Relm brings P25 product to APCO conference
In the Relm Wireless booth at the APCO national conference in Nashville, Tenn., the talk was about why “finishing third” is an advantage. The reference means that Relm believes that the only other companies with original Project 25 technologies are Motorola and Thales, and that they license their technologies to two other suppliers. Relm expects to offer its customers an attractive alternative once its own P25 products enter production in September.
“Our digital technology is smarter, simpler and inherently more cost-efficient,” said David Storey, Relm’s president. “It eliminates complex, non-critical functions while simplifying radio use, especially in emergencies.”
Embodied in Relm’s DPH series radios, the digital technology can be expanded to include data communications via digital land mobile radio and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) capabilities.
Relm’s latest BK Radio GPH and GMH analog radios with flash technology can be upgraded to digital radios with the addition of a relatively small and inexpensive component. Users will be able to transform their analog GPH and GMH units to P25-compliant radios at a cost lower than the purchase of new digital radios. Storey said that cost-conscious users could purchase BK Radio analog products in this year’s equipment budget, and then upgrade to digital using next year’s service budget, a low-cost option that he said is not available with analog products offered by other providers.
Storey said that Relm’s new digital products are arriving “at the dawn of the digital migration driving rapid expansion of the LMR market,” in view of plans for some federal agencies, including the U.S. Treasury Department, to convert to P25 systems by 2005.
“Public safety and government agencies using the new Relm DPH radios will find much more than a savings of a few dollars, but rather several hundred dollars per radio, thus representing a significant low-cost alternative without sacrificing quality and performance,” Storey said.
Relm discarded earlier plans to license technology from other P25 equipment manufacturers and designed its own line. Storey said that although the Relm digital product is compatible and interoperable with the products of other manufacturers, it is “independent in its own right.”