TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) introduces Intrepid9-1-1 portfolio of next-gen core services

DENVER—TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) yesterday announced its Intrepid9-1-1 offering, a suite of next-generation 911 core services that represents the merger of company’s Gemini and microDATA xSR portfolios while providing the flexibility of hosted and on-premise deployment options.

“Intrepid is the successful integration of best of breed from both product lines—the acquired [microDATA, purchased in 2012] product line and our own internal [Gemini] product line—into a fully homogenized product moving forward,” Thomas Ginter, vice president of next-generation 911 for TCS, said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“In industry in general, successfully merging products post-acquisition into a single product line is hard to do—often, companies don’t do it successfully at all. Because of the flexibility of the next-generation i3 standards and the fact that both of our products are fully compliant with the standards, it facilitated our ability to take the strengths of both products and move them forward into one line.”

There is no new functionality included in the Intrepid9-1-1 offering, but PSAP customers will have a choice whether to use a hosted model or an in-network model—the previous TCS product lines only allowed one deployment method, Ginter said. TCS will add new functionality to the Intrepid9-1-1 platform as new next-generation 911 standards are approved, he said.

“Very large, state-sized purchasers typically want to own the equipment and have it in-state and geo-diverse; this product satisfies that requirement,” Ginter said. “Smaller jurisdictions—or counties in a commonwealth state, where they all do their own independent buying—they typically want to purchase it as a turnkey service or a professional service, where we host all of the next-gen equipment and provide data services out to their PSAP.”

Intrepid9-1-1 is being announced this week at the NENA 2015 Conference & Expo in Denver and deployments of the merged platform are expected to begin early next year, Ginter said.

“We expect to have our first physical deployments in the first quarter of 2016,” he said. “And, we will be converting some of our existing deployments to Intrepid at the end of the first half of 2016. It’s not like we’re waiting for things to happen; it’s all programmatically scheduled.”

Lynne Seitz, vice president of the TCS safety and security group, expressed optimism about the company’s merged next-gen 911 platform.

“Intrepid9-1-1 combines two proven, tenured solutions—TCS Gemini and microDATA xSR—into a single, carrier-grade platform,” Seitz said in a prepared statement. “Its flexibility to work with legacy and emerging technologies—like geospatial routing—makes Intrepid9-1-1 a powerful, cost-effective PSAP solution.

“Our product was engineered for smooth, easy, user transition, and we believe that its modular design will benefit a wide range of jurisdictions seeking a phased approach to implementing a next-gen 911 system.”