and her husband, Sunel, operate the only Philly Connection in the Auburn-Opelika area.
Sunel, 37, seems like an average guy trying to run a business and raise a family.
Merchant first came to the United States from India in 1997. He then obtained a work permit and a green card.
From 1998 to 2003, Merchant lived in Long Island, N.Y., and worked as a computer hardware professional for a bank.
Merchant worked on the 49th floor of the first World Trade Center tower.
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| SOUL SURVIVOR: Sunel Merchant, pictured above, is a survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Merchant and his wife, Sonia, operate Philly Connection. |
Merchant said he used to smoke cigarettes, and at about 9 a.m. he notified co-workers he was going outside to take a smoke break.
“Before I started to go outside, I heard a big noise, and the building started swaying,” Merchant said. “It was like I was on one of the walking escalators in the airport. I knew if the building kept swaying (all the way forward), we would not survive.”
Merchant said after the swaying stopped, he went back to his desk because he didn't know what was going on.
“We didn't know what happened, but someone who worked in the Trade Center during the 1993 bombing said there was a bomb blast,” he said.
Merchant said everyone on his floor ran toward the staircase, but he went back to get disaster back-up software for his company.
“While we stood in the staircase, everyone remained calm and orderly, but we still didn't know what was happening,” he said. “Someone from the top floor came down the staircase and said they just saw a plane come into the building.”
Merchant said at first they thought it was a pilot error, not a terrorist attack.
By the time Merchant and his co-workers made it to the 30th floor, they heard a crash, which was the plane hitting the second World Trade Center tower.
“After the attacks happened, everyone talked about how the fire fighters and policemen were the true heroes,” he said with tears in his eyes. “And they really were. By the time we were on the 25th floor, they were giving us water and asking if we were all OK. I still see their faces now.”
Merchant said they were finally let out of the building when they got to the fifth floor. It took them about an hour to get out.
“The first thing I remember thinking was how bad the damage really was,” he said.
After Merchant was out of the building, there was an ambulance nearby that offered him first-aid, but he refused.
“I am glad I refused first-aid, because later on, while I was watching the news, I saw that very ambulance lying under debris from where the towers had fallen,” he said.
“I think that’s when I had my second life, when I refused first aid,” he said. “My first one came when the plane hit the building. If the plane would have dropped 600 more feet it would have hit my floor, instead of the 92nd floor.”
Merchant claims Sonia is the reason he is still alive today.
“Love is a very strong bond,” he said. “My cell phone didn't work, but my pager did, and she kept paging me the whole time. All I could think about while I was trying to get out of the building was her. She really helped me.”
Immediately after the disaster, Merchant said he didn't have time to reflect on what happened, because he worked continuously.
“The attacks happened on a Tuesday, and I worked constantly Wednesday through Saturday at the disaster recovery site, so I didn't really have time to think about things,” he said.
“Now, every time I notice a plane that no one else notices, or I hear a loud noise, I jump,” he said. “It just brings me back to that day.”
Merchant said although he is Muslim, he does not believe what the terrorists did is acceptable.
“The terrorists do not have a religion,” he said. “Nowhere in the Muslim faith does it say you should kill thousands of people.”
In 2003, Merchant’s company went into a merger, and he was laid off.
Merchant moved his family to Birmingham, where his cousin lived, in search of an honest business.
“I just fell in love with Alabama,” he said.
While Merchant was in Birmingham, he started looking at starting a Philly Connection in Auburn.
“When I visited Auburn, I loved it,” he said. “I liked the schools, and I knew it would be a great place to raise my kids.”
This year, Merchant moved his family to Auburn.
“This is like being in my dreamland,” he said. “I am happy, and the people are so friendly compared to New York.”
Merchant said he thinks efforts they should continue to build the Freedom Tower in place of the World Trade Center towers.
“You cannot be afraid of terrorists,” he said. “They cannot rule our life. We need to show the terrorists if they break something, we’ll make something bigger and better.”
Source: The Auburn Plainsman
County turns page on thorny issue
By JOHN LATIMER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
September 15, 2005
It took 10 months, but a solution to Lebanon County’s troublesome emergency pager problem has finally been reached.
Lebanon County Emergency Management Agency Director Dan Kauffman told the county commissioners yesterday that CommTech, the company which sold nearly 1,500 of its digital pagers to the county, has agreed to replace them with a more reliable pager at a minimal cost.
Kauffman has been getting complaints from firefighters about the CommTech 6120 pagers ever since they were distributed in December to fire and ambulance companies as part of the county’s $10 million emergency-communication upgrade. Some firefighters complained that the pagers were too fragile; that their display screens cracked too easily. A more serious problem was voiced by others in certain areas of the county, most notably in the eastern end, who complained that the text messages sent over the pagers were scrambled—in some cases, not received at all.
Initially, Kauffman attributed the problem to kinks involved in the transition to the new communications systems and difficulties individuals were having adjusting from the voice-paging system they were accustomed to the new, digital-pager technology.
Upon thorough testing of the system and the pagers, however, Kauffman concluded that there was a quality-control issue with them. More than 200 faulty pagers have been returned to CommTech for replacement, he said.
This summer, the county began negotiating with CommTech to replace the pagers, and Kauffman began testing other brands. Eventually, a deal was struck with CommTech, which also distributes other brands of pagers, to replace the CommTech 6120 pagers with a Bravo 802 pager, manufactured by Daviscomms.
“The Bravo 802 is working very well for us in the field, and CommTech has come up with an agreement to replace the 6120s with the 802 for us,” he said.
The Bravo pagers cost more than the CommTech model, for which the county spent about $110 each, said Kauffman. CommTech has agreed to sell the Bravo pagers to the county at cost. The additional cost to the county will be $28 for each pager. The total could reach nearly $42,000.
M/A-COM, the company installing the county’s new communications system has agreed to split that cost with the county, Kauffman said.
Kauffman said he has been keeping the county’s firefighters informed about the negotiations with CommTech, and they are anticipating receiving the new pagers. The Bravo pagers are expected to be available and to be distributed to the county’s emergency responders by November, he said.
At about that time, installation of the county’s new communications system should also be completed to allow simulcast paging, said Kauffman. Testing this summer revealed a problem with the transmitters installed on the county’s cell towers. They are being replaced with a more reliable model, he said. The cell towers currently transmit sequentially, from one tower to another.
Source: Lebanon (PA) Daily News.com
| READER'S COMMENTS |
Looking For Scott Davis
From: steve@scomstock.com
Subject: RE: Wireless Messaging Newsletter for Steve Comstock
Date: September 27, 2005 12:41:18 PM CDT
To: brad@braddye.com
Hello Brad,
Do you have any contact information for Scott Davis? I cannot locate him.
Thanks…
Steve Comstock
steve@scomstock.com
Looking For Tescom TC1101B Pager Testers
From: craig@selective.co.nz
Subject: Re: Wireless Messaging Newsletter for Craig Meldrum
Date: September 24, 2005 6:54:59 PM CDT
To: brad@braddye.com
Hi Brad
Thank you for listing our requirement for Tescom TC1101Bs recently. We have managed to pick up a few but we are almost constantly looking for more if anyone has any they are no longer using.
Cheers
Craig
Craig Meldrum, Managing Director
Selective Communications Group Ltd
New Zealand
PO Box 8798
Symonds St.
Auckland, New Zealand
Ph:+64-9-3021142
Fax:+64-9-3021148
craig@selective.co.nz
Skype: craigmmeldrum
www.selective.co.nz
| FEATURED ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER |
THIREE TERM SUPPORTER |  Building on its long success story in 1-way Paging, Advantra International has become the expert in designing and manufacturing the most advanced and lowest cost ReFLEX™ radio modems for 2-way data-communication. The company also focuses on offering total telemetry solutions. Advantra’s current product mix of own products includes the ReFLEX™ radio modules Barran, Karli and Wirlki and the new, highly successful and very low cost location device, the Kepler. Advantra thanks its solid reputation to its world-renowned development team, state-of-the-art manufacturing, excellent customer service and its proven track-record. Location Devices & ReFLEX Modems
Sales and Marketing Contacts
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Newsletter repair prices—starting at:
**Special pricing on cellular and pager refurbishment**
Ask for Special Newsletter Pricing. Please call: (800) 222-6075 ext. 306 for pricing.
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Intelligent Paging & Mobile Data Products PDT2000 Paging Data Terminal
LED Moving Message LED Displays 
Mobile Data Terminals & Solutions
I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Selective Communications. Please contact me directly for any additional information. | InfoRad® Wireless Office (Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP) is designed for the professional who needs full-featured wireless messaging capabilities. Features include enhanced user interface, message log with search function, scheduled Paging, group and individual message addresses, TAPI Smart™, multiple protocol SMS communication compatibility. AlphaCare™ support services available. With a 32-bit architecture, InfoRad Wireless Office is designed for compatibility with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. For more information on InfoRad Wireless Messaging software, and a free demo, please click on the logo.
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CUSTOM APPLICATIONS
Please call me so we can discuss your need or your idea. Or contact me by e-mail for additional information. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Want to help the newsletter? Become a SPONSOR Promote your company's image with one of the posters or better yet, one of the commercial advertising packages
* cost per week—six-month minimum—or 26 issues For more details, and pricing on the various advertising options please click here | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Motorola CreataLink OEM Modules Specifications:
Inputs/Outputs:
General:
Motorola brochure. CreataLink POCSAG 900 Mhz Telemetry Modules These are new closeout surplus and still in original Motorola packaging with very favorable below cost pricing. Several hundred are available. They have RS232 serial outputs in addition to the trigger points and the optional external antenna connectors. Please let me know if there is any interest in this opportunity. Estos son módulos de sobra, nuevos en su embalaje original de Motorola. Los precios son muy favorables, menos del costo original. Hay centenares de ellos disponibles. Incluyen salidas seriales RS232 en adición a los puntos de abre y cierra. También tienen conectores opcionales para antenas externos. Avísame por favor si hay alguna interés en esta oportunidad. | High-speed simulcast Paging with protocols such as POCSAG and FLEX™ requires microsecond accuracy to synchronize the transmission of digital Paging signals.  Zetron's Simulcast System uses GPS timing information to ensure that the broadcasted transmissions between the nodes of the Simulcast System and associated transmitters are synchronized to very tight tolerances. This system is ideal for public or private Paging system operators that use multiple transmitters and wish to create new Paging systems or to build out existing systems into new regions. For more information about Zetron's High Speed Simulcast Paging System, the Model 600 and Model 620, go to: www.zetron.com/paging.
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Advertise Here  Your company's logo and product promotion can appear right here for 6 months. It only costs $500 for a full-size ad in 26 issues—that's $19.23 an issue. (6 month minimum run.) Details about the advertising plans can be read here. |
Customers in Latin America may contact Brad Dye for price and delivery information. Español esta bien. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
Inmarsat Files Petition Requesting Access to 2 GHz Spectrum
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/—Global satellite communications provider Inmarsat announced today that it has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking authorization to provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) by 2010 using a spacecraft that will operate in the 2 GHz band. The proposed spacecraft is part of Inmarsat's planned next generation global system which will be focused on providing global voice, data and multimedia MSS offerings using the 2 GHz band and enabling the establishment or restoration of a communications network in times of crisis.
"Inmarsat services on the 2 GHz band will enhance our role as a provider of reliable, safety-related government and commercial communications services," said Andy Sukawaty, CEO of Inmarsat. "The devastating effects of the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes have demonstrated the need for interoperable communications services for emergency responders and political officials. The 2 GHz band will allow Inmarsat to continue its long legacy of supporting the communications needs of the U.S. military, civil defense and all agencies associated with homeland security."
In 2001, the FCC authorized eight companies to use the 2 GHz band for MSS with the provision that certain satellite construction milestones be met. Six of the eight companies have since forfeited their authorizations. Inmarsat has applied for the unused spectrum to meet the expectation of significantly increased demand for new multimedia and emerging broadband satellite services and to provide first responders with reliable communications capabilities when a terrestrial network has been disabled. As a new entrant in this band, Inmarsat will enhance competition and improve the prospects for actually getting this spectrum resource into service for the benefit of the American public.
Inmarsat has more than two decades of experience implementing and operating a global fleet of MSS satellites that provides essential services to public safety, military, government, commercial and humanitarian users alike. With the near-completion of the $1.5 billion Inmarsat-4 satellite network project, Inmarsat is working on its plans for a state-of-the-art, next generation MSS system in the 2GHz band that will provide new types of broadband and multimedia services across a hybrid satellite-terrestrial architecture. The company plans to develop the system in partnership with leading technology, service and content partners.
"The 2 GHz band is uniquely suited to support broadband and multimedia MSS services and the development of an integrated, interoperable satellite/terrestrial network that can provide uninterrupted, high quality communications service in a time of crisis," said Sukawaty. "Inmarsat has been providing communications support for the government, military and a range of public officials responsible for safety and security for more than twenty years and see the build-out of the 2 GHz network as an extension of our heritage in this arena."
About Inmarsat
Inmarsat plc is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications. Since 1979, Inmarsat has been providing reliable voice and high-speed data communications to governments, enterprises and other organizations, with a range of services that can be used on land, at sea or in the air. The company's services are delivered through a world-class network of leading telecom groups. For the year ended 31 December 2004, group revenue was $480.7 million, with operating profit of $159.1 million. More information can be found at http://www.inmarsat.com.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DANIELS Electronics Awarded $1,000,000 Contract with United States Government Victoria, B.C. Canada - September 29, 2005–Daniels Electronics Ltd., a supplier of high reliability Land Mobile Radio (LMR) radio equipment, today announced it had been awarded a $1,000,000 contract with the United States Departments of Interior and Agriculture for digital radios to be used by these agencies in the expansion and upgrade of their radio networks. This contract represents the latest in a series of substantial orders Daniels has received from the US Government in the ongoing deployment of P25 digital LMR infrastructure across the nation in various National Forests, National Parks and other Agency applications. Part of the order included rush delivery of transportable versions of the Daniels radios to be used by first responders and relief agencies responding to the effects of Hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans region. Daniels was able to expedite delivery of a number of systems to assist in the relief effort. “Daniels is very pleased with this substantial new order since it illustrates the level of business we are receiving from the US market. This equipment supports the ongoing efforts to deploy secure digital interoperable communications across all branches of the Government providing 1st responders with state of the art communications.” says Robert Small, Chief Operating Officer of Daniels Electronics. “We are pleased to be a leading provider of this digital technology and also to be able to provide timely response to the needs of our customers as they respond to national emergencies like Hurricane Katrina. We have received similar requests in the past and each time our team has been ready and able to respond to the need.” About Daniels Electronics Ltd. Daniels Electronics Ltd. is a North American leader in the design and manufacture of customized radio communications systems for specialized applications. For the past 50 years Daniels has provided our customers in North America and internationally with highly reliable base stations, repeaters and paging equipment that is environmentally robust and operates in rugged and extreme temperature conditions where low current consumption is a key requirement. For more information about Daniels Electronics, visit www.danelec.com. | |||
| Contacts: | |||
| Public Relations Daniels Electronics Ltd. 250-382-8268 public_relations@danelec.com | Douglas Bigrigg Director of Sales Daniels Electronics Ltd. (250) 382-8268 sales@danelec.com | ||
| FEATURED ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER |
| Paging Seminar Specially designed course for sales, marketing, and administration personnel. Engineers will only be admitted with a note signed by their mothers, promising that they will just listen and not disrupt the class. (This is supposed to be funny!) This is a one-day training course on Paging that can be conducted at your place of business. Please take a look at the course outline to see if you think this might be beneficial in your employees: Paging Seminar outline. I would be happy to customize the content to meet your specific requirements. Although it touches on several "technical" topics, it is definitely not a technical course. I used to teach the sales and marketing people at Motorola Paging and they appreciated an atmosphere where they could ask technical questions without being made to feel like a dummy and without getting a long convoluted overly-technical answer that left them more confused than before. A good learning environment is one that is non-threatening. Let me know if you would like to receive a quotation, or if you would like to have any additional information. |
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 Download Mr. Mercer's resumé.  CLICK HERE | Complete Technical Services For The Ira Wiesenfeld, P.E.
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hmce@bellsouth.net |  | |||
SATELLITE CONTROL FOR PAGING SYSTEMS $500.00 FLAT RATE TAPS—Texas Association of Paging Services is looking for partners on 152.480 MHz. Our association currently uses Echostar, formerly Spacecom, for distribution of our data and a large percentage of our members use the satellite to key their TXs. We have a CommOneSystems Gateway at the uplink in Chicago with a back-up running 24/7. Our paging coverage area on 152.480 MHz currently encompasses Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Kansas. The TAPS paging coverage is available to members of our Network on 152.480 MHz for $.005 a transmitter (per capcode per month), broken down by state or regions of states and members receive a credit towards their bill for each transmitter which they provide to our coverage. Members are able to use the satellite for their own use If you are on 152.480 MHz or just need a satellite for keying your own TXs on your frequency we have the solution for you. TAPS will provide the gateways in Chicago, with Internet backbone and bandwidth on our satellite channel for $ 500.00 (for your system) a month. Contact Ted Gaetjen @ 1-800-460-7243 or tedasap@asapchoice.com | ||||
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| EMPLOYMENT SECTION |
Reward offered to help Brad King secure a job! Put Brad in contact the hiring manager of his new employer and when he begins working you get the reward. (Subway, Wal-Mart, Jiffy Lube, and Burger King don’t count) You will have your choice of a check for $1,000.00 or two roundtrip tickets anywhere in the lower 48 that Delta flies. For this noble act, in lieu of the reward, Brad will donate $1,000.00, in your name to the charity of your choice. (Prizes paid 30 days after he starts working because he needs the money) If it’s the Braille institute he will contribute another $500.00. Brad wants to thank all the fine professionals that have tried to help him land a decent job over the past five months. They include his friends at Daviscomms, Selective, Waveware, Bearcom, DPC, and Zetron. BUT “No Mr. Popow, Brad is not interested in taking a job in Fargo, ND.” See the attached resume then contact Brad for the summary of job parameters and the details here. (This message sponsored by Brad’s wife who really wants him out of the house!) Send Brad King an e-mail here. |
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| Wi-Fi, WiMax, and VoIP News |
DSG international plc Launches Packet8-Based 'freetalk' VoIP Phone Service in the United Kingdom
European Retail Giant Will Merchandise 'freetalk' Offering at Over 1,000 Dixons, PC World, Currys, and The Link Stores in the UK
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), the Packet8 broadband voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications service provider, today announced the UK launch of an Internet phone service through a private label agreement with Springvox and its "freetalk" partnership with DSG international plc, Europe's leading consumer electronics retailer.
Marketed under the exclusive "freetalk" brand name (http://www.freetalk.co.uk/), the residential VoIP service offering, customized by Springvox for the UK market, will be available from Thursday, September 29th, at DSG international plc retail locations throughout the UK including Dixons, PC World, Currys and The Link.
The "freetalk" UK launch represents 8x8's first focused presence outside of the United States, complete with a European data center, European carrier relationships and a European operations team.
"It is very exciting to see this offering come to fruition after months of development," said 8x8 Chairman and CEO Bryan Martin. "Both Springvox and DSG international plc have been phenomenal partners throughout the entire process and we are happy to be working together to provide UK residents with this state of the art internet phone service."
The "freetalk" VoIP phone service enables UK residents to make unlimited calls to UK landlines, discounted calls to UK mobile phones and very low cost calls to international numbers, saving substantially over the rates offered by other telephone service providers in the UK. For 79.99 pounds Sterling the first year or 6.99 pounds per month (and 19.99 pounds for the equipment), customers have access to free unlimited UK local and national calls. After the first year, customers will be charged a low 6.99 pounds per month, which will cover unlimited UK landline calls.
"We're delighted to be the first retailer in the UK to offer customers next generation telephone services at the lowest price on the market," said Simon Turner, divisional managing director of DSG international plc. "This is the most significant development in the telephone market since the launch of the mobile phone and will transform the way we use phones. The days of old-style fixed-line phone calls are numbered."
Commenting on recent developments in the telephone market, Simon Turner said: "Voice over IP, the enabling technology, has been talked about for several years and many technology companies have recently announced their intention to launch services. The difference with our announcement is that we are making it an immediate, affordable and convenient reality through our 1,000 UK stores—and we're leading the market on price. It's yet another example of our ability to make the latest technology and services a reality for millions of UK customers."
About 8x8, Inc.
VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service provider 8x8, Inc. offers internet-based telephony solutions (http://www.packet8.net/) for individual residential and business users as well as small to medium sized business organizations. In addition to regular Packet8 VoIP service plans, priced as low as $19.95 per month for unlimited anytime calling to the U.S. and Canada, 8x8 offers the $99 Packet8 VideoPhone, the industry's first stand alone broadband consumer videophone with worldwide video calling for $19.95 per month. Packet8 Virtual Office, 8x8's VoIP solution for small to medium sized businesses, is a hosted PBX service comprised of powerful business class features. Packt8 markets its services and technology through retailers, partners, direct, and for larger qualified opportunities, through customized co-brand or private label solutions. For additional company information, visit 8x8's web site at http://www.8x8.com/.
About DSG international plc (London Stock Exchange DSGI)
DSG international plc has more than 1,400 stores across the UK, Ireland, the Nordic countries, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic and Greece. It trades as Dixons, Currys, PC World and The Link in the UK and Ireland, Elkjop in the Nordic countries, PC City in Spain, France, Italy and Sweden, UniEuro in Italy, Electro World in Hungary and the Czech Republic and Kotsovolos in Greece. The Group specializes in the sale of high technology consumer electronics, personal computers, domestic appliances, photographic equipment, communication products and related financial and after sales services.
NOTE: 8x8, the 8x8 logo, Packet8, the Packet8 logo and Packet8 Virtual Office are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Source: 8x8, Inc. Press Release
VoIP wiretapping rules to be considered
US authorities want to listen in on net phone calls . . .
By Declan McCullagh
Published: Tuesday 27 September 2005
Broadband providers and internet phone services have until spring 2007 to follow a new and complex set of rules designed to make it easier for police to seek wiretaps, federal regulators have ruled.
It's clear from the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 59-page decision, released late on Friday evening, that any voice over IP, or VoIP, provider linking with the public telephone network must be wiretap-ready. That list would include companies such as Packet 8, SkypeOut and Vonage.
But what remains uncertain is what the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) ruling means for companies, universities, not-for-profit organisations—and even individuals offering wireless or other forms of internet access.
Jim Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said on Monday: "Because of that very fundamental difference between the internet and the public switched network, the commission has had a hard time defining who, exactly, is covered, and they have in this order completely punted on the question of who is responsible for what."
Terrorism and homeland security concerns make such regulations necessary, the FCC said, echoing the arguments of Bush administration officials who have warned of VoIP services becoming a "haven" for terrorists, criminals and spies. The FCC said: "It is clearly not in the public interest to allow terrorists and criminals to avoid lawful surveillance by law enforcement agencies by using broadband internet access services."
Even though the FBI has been lobbying on this topic since at least mid-2003, and regulators have been formally considering the request since March 2004, the rules remain fuzzy. The FCC's order says, for instance, that "we reach no conclusions" about whether universities, and small and rural broadband providers, must cease providing net connectivity until their networks comply with police requirements.
The FCC's 59-page rule applies to any "internet access service" that offers upstream or downstream speeds of at least 200kbps—which would easily cover Wi-Fi hot spots operated by individuals or businesses. In a footnote, however, the FCC suggests that its regulations "are not intended" to cover hotels, coffee shops and bookstores that provide Wi-Fi service.
Some answers are likely to come in a second regulation that the FCC promises to release by the end of the year. That's also expected to address whether taxpayers will pay for the cost of equipment upgrades and yield more details about deadlines. (The requirements kick in 18 months from the formal publication of the rules in the Federal Register—which has not happened yet—yielding a deadline of about April 2007.)
An FCC representative who did not want to be identified by name said on Monday that "whoever operates the system" would be subject to federal wiretap requirements. The representative said someone who "actually has a network"—opposed to a cafe that just buys internet service—would be responsible for complying.
Representatives from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the Voice On the Net Coalition said they would work with the FCC to ensure their services complied with the requirements, though they acknowledged that important questions remained unanswered.
Injecting additional uncertainty is whether the FCC's action is legal. It represents what critics call an unreasonable extension of 1994's CALEA—which was designed to address telephone features such as three-way calling and call waiting—to the internet.
A House of Representatives committee report prepared in October 1994 emphatically says CALEA's requirements "do not apply to information services such as electronic-mail services; or online services such as CompuServe, Prodigy, America Online or Mead Data [Central]; or to internet service providers."
When Congress was debating CALEA, then-FBI director Louis Freeh reassured nervous senators that the law would be limited to telephone calls.
Two of the four FCC commissioners who voted for the extension on Friday acknowledged the federal government was on shaky legal ground. The FCC's regulation is based on arguing that the law's definition of "telecommunications carrier" applies to broadband and VoIP providers.
Kathleen Abernathy said: "Because litigation is as inevitable as death and taxes, and because some might not read the statute to permit the extension of CALEA to the broadband internet access and VoIP services at issue here, I have stated my concern that an approach like the one we adopt today is not without legal risk."
Michael Copps warned that if a court case leads to the rules being struck down, Friday's move may have done "more harm than good". The FCC's logic, he said, was "built on very complicated legal ground".
Referring to the application of CALEA to the internet, the Center for Democracy and Technology's Dempsey said: "They basically rewrote the statute. After a year or more of studying this question, the commission has failed to answer some basic questions. I'm afraid that the FBI will step into the vacuum and start claiming that it needs this or that."
Declan McCullagh writes for CNET News.com
Source: Silicon.com
| UNTIL NEXT WEEK |
I am very encouraged that several senior managers in the Paging Industry are taking aggressive action to promote Paging technology as an important part of Public Safety Emergency alerting. I wrote to the chairman of the FCC two weeks ago about my concerns and my support for his "independent expert panel to make recommendations to the Commission regarding ways to improve disaster communications." You can help by contacting your local, state, and federal government officials and pointing out that conventional Paging technology infrastructure is fully deployed coast to coast—and ready to use. This is our chance to make a difference.
 With best regards,  | Brad Dye P.O. Box 266 |  |  | |
| Skype: | braddye | WIRELESS  DATA | ||
| Telephone/Fax: | 618-842-3892 | |||
| E–mail: | brad@braddye.com | |||
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"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." | ||||
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| FLEX, ReFLEX, FLEXsuite, and InFLEXion, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola, Inc. Si desea escribirme en español, puede hacerlo con toda confianza. | ||||
| THE WIRELESS MESSAGING AND PAGING INFORMATION RESOURCE |
In the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster along the Gulf Coast, among the most reliable methods of electronic communication throughout the region were the one-way paging and two-way text messaging services provided by USA Mobility, Inc.
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