backbone on one side and the IP network
on the other.
Agency-Wide Advantages,
Nationwide Accessibility
The application identifies BeOn users
who are talkgroup members of the LMR
system and forwards transmissions to
their phones. Using a PTT function on the
phone, the application receives and sends
transmissions to the server. The BeOn
server can handle thousands of users and
recognizes logical talkgroups established
in the digital radio system, allowing
designated users to communicate over
managed channels much like a traditional
digital radio.
The Power of PTT across LMR and
LTE – A Real World Proofpoint
For years, Mobile County, Alabama
had used a reliable LMR system. When the
county saw an opportunity to expand its
communications capabilities and improve
collaboration between public safety and
public service agencies, it leaped at the
chance. County le adership decided to
implement a new standards-based digital
radio system from Harris. The new system
is based on P25 (Project 25) standards
and uses the latest technology to enable
reliable and secure communications for
users, as well as interoperability with
other agencies and counties. The technology even allows for the integration
of next-generation LTE technology and
the inclusion of BeOn push-to-talk (PTT)
capabilities. By leveraging the capabilities
of the County’s network, BeOn is able to
tap into the County’s first responder radio
system and commercial wireless networks.
The combined solution allows the county
to leverage time-tested, standards-based
26
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technology in LMR, as well as the emerging data capabilities of LTE.
Mobile County’s Director of Public
Safety Communications, Eric Linsley,
wanted a PTT solution in order to leverage a new Long-Term Evolution (LTE)
application to improve data connectivity
and capabilities. As the director of public
“Mobile County
is just one
example of how,
with the right
equipment and
support, LMR and
LTE cannot only
exist in harmony,
but actually be
implemented as
complimentary
technologies.”
safety communications for Mobile County,
Linsley oversees all critical communications services in the county, and helps to
ensure that infrastructure and equipment
serves the county’s more than 400,000
residents. Linsley chose the Harris BeOn
solution for Mobile County, deciding that
BeOn’s combination of the latest LMR and
LTE technologies provides the best of both
worlds – a combination of reliable and
resilient voice and data communications.
BeOn takes very little uptime and
is highly intuitive for the end-user. The implementation of BeOn was nearly immediate in Mobile County and took less than
24 hours to complete. Upon deployment,
County leadership and administration
officials were able to connect instantaneously and remain in constant contact
regardless of their location. One of the
most important features for Mobile County was the fact that BeOn is essentially P25
on a phone. The built in P25 vocoder not
only significantly improves PTT speed
and voice quality, it allows for end to end
encryption between LMR devices and
BeOn devices.
Next Steps for Public Safety
Mobile County is just one example
of how, with the right equipment and
support, LMR and LTE cannot only exist
in harmony, but actually be implemented
as complimentary technologies. Thanks
to ongoing feedback from Harris customers and BeOn users, like those in Mobile
County, the BeOn application’s feature
set is constantly being improved to better
meet the needs of today’s first responders. By leveraging the data and imaging
capabilities made possible by LTE and
broadband, BeOn will soon feature functionality aimed at even greater situational
awareness for first responders, offering
improved emergency response, coordination, safety and overall efficiency.
And for public safety and other forward thinking agencies, getting on the PTT
bandwagon is paying big dividends. ?