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Wishing a safe and happy weekend for all readers of The Wireless Messaging News. OK boys and girls, here is your lesson for this week:
So what does that have to do with Paging ? Well, I just wanted you all to know that a Pager has its own Emoji—we didn't get left out.
The Pager emoji was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010. The number on the pager displays as different numbers based on the platform 555-3215 (Apple), 888888 (Google), 9545684 (Samsung), 0018190 (LG), 555-5555 (Twitter and Mozilla) and O-N-E (Emoji One).
Also Known As: Beeper Emoji and Bleeper Emoji. [ source ] The definition of experience : “Experience is what allows us to recognise our mistakes when we make them again.” Now on to more news and views. | Wayne County, Illinois
A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is 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 web. 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 Messaging 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 readers’ comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging 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 web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. I spend the whole week searching the Internet for news that I think may be of interest to you — so you won’t have to. This newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. You can help our community by sharing any interesting news that you find.
Editorial Opinion pieces present only the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any of advertisers or supporters. This newsletter is independent of any trade association. Subscribe IT'S FREE * required field If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter just fill in the blanks in the form above, and then click on the “Subscribe” button. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. It’s all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. Back To Paging
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Firefighters in Rensselaer County unveil new 'lifesaving' pager systemWNYT Staff DEFREESTVILLE — Imagine if your house was on fire, or if your family member suffered a medical emergency, and the people you were depending on for help, couldn't receive the emergency message. That's what has been at stake in Rensselaer County. In the remote, rolling hills of rural Rensselaer County, there's no guarantee when an emergency occurs, every family will get the response they deserve. “Even yesterday, we had a pager failure where one of the members wasn't able to hear the page and our response was delayed,” said Gil Hall, a longtime member of the Hoosick Rescue Squad. “They may or may not receive the message because pagers are beyond the capability to be repaired. We buy them off eBay and we can't fix them.” Hall says the Hoosick Rescue Squad would have had to spend $10,000 for new pagers, which is hard to come by in his small town. But the beeper dilemma has been fixed. With a $750,000 check delivered on Wednesday by Senator Kathy Marchione (R-Halfmoon), every fire company and every ambulance agency in Rensselaer County will be able to purchase brand new mobile beepers, more than 1,900 of them. “In responding to an emergency situation, every second counts,” Senator Marchione said, “It can literally mean the difference between life and death.” “When you hear the tone, remember let's give thanks to Marchione,” declared Chief Gary Roberts of the South Schodack Fire Department, and the first vice president of the Rensselaer County Fire Chiefs' Association. “Senator Marchione has now equipped us, not only for the new county radio system coming on line, but also for future recruitment in the very near future.” The beeper enhancement completes a $20 Million investment by the county to upgrade and replace their entire emergency communications system. “For many fire districts, this relates to approximately $20,000 that taxpayers won't need to fund," Chief William Maloney, of the Speigletown Fire Department, pointed out.” Maloney, along with other fire chiefs, say they'll be able to better recruit and retain new members. they also say they'll be able to purchase protective gear for many firefighters who have been working without it. “In short, it's a winning situation for everyone involved,” noted David Quinn, chief administrative officer of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY). With the new pagers, the emergency radio coverage increases from 85% to 96% of Rensselaer County. |
| Source: | WNYT.com | News Channel 13 in Albany, New York |
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White House pledges $400M for next-gen wireless techThe initiative aims to improve wireless speeds and make superfast 5G Wi-Fi more widely available. July 15, 2016—8:47 AM PDT The Obama Administration on Friday announced a new funding initiative to ensure the U.S. maintains its leadership in the mobile technology space. The $400 million Advanced Wireless Research Initiative will be led by the National Science Foundation and aims to develop and advance wireless technology to 5G and beyond. “Collectively, these spectrum policy and research efforts will accelerate the deployment of a new generation of wireless networks that are up to 100 times faster than today,” the White House wrote in a press release . “These super-fast, ultra-low latency, high-capacity networks will enable breakthrough applications for consumers, smart cities, and the Internet of Things that cannot even be imagined today.” The initiative includes an $85 million investment in advanced wireless testing platforms that comes from the NSF and more than 20 technology companies, including Samsung, Intel and Verizon. The foundation also said that it will invest an additional $350 million over the next seven years in academic research to test these platforms. The White House outlined possible advancements the initiative could help aide in making a reality within the next decade. Those include consumers being able to download full-length HD movies in less than 5 seconds, seeing gigabit-speed Wi-Fi in businesses, schools and other public spaces, and using virtual reality simulations to help workers develop new skills. |
| Source: | c|net.com |
| Leavitt Communications |
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| Swissphone |
Disaster-Proven Paging for Public SafetyPaging system designs in the United States typically use a voice radio-style infrastructure. These systems are primarily designed for outdoor mobile coverage with modest indoor coverage. Before Narrowbanding, coverage wasn’t good, but what they have now is not acceptable! The high power, high tower approach also makes the system vulnerable. If one base station fails, a large area loses their paging service immediately! Almost every technology went from analog to digital except fire paging. So it’s time to think about digital paging! The Disaster-Proven Paging Solution (DiCal) from Swissphone offers improved coverage, higher reliability and flexibility beyond anything that traditional analog or digital paging systems can provide. Swissphone is the No. 1 supplier for digital paging solutions worldwide. The Swiss company has built paging networks for public safety organizations all over the world. Swissphone has more than 1 million pagers in the field running for years and years due to their renowned high quality. DiCal is the digital paging system developed and manufactured by Swissphone. It is designed to meet the specific needs of public safety organizations. Fire and EMS rely on these types of networks to improve incident response time. DiCal systems are designed and engineered to provide maximum indoor paging coverage across an entire county. In a disaster situation, when one or several connections in a simulcast solution are disrupted or interrupted, the radio network automatically switches to fall back operating mode. Full functionality is preserved at all times. This new system is the next level of what we know as “Simulcast Paging” here in the U.S.
Swissphone offers high-quality pagers, very robust and waterproof. Swissphone offers the best sensitivity in the industry, and battery autonomy of up to three months. First responder may choose between a smart s.QUAD pager, which is able to connect with a smartphone and the Hurricane DUO pager, the only digital pager who offers text-to-voice functionality. Bluetooth technology makes it possible to connect the s.QUAD with a compatible smartphone, and ultimately with various s.ONE software solutions from Swissphone. Thanks to Bluetooth pairing, the s.QUAD combines the reliability of an independent paging system with the benefits of commercial cellular network. Dispatched team members can respond back to the call, directly from the pager. The alert message is sent to the pager via paging and cellular at the same time. This hybrid solution makes the alert faster and more secure. Paging ensures alerting even if the commercial network fails or is overloaded. Swissphone sets new standards in paging: Paging Network
Pager
Dispatching:
Swissphone provides a proven solution at an affordable cost. Do you want to learn more? |
Warren County plans to replace aging emergency communication systemPaige Godden Warren County is exploring how it will update a decades-old radio system that's so out of date the Carlisle police chief says his radio won't even work in his own back yard. If a mass emergency would take place in Warren County, Carlisle Chief Eric Spring says the county's emergency responders are not prepared. "We just don't have the communications in place to handle an event like that," Spring said. The Warren County Board of Supervisors held a meeting Tuesday night where law enforcement officials, the county's E911 board and several city leaders agreed to form a task force to figure out what to do about the aging system. Brent Spear, head of the county's E911 joint services board, said the last radio system was purchased for about $150,000. The problem, he said, is there is no specific formula to fund a new radio system. There are several key players in the purchase, though, including the E911 Board, the Warren County supervisors via the sheriff's department and the Emergency Management Commission. The cities that use the communication system, such as Indianola, Lacona and Carlisle are also going to have to pay in. That creates another problem, Spear said, because Lacona can't afford the same quality of radios Indianola could. To solve that problem, the task force will look into whether it would be feasible for cities to lease equipment rather than buying it. While the task force has several issues to work through, there was concern the county hasn't been moving fast enough to fix its communication problem. James Butler, who serves on the Warren County E911 board and is a police officer for Des Moines, said talk about replacing the communication system has been going on for years. Furthermore, Spring said communication system are a hot topic in the country right now so he wanted to know what the board of supervisors thought about the county's current issues. "Are they aware of it? Where do they think we need to move next to?" Spring asked the three supervisors sitting in the room. "We're doing a lot of talking but a lot of this is a partnership and they're going to have a role in it." The supervisors didn't immediately respond to his inquiry. Another joint meeting between the supervisors and E911 board is scheduled for Oct. 4. |
| Source: | The Des Moines Register | . |
| Leavitt Communications |
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Other products Please see our web site for other products including Internet Messaging Gateways, Unified Messaging Servers, test equipment, and Paging Terminals.
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| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP — are reproduced in this section with the firm’s permission.
FCC Releases Forward Auction Clock Phase User GuideAs this edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update went to publication, the FCC released a Public Notice announcing the availability of the “FCC Incentive Auction Forward Auction Clock Phase Bidding System User Guide,” which describes the features of the bidding system that will be used to bid in the clock phase of the forward auction and which provides detailed instructions for bidding and viewing the round results in the clock phase of the forward auction. The user guide is available in electronic form under the “Education” section of the Auction 1002 website ( www.fcc.gov/auctions/1002 ). The Guide is 95 pages long, and reinforces that the Incentive Auction will be fundamentally different from, and far more complex than, prior spectrum auctions. HeadlinesPetitions for Reconsideration of Rate of Return Order AnnouncedOn July 11, the FCC’s issued a Public Notice announcing the Petitions for Reconsideration that were filed in its proceeding on rate-of-return (RoR) reform (WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 14-58, and CC Docket No. 01-92). Oppositions are due July 26, and replies to oppositions, if any, are due August 5. In total, four Petitions for Reconsideration were filed:
FCC Adds New Warning Codes to EASOn July 11, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that it has updated its Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules by adding three new “event codes” that can be used to warn the public about the storm surges and extreme winds that may accompany hurricanes and other severe weather events. Specifically, In response to stakeholder input, the FCC has now added three additional codes — to signify an “Extreme Wind Warning,” “Storm Surge Watch,” and “Storm Surge Warning” — so that communities can receive more specific and relevant alerts during hurricanes or other severe weather. The EAS is the national public warning system through which broadcasters, cable television providers, and other participants deliver emergency information to Americans. About 90 percent of EAS activations are generated by the National Weather Service (NWS) and concern weather events. Alert originators, such as the NWS, select from a group of fixed event codes based on the nature of the situation (for example, “TOR” signifies tornado), and the relevant alert is subsequently distributing by EAS participants to the public. EAS is only one of the ways that critical information in is disseminated to the public in an emergency and generally applies to broadcast, cable, and multichannel video services. A related system for Wireless Emergency Alerts (or WEAs) allows local, state and federal authorities to send geo-targeted emergency warnings of no more than 90 characters through participating mobile carriers to consumers with WEA-enabled mobile devices. The EAS and WEA systems both tie in to FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), and adoption of the new EAS event codes should not require any action by our firm’s clients that have chosen to participate in WEA. The updated rules require EAS equipment manufacturers to integrate the codes into new equipment and will also enable EAS participants to update their existing equipment in advance of next year’s (2017) Atlantic hurricane season. Law & RegulationCommissioner O’Rielly Posts Slide on His Reform Efforts on FCC BlogOn July 8, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly posted a chart outlining the 24 FCC reform proposals that he has suggested to date in various blogs and Congressional testimony. Of the proposals listed, the three that have been actually adopted in whole or in part are in yellow.
According to Commissioner O’Rielly, he would be pleased to review and consider supporting suggestions from the public or practitioners before the Commission, and plans to continue to “call out for the need to improve the functionality of this Commission to ensure every sound idea is given due consideration, and will add to this list as the process issues pile up.” FCC to Hold Open Commission Meeting on July 14On July 7, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the agenda for its July 14 Open Meeting. At the meeting, the FCC will consider the following items:
FCC Increases Application Fees to Reflect InflationOn July 7, the FCC issued an Order making changes to Part 1 of the its rules, and amends its Schedule of Application Fees, to adjust its fees for processing applications and other filings. Specifically, the Order increases application fees to reflect the net change in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”) of 1.8 percent, an increase of 4.292 index points calculated from October 2013 (233.546) to October 2015 (237.838). The new fees go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Some items of note include:
The full list of new fees can be found in the appendix, here . Senate Committee on Commerce Holds Hearing on Broadband PrivacyOn July 12, U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, convened a full committee hearing titled “How Will the FCC’s Proposed Privacy Regulations Affect Consumers and Competition?” The purpose of the hearing was to examine the FCC’s proposal to apply a new regime of privacy rules to broadband internet access providers. Witnesses for the hearing were: Mr. Dean C. Garfield, President and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council; the Honorable Jon Leibowitz, Partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell and Co-Chair of the 21st Century Privacy Coalition; Mr. Matthew M. Polka, President and CEO of the American Cable Association; and Professor Peter Swire, Huang Professor of Law and Ethics at the Scheller College of Business of the Georgia Institute of Technology. In his opening statement, Sen. Thune said that, “[t]he FCC’s push for a separate regulatory scheme for [broadband internet access service] providers is based in significant part on their claim that ’ISPs are the most important and extensive conduits of consumer information and thus have access to very sensitive and very personal information.’ I am not so sure about that. It appears that many companies that are not broadband providers have access to information about consumers that is more personal and more sensitive than much of what ISPs can access, yet those entities are not covered by the Commission’s proposal.” Speaking for the minority, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) said, “We need regulators who are not afraid to use their authority when necessary — including to protect consumer privacy — but also know when to exercise that authority with humility. This is a difficult balance, but that does not mean that an agency should defer or otherwise be reluctant to do what it believes is best to protect consumers.” IndustryCommissioner Pai Inquires of State PUCs Regarding Lifeline Fraud PreventionOn July 5, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai sent letters to the Public Utility Commissions of California, Oregon, Texas, and Vermont regarding lifeline fraud and the commissions’ efforts to prevent it. Specifically, in his letters, Commissioner Pai noted that the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) is “ripe for abuse,” recounting a recent investigation that revealed approximately 32,000 enrolled duplicates by a single company Total Call Mobile, whose sales agents “repeatedly overrode the safeguards of the NLAD - abuse so far-reaching that, at one point, 99.8% of Total Call Mobile's new subscribers were the result of overrides.” In his letters, Commissioner Pai put specific questions to the PUCs, each of which is in one of the few states that run their own lifeline accountability databases, including:
Commissioner Pai requested a response from the PUCs by August 2. DeadlinesJULY 1: FCC FORM 481 (CARRIER ANNUAL REPORTING DATA COLLECTION FORM). All eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) must report the information required by Section 54.313, which includes outage, unfulfilled service request, and complaint data, broken out separately for voice and broadband services, information on the ETC’s holding company, operating companies, ETC affiliates and any branding in response to section 54.313(a)(8); its CAF-ICC certification, if applicable; its financial information, if a privately held rate-of-return carrier; and its satellite backhaul certification, if applicable. Form 481 must not only be filed with USAC, but also with the FCC and the relevant state commission and tribal authority, as appropriate. Although USAC treats the filing as confidential, filers must seek confidential treatment separately with the FCC and the relevant state commission and tribal authority if confidential treatment is desired. JULY 1: MOBILITY FUND PHASE I ANNUAL REPORT. Winning bidders in Auction 901 that are authorized to receive Mobility Fund Phase I support are required to submit to the FCC an annual report each year on July 1 for the five years following authorization. Each annual report must be submitted to the Office of the Secretary of the FCC, clearly referencing WT Docket No. 10-208; the Universal Service Administrator; and the relevant state commissions, relevant authority in a U.S. Territory, or Tribal governments, as appropriate. The information and certifications required to be included in the annual report are described in Section 54.1009 of the FCC’s rules. JULY 29: CARRIER IDENTIFICATION CODE (CIC) REPORTS. Carrier Identification Code (CIC) Reports must be filed by the last business day of July (this year, July 29). These reports are required of all carriers who have been assigned a CIC code by NANPA. Failure to file could result in an effort by NANPA to reclaim it, although according to the Guidelines this process is initiated with a letter from NANPA regarding the apparent non-use of the CIC code. The assignee can then respond with an explanation. (Guidelines Section 6.2). The CIC Reporting Requirement is included in the CIC Assignment Guidelines, produced by ATIS. According to section 1.4 of that document: At the direction of the NANPA, the access providers and the entities who are assigned CICs will be requested to provide access and usage information to the NANPA, on a semi-annual basis to ensure effective management of the CIC resource. (Holders of codes may respond to the request at their own election). Access provider and entity reports shall be submitted to NANPA no later than January 31 for the period ending December 31, and no later than July 31 for the period ending June 30. It is also referenced in the NANPA Technical Requirements Document, which states at 7.18.6: CIC holders shall provide a usage report to the NANPA per the industry CIC guidelines … The NAS shall be capable of accepting CIC usage reports per guideline requirements on January 31 for the period ending December 31 and no later than July 31 for the period ending June 30. These reports may also be mailed and accepted by the NANPA in paper form. Finally, according to the NANPA website, if no local exchange carrier reports access or usage for a given CIC, NANPA is obliged to reclaim it. The semi-annual utilization and access reporting mechanism is described at length in the guidelines. AUGUST 1: FCC FORM 507, UNIVERSAL SERVICE QUARTERLY LINE COUNT UPDATE. Line count updates are required to recalculate a carrier's per line universal service support, and is filed with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). This information must be submitted on July 31 each year by all rate-of-return incumbent carriers, and on a quarterly basis if a competitive eligible telecommunications carrier (CETC) has initiated service in the rate-of-return incumbent carrier’s service area and reported line count data to USAC in the rate-of-return incumbent carrier’s service area, in order for the incumbent carrier to be eligible to receive Interstate Common Line Support (ICLS). Because July 31 falls on a Sunday this year, the filing will be due August 1. This quarterly filing is due July 31 and covers lines served as of December 31, 2013. Incumbent carriers filing on a quarterly basis must also file on September 30 (for lines served as of March 31, 2014); December 30 (for lines served as of June 30, 2014), and March 31, 2015, for lines served as of September 30, 2014). SEPTEMBER 1: FCC FORM 477, LOCAL COMPETITION AND BROADBAND REPORTING FORM. Three types of entities must file this form. (1) Facilities-based Providers of Broadband Connections to End User Locations: Entities that are facilities-based providers of broadband connections — which are wired “lines” or wireless “channels” that enable the end user to receive information from and/or send information to the Internet at information transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction — must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which the entity provides one or more such connections to end user locations. For the purposes of Form 477, an entity is a “facilities-based” provider of broadband connections to end user locations if it owns the portion of the physical facility that terminates at the end user location, if it obtains unbundled network elements (UNEs), special access lines, or other leased facilities that terminate at the end user location and provisions/equips them as broadband, or if it provisions/equips a broadband wireless channel to the end user location over licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Such entities include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers (LECs), cable system operators, fixed wireless service providers (including “wireless ISPs”), terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless service providers, MMDS providers, electric utilities, municipalities, and other entities. (Such entities do not include equipment suppliers unless the equipment supplier uses the equipment to provision a broadband connection that it offers to the public for sale. Such entities also do not include providers of fixed wireless services ( e.g., “Wi-Fi” and other wireless ethernet, or wireless local area network, applications) that only enable local distribution and sharing of a premises broadband facility.) (2) Providers of Wired or Fixed Wireless Local Telephone Services: Incumbent and competitive LECs must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide local exchange service to one or more end user customers (which may include “dial-up” ISPs). (3) Providers of Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Service: Interconnected VoIP service is a service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications; requires a broadband connection from the user’s location; requires Internet-protocol compatible customer premises equipment; and permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network. Interconnected VoIP providers must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide interconnected VoIP service to one or more subscribers, with the state determined for reporting purposes by the location of the subscriber’s broadband connection or the subscriber’s “Registered Location” as of the data-collection date. “Registered Location” is the most recent information obtained by an interconnected VoIP service provider that identifies the physical location of an end user. (4) Providers of Mobile Telephony Services: Facilities-based providers of mobile telephony services must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which they serve one or more mobile telephony subscribers. A mobile telephony service is a real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the public switched network using an in-network switching facility that enables the provider to reuse frequencies and accomplish seamless handoff of subscriber calls. A mobile telephony service provider is considered “facilities-based” if it serves a subscriber using spectrum for which the entity holds a license that it manages, or for which it has obtained the right to use via lease or other arrangement with a Band Manager. SEPTEMBER 30: FCC FORM 396-C, MVPD EEO PROGRAM REPORTING FORM. Each year on September 30, multi-channel video program distributors (“MVPDs”) must file with the Commission an FCC Form 396-C, Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor EEO Program Annual Report, for employment units with six or more full-time employees. Users must access the FCC’s electronic filing system via the Internet in order to submit the form; it will not be accepted if filed on paper unless accompanied by an appropriate request for waiver of the electronic filing requirement. Certain MVPDs also will be required to complete portions of the Supplemental Investigation Sheet (“SIS”) located at the end of the Form. These MVPDs are specifically identified in a Public Notice each year by the FCC. Calendar At-A-Glance July August September |
| This newsletter is not intended to provide legal advice. Those interested in more information should contact the firm. For additional information, please contact Hal Mordkofsky at 202-828-5520 or halmor@bloostonlaw.com . |
Boone County talks emergency communication upgradeSarah Brookbank Existing VHF/UHF radio system to coordinate between dispatch, fire, EMS and police outdated. BURLINGTON — Emergency situations happen every day and first responders in Boone County rely on a VHF/UHF radio system to coordinate between dispatch, fire, EMS and police. However the system isn’t adequate. There are gaps in coverage and it is difficult to coordinate with dispatch and other agencies. The Boone County Public Safety/First Responder Steering Committee presented the findings of a study on the public safety communication system to Fiscal Court on June 5. The study confirmed what first responders already knew. The system is out of date and needs an upgrade. Fiscal Court voted to continue with a consultant hired last year in making a plan for an upgrade and to look for a short-term solution to the problem. Mark Ihrig, director of Emergency Management, said the study found the current system has problems stemming from coverage issues. Boone County currently uses three radio systems, one for Fire and EMS, one for Police and another for public works. It is difficult and nearly impossible to communicate between departments. Ihrig said it is a major concern, especially if there were to be a large-scale emergency event. Existing system limit talk among responders, dispatchers The study also found talk-back capabilities are limited, which means it is difficult for first responders to communicate with dispatch, especially in the western part of the county. Another struggle is building penetration, meaning responders can’t be reached inside large buildings, such as schools and warehouses. The study was done by TUSA, a consultant that specializes in the assessment, design, procurement and implementation of public safety and local government radio communications systems. After months interviewing first responders, computer modeling and visiting local tower and dispatch sites, TUSA said the best option would be to upgrade to an 800 MHz P25 system – either alone or with Kenton and Campbell counties. Jim Staverman, director of Boone County Public Safety Communication Center, said the county should move forward with the 800MHz system. 800 MHz system finds support but cost issue not resolved Upgrading the current UHF/VHF system would be expensive and would not fix the building penetration issues, Staverman said. The 800MHz system would fix those issues, and could be adapted in the future. Partnering with Kenton and Campbell counties could help save money, but would also help communication across county lines. County Administrator Jeff Earlywine said Boone County would need to start immediately to find funding and finance options for the project. “Boone County has reached out to our colleagues in both Campbell and in Kenton … Kenton County has progressed the farthest at this point and Campbell is a little behind us,” Earlywine said. “We have reached out to them and simply said we are interested in collaborating with them in any way that makes sense that we can accomplish our objectives for our first responders.” County Commissioner Cathy Flaig said the 800MHz system is important for the safety of the county and first responders. “No matter what, whether Kenton County or Campbell County goes with it. We should very seriously consider the 800MHz system, because the safety issues, alone. We’re not like Kenton and Campbell in a lot of ways. They don’t have the factories and the buildings and the infrastructure we have,” Flaig said. “And we’re home to CVG.” Commissioner Charlie Walton agreed with Flaig and said safety is paramount for the county and its citizens, and would be worth the price. “We have to make sure that the citizens understand the importance of the type of system that we’re talking about, for their safety and the county’s ability to operate and do what needs to be done,” Walton said. What is an 800 MHz P25 system? “The 800 MHz band has similar signal propagation characteristics as the UHF band, with better in-building penetration capability ... ”P25” is a digital technology that has been adopted as the public safety communications standard for the United States and provides a modem feature set that provides for unit ID and emergency ID, private calling (radio to radio), encryption, and seamless interoperability between different vendor P25 systems, amongst many other features. It is also able to be designed to ensure a balanced talk-out and talk-back between the dispatch and users by utilizing high-gain tower top amplifiers.” |
| Source: | Cincinnati.com |
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| THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK |
Summertime “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” ― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK |
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| Source: | Jon Sheppard Photography | From a friend of a friend. |
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