Georgia county upgrades to new P25 system, consoles from Motorola Solutions

In addition to the P25 implementation, Fulton County upgraded the consoles in its 911 center to MCC 7500 units as part of an overall upgrade to its 911 center. As was the case with the radio system, the new consoles replaced gear that was about 20 years old, which created numerous maintenance issues, Reich said. In contrast, the new equipment is “reliable and highly available,” while also being supported by the vendor, he said.

“While [the old consoles] worked—they have provided the county a lot of functionality for the cost we spent in capital—it’s always breathtakingly pleasant to say, ‘Ah, I’ve got this new environment,’” Reich said. “While there are a lot of similarities, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes [capabilities] that make it very easy to manage.

“The consoles right now are the latest and greatest, newest generation, so they’re providing us with the reliability we expect.”

Motorola Solutions hopes to continue working with Fulton County to modernize its public-safety communication in the future, according to Robert Marshall, Motorola Solutions’ territory vice president serving the Fulton County area.

“I’m very proud of the entire team—both the Motorola team and the Fulton County team—for working very hard to ensure a smooth cutover onto the new system that ultimately is going to provide the first responders a reliable system when they need it most,” Marshall said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“We’re excited about the system and look forward to taking the next steps with the county well into the future as a partner in communications.”