Join us for a TETRA webinar on Thursday

Misconceptions are a dangerous thing. One that is spreading like wildfire through the social-networking world is that one can dial 112 — the European equivalent of North America’s 911 system — to get connected to a public-safety answering point, often faster than when one dials 911.

As UC’s Editor Donny Jackson reports today, this is simply wrong. Worse, this is a misconception that can get people killed, which is why the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) is working feverishly to dispel it.

Speaking of misconceptions, we’ll be exploring several that relate to TETRA (terrestrial trunked radio) technology in a webinar that is scheduled for two days from now, on Feb. 28, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. (Click here to register.)

TETRA traditionally has been utilized outside of North America, but the FCC approved the technology last September for use in the United States. If you’ve wanted to learn more about it, including how your organization might be able to take advantage of it, here’s your chance. In this FREE event sponsored by PowerTrunk, we’ll be focusing on use cases, including the potential of leveraging TETRA to meet the FCC’s narrowbanding mandate — a task that many licensees have yet to accomplish — as well as some of the common myths regarding the technology.

Our panelists on Thursday will be:

• Phil Kidner, CEO, TETRA + Critical Communications Association
• Jose Martin, CEO, PowerTrunk
• Alan Tilles, chairman — telecommunications department, Shulman, Rogers, Pordy, Gandal & Ecker
• Klaus Bender, P.E., director of standards and engineering, Utilities Telecom Council (UTC)

In a rehearsal call this morning, Bender said that the utility sector is looking at TETRA in part because it would enable such entities to transmit both voice and data on lower-frequency channels — primarily in the UHF band — that normally only would be used for voice.

I expect that several interesting tidbits will tumble out of Thursday’s webinar — they always do. I hope that you’ll join us. As always, I am confident you will find it time well spent, and you can’t beat the price.

What do you think? Tell us in the comment box below.