News FirstNet Authority conducting public-safety outreach to inform reinvestment decisions in nationwide system 3rd April 2019 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS—Findings from outreach workshops with first-responder entities during the next several months will be used to help develop the FirstNet Authority’s roadmap that will outline the organization’s plans to invest about $15 billion into the FirstNet system during the next 23 years, according to a FirstNet Authority official. Last month, the FirstNet Authority […]
Video Texas Parks & Wildlife: Mike Mitchell contrasts communications demands, challenges in rural vs. urban settings 1st April 2019 Mike Mitchell, technology assistant commander game warden for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s law-enforcement division, explains some of the challenges his personnel faces in remote areas and difficult RF environments, including along the Texas-Mexico border. Despite these obstacles, Mitchell said his department is beginning to leverage mobile broadband applications and deployable solutions. Mitchell […]
Video Honeywell: Derek Case talks about in-building UL certification 1st April 2019 Derek Case, Honeywell’s global director of strategic marketing and program manager for the company’s BDA business in the Americas, talks about how Honeywell identified first responders’ need for in-building coverage and the company’s work to comply with the new UL 2524 standard. Honeywell also plans to develop solutions to help public safety have better […]
Video MCOP: Fidel Liberal details MCPTT progress, remaining hurdles 31st March 2019 Fidel Liberal, coordinator of the Mission Critical Open Platform (MCOP), talks about the organization’s development platform and provides updates on some of the key issues associated with the mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT) standard, including proximity services (ProSe), group calls via eMBMS, and latency factors–even when 5G connectivity is available. Liberal spoke with IWCE’s Urgent Communications Editor […]
Commentary How 3D location can increase situational awareness and improve operational efficiency 29th March 2019 Public-safety responders put their lives on the line every day to protect citizens from threats of all kinds. For most of us, this dedication and effort is taken for granted, as it goes largely unseen. This is because police and fire departments—and other first-responder agencies—are committed to being responsive in emergency situations while ensuring that […]
Video ITEC: Walt Magnussen recaps highlights of Winter Institute, outlines future plans for event 29th March 2019 Walt Magnussen, director of the Texas A&M University Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC), provides an overview of this week’s Winter Institute, which provides a real-world environment for first responders to “experiment” with cutting-edge communications in a real-world disaster-response scenario, and outlines goals for next January’s event. The Winter Institute is conducted at the Disaster […]
Video Hydronalix: Jaime Lara, Ron Cipriani demonstrate capabilities of EMILY water drone 28th March 2019 Jaime Lara, an electrical engineer at Hydronalix, describes the functionality within the company’s Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard, or EMILY, which is being piloted by Ron Cipriani, EMILY production manager. EMILY can be outfitted with a host of radio technologies and sensors to provide first responders with key data points to aid a response effort […]
News AT&T FirstNet highlights new EPTT features, future promise of MCPTT 28th March 2019 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS—Push-to-talk services over the FirstNet system being built by AT&T already are being leveraged and more use cases are developing as the offering rapidly evolves toward a mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT)-compliant solution during the next few years, according to an AT&T FirstNet official. AT&T’s existing enhanced push-to-talk (EPTT) product—a carrier-integrated product provided by Kodiak, which […]
Video Nokia: Fabricio Velez outlines key features of IMS-based NG911 proposal 27th March 2019 Fabricio Velez, Nokia’s technololgy sales and solution-development professional for next-generation emergency services, explains how an IMS-based next-generation 911 (NG911) platform can leverage “the best of 3GPP networks and the best of the i3 architecture” as public safety seeks federal funding from Congress to help pay for the nationwide deployment of NG911.
News Corrected: RapidDeploy wins $6.6 million CalOES contract for analytics and mapping 26th March 2019 Editor’s note: The original version of this story indicated that the CalOES contract was a three-year deal. Although the agreement calls for RapidDeploy to provide services in three different calendar years, the actual length of the agreement is slightly more than two years. IWCE’s Urgent Communications regrets the error and apologizes for any confusion. All […]
Is LMR the best solution for first responders? Should 4.9 GHz license go to the FirstNet Authority? 2 24th March 2024
FirstNet Authority reauthorization needed as public-safety-driven network evolution proceeds 16th March 2024