Genesis announces P25 compatibility
ORLANDO–Texas-based software vendor Genesis today announced that its GenWatch3 product will be available for any Project 25 radio system later this year and will be displayed with an EFJohnson system this week at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) this week.
A control-channel-based performance management solution, GenWatch3 previously has been available only for Motorola SmartNet and SmartZone 3600 baud systems. Genesis President Phil Burks said the absence of a Radio Interface Module (RIM) prevented his company from expanding beyond the Motorola lines in the past.
“The radio has to be able to listen to the control channel, but Motorola doesn’t build a RIM for P25,” Burks said. “I approached EFJohnson and guess what? By flipping one bit, their RS 5300 all of a sudden becomes this RF modem, RIM look-alike for P25. That fact came to light last fall. When we tried it this spring, the crazy thing worked.”
Burks said the P25 common air interface standard is remarkably comprehensive and includes features such as the selective inhibit function that lets system administrators virtually disable a radio after learning that it is in the possession of an unauthoorized user.
In addition to GenWatch3, the P25 discoveries revealed that Genesis also would be able to offer a standardized version of its popular GenSAC product, which lets consoles operate wirelessly. Burks said he has had at least 50 requests to adapt GenSAC to P25 systems.
“Every other Genesis product that relies on GenWatch3 as its engine will now operate on P25 systems,” Burks said in a statement. “This means that our GenSAC product, as an example, that allows consoles to operate wirelessly, can now be sold into any P25 system, and that means that consoles can be located anywhere.”
Burks said the Genesis P25 products should be available during the fourth quarter of this year.
