Cradlepoint 'Vehicle as a Node' is the Next Frontier for Emergency Services

I was fortunate enough to be at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where Cradlepoint and Ericsson had a demo that probably got visitors wondering if Ericsson and Cradlepoint just got into the video arcade business … well, not exactly …

Cradlepoint had an interactive emergency services vehicle set up to demonstrate our latest capabilities for in-vehicle connectivity. Cradlepoint’s cloud-based, in-vehicle connectivity solutions allow companies and agencies to have an office or agency on wheels or what we call a ‘vehicle as a node’, which enables mission critical communication.

In the realm of public safety, mission critical communications refer to any communication that a life depends on. Mission critical communications also include use cases found among utility agencies that rely on IoT applications and alert systems that notify staff and the public of potential hazards or current dangers.

Cradlepoint’s in-vehicle wireless edge routers enable mission critical communication that connects all applications, including dash cameras, license plate readers, vehicle telemetry, AVL systems, and sensors — all while the vehicle is moving, and as secure as in the office. We can even have two different WAN links for greater reliability and performance. Besides vehicles, our customers use this solution in boats, military vehicles, refuse trucks, and even helicopters.

How can we pull off an office on wheels? First, devices and applications connect through the air using Cradlepoint routers, with one or two modems. With two modems, our SD-WAN technology chooses which link, or load, balances between both modems based upon current conditions like network coverage and data usage.

Cradlepoint Cellular Intelligence is a collection of software features — built into Cradlepoint’s wireless edge routers and adapters — that enable networking IT teams to visualise and optimise cellular connections, data plans, and network traffic flow. Cellular Intelligence features tools that include coverage area heat mapping, location tracking, geo fencing, and dead reckoning. Further, Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems can be integrated to provide robust fleet, asset, and safety management.

Intuitive centralised management is key to managing thousands of vehicles at a time. They can be end-user managed or managed by a telecommunications Carrier Service Provider. Carriers can leverage extensibility tools for large organisations to capture data into their management systems.

First responders and other connected vehicles need to access the best-in-class productivity tools while in motion to make informed decisions, ensure safety, and optimise their travel — even in challenging coverage areas. In crisis moments you want the best-in-class, always-on connectivity to support these tools.

Often, emergency services fleets number in hundreds or thousands that need to scale and can be managed from anywhere. Cradlepoint’s intuitive, cloud-based, centralised management can be end-user managed or part of a managed service to easily provide maintenance at scale.

In the field, the question of “Do I have connectivity?” quickly transitions to “What do I have access to?” Zero trust implementation — expanded upon with a ZTNA solution that restricts access for certain vendors or employees — protects networks without putting roadblocks between first responders and their duties. This allows first responders to be rapidly equipped with information so they can make informed decisions without having to just rely on their gut.

Cradlepoint is already connecting WWAN to over 5,000 emergency services agencies worldwide, with over 178,000 endpoints under subscription in emergency services. Our global customers include US Federal Government agencies as well as 3000+ first responder agencies and customers in over 50 countries, including Australia.

See a demo of Cradlepoint’s ‘Vehicle as a Node’ at Mobile World Congress 2024 below.