Declaration of Interoperability

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Roman Kaluta

Alabama, led by Jefferson County, shows it can be done

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The State of Alabama has been working tirelessly to accomplish statewide interoperability. They faced the same communications problem that many other states are facing today — they were using several different types of legacy communications systems that operated on disparate frequencies.

“The ability to communicate with other first responders and different public-safety agencies is one of the core capabilities that must be attained,” said Jim Walker, director of the Alabama Department of Homeland Security.

The cost of purchasing new communications systems for the entire state was too expensive to fund and would take an incredible length of time to accomplish. State officials instead began to look at different ways to meet the operability and interoperability needs of first responders at the local, regional and state levels.

Recently, significant progress has been made in completing this task. The state now has interoperability over a 10-county area and is currently working to expand its new wide area interoperability system (WAIS), manufactured by Raytheon's JPS Communications, to several fixed sites throughout the state.

The Alabama Department of Homeland Security oversaw and funded the state's efforts to achieve interoperability and enhance the ability of public-safety agencies to access and provide real-time voice, data and video capabilities.

First, the state developed a strategic plan to integrate the various systems, using existing infrastructure whenever possible to keep the costs down. A comprehensive state communications interoperability plan was formulated, incorporating several different technologies to achieve the stated goals.

The state then conducted an extensive evaluation of different communications technologies that would meet its immediate need to provide operability and interoperability during daily and emergency operations. They needed to ensure the selected technology would provide an IP-based capability, allow for expansion, and incorporate new and legacy systems.