Richardson rolls out Cassidian P25 system

The city of Richardson, Texas, launched its new, state-of-the-art P25 communications system from Cassidian Communications. The system is the first fully interoperable, digital, trunked, P25 LMR public-safety communications system in North Texas and uses radio components from disparate manufacturers.

The system replaces the city’s 19-year-old analog system. The new network is now ready to handle more than 7,000 calls in an average day.

Richardson’s new open-standards system features:

• CORP25 infrastructure from Cassidian Communications, providing the backbone of the four-site, simulcast, digital radio communications system throughout the City
• Console systems from AVTEC, featuring 25 user licenses, upgraded software and state-of-the-art, digital consoles with multiple interfaces, deployed in the upgraded 911 Communications Center
• 800 portable and mobile (vehicle-mounted) radios from Motorola’s APX line, including radios with state-of-the-art features to ensure first responder safety and effectiveness, such as noise-canceling vocoder software to support signal clarity in harsh communications environments; the radios are also fully compliant with the future Phase II P25 standards
• Tower and shelter equipment from Sabre Industries, including four radio transmitter sites and powerful file servers and back-up power generators at each site; having four simulcast transmitter sites provides significantly enhanced city-wide coverage, including 99% coverage for outdoor mobile communications, and 95% coverage for at-the-hip indoor radio use
• Recording equipment from Voiceprint to preserve digital records of critical radio traffic
• Fire alerting solution from Zetron allows communication centers to manage the assets of multiple fire stations, dispatching a single piece of firefighting equipment, an entire station, or multiple stations by selecting them from their PC screen