California Police Chief- Fall 2013 | Page 26

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 California Police Chief | www.californiapolicechiefs.org 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. ?