by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 1, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Untethered drones carrying a payload heavy enough to deliver LTE connectivity have demonstrated flight times approaching two hours, which would make their usage much more practical in key first-responder scenarios, public-safety representatives said during last week’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) 2021 virtual event.
Five teams demonstrated an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that supported flight times of at least 60 minutes during the final “Last Drone Standing” stage PSCR’s First Responder UAS Endurance Challenge, according to results of the prize challenge announced last week. A multi-rotor drone that leverages both gas and electric energy designed by the Advanced Aircraft Company team from Hampton, Va., posted the longest flight time of 112 minutes—six times longer than the best flight time logged in the 2018 UAS challenge sponsored by PSCR… 2022.
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 1, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
These days, data is coming at law enforcement from all sides — body and dash cams, cellphone locations, license plate readers, reports and so on. So Motorola Solutions, a giant of law enforcement technology, is launching a cloud solution meant to bring it all into one place.
The CommandCentral suite acts, at its core, as a gateway to many different applications. It can bring together 911 dispatch activity with real-time video feeds, records such as incident reports and even information about what’s happening inside jails…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 1, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The following is a compilation of ideas I presented in a Mission Critical Communications article (August 2019) and in previous Advocates, along with updated information and further thoughts.
My vision of the ultimate device for public-safety Next-Generation 9-1-1 (NG911), FirstNet, and Land Mobile Radio (LMR) includes a common Internet Protocol (IP) backend. Radios would be a smart combination of LMR and FirstNet that, for the most part, would be controlled by the networks. These radios would deliver information first responders need to do their jobs and they would be capable of off-network (simplex) one-to-one and one-to-many communications…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 29, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
“NG911 market penetration, based on the percentage of the US population covered by closed NG911 contracts, is projected to reach 95% by 2026, up from approximately 60% in 2020,” said Brent Iadarola, Information & Communication Technology Vice President at Frost & Sullivan. “Statewide requests for proposals (RFPs), where states have centrally organized their public safety answering points (PSAPs) to conduct statewide NG911 upgrades, have emerged as the preferred and most efficient approach to NG911 implementations.”
Iadarola added: “The entry of large integrators with one-stop-shop-as-a-service business models has accelerated the progress and reduced the complexity of NG911 deployments. A clear theme over the course of Frost & Sullivan’s research was that states often do not have the resources, expertise, or desire to manage the complexities of NG911 in-house…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 29, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Randy Kerr, Situational Awareness Roadmap Domain Lead, First Responder Network Authority
As the only nationwide broadband network dedicated to public safety, FirstNet gives first responders access to unique features such as priority, preemption, and quality of service. Primary users on FirstNet – including those working in law enforcement, the fire service, emergency medical services, emergency communications, and emergency management – have priority and preemption access to the network, even in times of extreme congestion. These features are always on and do not require any action from public safety, which allows them to stay focused on the mission at hand. READ FULL ARTICLE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jun 28, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded $2,988,950 in a new round of funding for new interoperable communication systems for public safety. Initially funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), through its Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program, Catalyst Communications Technologies of Forest, Virginia, was provided this Phase III SBIR award for commercialization of its interoperable communications solution.
S&T previously provided Phase I and Phase II SBIR funding to Catalyst to develop interworking solutions for land mobile radio (LMR) and long-term evolution (LTE) communication systems for public safety. Catalyst established a roadmap for effective interworking during Phase I and is just now concluding Phase II work building prototypes for a variety of LMR systems and a public safety-grade dispatch console that seamlessly supports both LMR and LTE…
