Updating US network

Cumberland County, Tennessee’s PlantCML COR^P25 land mobile radio network in the US includes a Zetron Advanced Communication radio dispatch system. It is providing the county with improved 9-1-1 emergency dispatch functionality and better radio coverage and interoperability among the public safety agencies it serves.

The Zetron Acom console is the latest addition to the system and PlantCML recently hosted an event to celebrate the completed upgrade. According to E9-1-1 director Bill Hunter, “It will be the cornerstone of our dispatch operations for years to come.”

The COR^P25 radio network solution is fully compliant with open standards and is interoperable with existing conventional VHF radio networks. It allows P25 and non-P25 radios to operate together on one core architecture, giving operators full autonomy and control over the radio network.

P25 was initiated by APCO, the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, and is a set of open standards developed for digital two-way radio technologies used by public safety agencies. It is an important system because it allows radio technologies that adhere to P25 standards to interoperate with one another. This was the primary reason for developing P25 in the first place.

Without this interoperability, radio communications among organisations that use different types of radios would be difficult, if not impossible. However, this radio system is a ‘growing thing’ with standards that can become adapted to users’ demands as new ways are found for working.

The Cumberland County network provides expanded communications for its users, which include the area’s sheriff department, fire departments, rescue squad, local correctional facility, emergency medical services and emergency management.

Key features of the installation include enabling users to select network components from multiple vendors, making it possible to create a network that is tailored to address specific needs and the community it serves; and because it is software-driven, the system provides flexibility, scalability and reliability.

Acom was chosen as the dispatch console component to use with the county’s COR^P25 for several key reasons, one of them being experience with the company, its products and services. The console would provide a direct, digital connection to the COR^P25 network, thus reducing the number of potential points of failure throughout the system and enhancing its reliability. It would utilise the P25 open-standards console subsystem interface (CSSI) to connect to the COR^P25 network infrastructure.

It would be possible to implement Acom in the tight timeframe the project required.

The solution went live on 9 September 2010 and is being well received.

“The Acom system is excellent,” said Hunter. “We’ve used Zetron equipment for about 12 years, and I can’t speak highly enough of its reliability. I’m very pleased with the commitment both Zetron and PlantCML demonstrated toward improving public safety communications in our district. This was the best equipment rollout I’ve seen.”

“We are very pleased that we were able to work with PlantCML to provide a state-of-the-art, open-standards radio dispatch solution that has improved the customer’s public-safety communications,” said Ellen O’Hara, President and CEO of Zetron. “We look forward to working on such projects with PlantCML in the future.”

“Cumberland County is very important to us,” said Chuck Sackley, vice president and general manager of PlantCML’s LMR business unit. “By combining our COR^P25 network and the Zetron Acom console - and with Zetron’s rapid and expert integration - we have provided Cumberland County with a state-of-the-art solution optimised to meet all of their mission-critical communications requirements.”

Zetron

www.zetron.com