News Notes

Plant Equipment (PEI), Salt Lake City, has signed agreements with Cerulean Technology and Motorola to expand its E9-1-1 capabilities. Cerulean has agreed to market and re-sell PEI’s Orion mapping applications while working with PEI to integrate Cerulean’s Packetcluster with PEI’s E9-1-1 applications. According to Cerulean’s vice president of marketing, David Rosi, “With this agreement, public safety agencies can expedite the purchase and implementation of fully integrated mapping and mobile applications, resulting in more efficient and responsive emergency personnel.”

PEI’s agreement with Motorola will allow for the integration of PEI’s call handling and report writing software into Motorola’s Centracom Elite dispatch center. “As the market moves toward a more integrated product model, this solution will provide a seamless integration of telephone, radio and other equipment,” Tim Fuller, president of PEI, said.

HTE, Lake Mary, FL, has agreed to provide the Royal Bahamas Police Force with its CAD400 dispatch, E9-1-1 police interface and Pager Connect applications, among others. “HTE’s highly integrated applications and state-of-the-art technology will help the Royal Bahamas Police Force effectively combat crime, while impoving efficiency throughout the agency,” Brian Heafy, HTE’s vice president of public safety and justice, said.

And “down under,” Zetron, Redmond, WA, has accquired the ACOM Business Unit from Plessey Asia Pacific. The new acquisition will be run in Brisbane, Australia, under its new name, Zetron Australasia, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Zetron.

You may not trust your Congressman, but now he can trust his power company. Dataradio, Atlanta, has been awarded a contract for an eight-site, 900MHz mobile data network for Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO), which serves, among others, the District of Columbia.

We’ve heard of bootlegging movies, but radios? Motorola, Schaumburg, IL, has settled its civil lawsuit for copyright and trademark infringement against International Cellular Telephone in Federal Court in Miami. “These radios were not meant for the U.S. market, and any consumer who purchased one would not be getting what he or she expected,” Wayne Grimm, Motorola vice president of distribution, said.

The APCO Institute, in conjunction with Jackson State University, is developing the first online degree program for public safety communications. Starting in September 2000, the program will give those in the profession the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree via the World Wide Web. Bachelor’s and master’s degree programs will follow. No word yet on plans for the development of online dorm life.