Archive for July, 2009

Black & Veatch was selected by the state of Oregon to provide architectural and engineering services for the Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network (OWIN) project that is designed to enhance public safety.

“The success of the OWIN project depends on the people with whom we contract and bringing Black & Veatch on board is an important step towards a successful project,” said OWIN Director Lindsay Ball. “We’re encouraged that Black & Veatch managers acknowledge the importance of putting Oregonians back to work.”

The OWIN project consolidates the Department of Oregon State Police, Department of Corrections, Department of Forestry and Department of Transportation radio systems into an up-to-date wireless public safety network. The system will replace outdated and aging infrastructure while complying with new Federal Communications Commission regulations requiring users of wideband radio to convert to narrowband technology before Jan. 1, 2013.

“This project will dramatically increase communications reliability and efficiencies for Oregon’s public safety officers,” said Martin Travers, President of Black & Veatch’s Telecommunications Division. “We have the capability to rapidly deploy engineering, site acquisition and construction experts to meet the challenging project timelines in an environmentally positive manner while accounting for future communications demand growth.”

The OWIN project will ultimately result in providing total communications coverage for public safety officials across the entire state. The network will consist of tower sites, communications buildings and power resources that are strategically located to provide reliable network operation. It is currently projected that the network will be operational by December 31, 2012.

“The initial site development will provide public safety communications network coverage to approximately 80 percent of the state’s total population,” said Paul Miller, Associate Vice President of Black & Veatch Telecommunications. “Black & Veatch’s design approach will optimize the cost, schedule and execution components of the project. OWIN benefits Oregon’s public safety officers as well as residents and visitors they protect and serve through efficient and coordinated communications.”

Based on the highly successful STP8000 hand-portable, the STP8100 provides a simplified user interface optimised for fire and rescue, transport, utility and prison service users who frequently just need to adjust volume, send Status Messages and change their Talk Group, but still demand the ruggedness and durability offered by the STP8000.

The STP8100 optionally includes Sepura’s revolutionary new Man Down sensor which triggers an alert when the radio detects ‘non typical’ user movement. Based on solid state ‘motion sensing’ technology, it detects motion in three dimensions alerting colleagues and the control room should the user become incapacitated. This is a crucial new safety feature for all workers operating alone or in hazardous environments.

Like the STP8000, the new STP8100 delivers 1.8W RF power, clear loud audio, a large colour screen that uniquely provides crystal clear visibility in all lighting conditions, combined with unparalleled water and dust resistance; all these features contribute to the delivery of outstanding performance.

Mark Barnby, Product Manager for Sepura, comments: “Sepura’s Man-Down has been extensively field-trialled by a number of fire services in Europe and a major airline. We have listened to the operatives in the transport and utility markets and added functionality to cater for the specific needs of these types of user.”

Mr Barnby continued: “By listening to the needs of our customers, we have once again demonstrated how we successfully tailor our products to meet their needs and the specific requirements of a variety of sectors. The STP8100 combined with its new Man-Down option is a class-leading radio that will undoubtedly suit many users”.

EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: EFJI) announced today that the Company has received a $1.1 million order from the Wyoming Department of Transportation to provide its award-winning Project 25 compliant two-way radios and accessories. The Company continues its technology innovation by integrating voice and data for use in automatic vehicle location (AVL) and other applications.

“Integrated voice and data in a Project 25 compliant radio provides many advantages for public safety,” said Michael Jalbert, president and chief executive officer of EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. “Dispatchers can incorporate AVL to immediately locate any state trooper’s vehicle and quickly route them to an incident. State troopers can easily access data such as a driver’s records. Search and rescue operations have an important new tool at their disposal. Integrated voice and data transforms our award-winning P25 radios into a proven GPS/AVL solution that can be used anywhere.”

Larry Sheridan, project manager for Wyoming Department of Transportation, said, “The ability to locate our first responders in real time required connecting GPS fleet management solutions from different manufacturers directly to a Project 25 compliant mobile radio. Engineers from EFJohnson Technologies quickly added interoperability with the GPS solutions into the subscriber software. Their responsiveness along with the radio’s demonstrated interoperability showed us that we could add their radios onto our system. These radios are to be used on WyoLink, our 40-site statewide digital trunked Project 25 compliant public safety communications system. EFJohnson radios will be used throughout the state and now make up a substantial portion of our fleet.”

EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: EFJI) announced today that the State of Mississippi is purchasing $.85 million of the Company’s award-winning Project 25 compliant two-way radios and accessories, for use in the State’s strategic reserve in times of crisis.

“We are proud to be supplying our Project 25 compliant radios to the State of Mississippi to help their first responders be prepared in the event of natural disasters and other crises,” said Michael Jalbert, president and chief executive officer of EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. “Our radios have performed reliably in natural disasters and in severe environmental conditions. Our multimode radios that are interoperable with SMARTNET®/SmartZone® as well as Project 25 will enable Mississippi’s first responders to better accomplish their missions as their current systems migrate to the industry standard.” The Company worked closely with their dealer Ozborn Communications of Canton, Mississippi to secure the sale, Jalbert added.

Public safety agencies can significantly improve critical situational awareness and emergency response using Tiburon Inc.’s enhanced suite of software, security and analysis solutions. With this Tiburon solution platform, law enforcement officers, firefighters, first responders and dispatchers can make informed split-second decisions that will better protect the communities they serve and themselves.

Tiburon continues to improve the ability of public safety agencies to automate, communicate and leverage information to optimize dispatch, incident management and reporting, records management and corrections management across operational environments. Specifically, public safety agencies can realize the following:

Innovative new dispatching algorithms offer choices based on geography and resource types in dispatching the appropriate response units thereby optimizing response times and speed.

A brand new graphical user interface offers improved ease of use and a new night mode which improves safety and usability in the field.

Enhanced security features for corrections officers provide inmate separation management and critical alerts.

“From the most demanding conditions to day-to-day operations, public safety agencies require technology that can be relied upon to give them the most accurate picture of their operations,” said Ian Archbell, vice president, marketing and product management of Tiburon. “This latest set of product enhancements from Tiburon gives agencies the ability to make the right decisions the first time regarding how their personnel and other resources are deployed. We see this as a significant advantage for productivity, data accuracy and first responder safety among our clients.”

The upgraded product suite includes CommandCAD 2.5, CAD/2000 7.6, LawRECORDS 7.6 and JailRECORDS 7.6. All are available on July 1, 2009.

Tiburon CommandCAD 2.5 provides expanded features and quicker response times based on historical situational scenarios, including dispatching and incident control for law enforcement, fire protection and emergency medical services in single and multiple jurisdiction environments.

Tiburon CAD/2000 7.6 provides effective response and easy access to critical information, including a snapshot of the number of personnel assigned to an incident and the ability to quickly upgrade or downgrade incident priority.

Tiburon LawRECORDS 7.6 provides enhanced automated reporting for the California electronic citation and arrest reporting system (E-CARS) for required uniform crime reporting (UCR) submission. Arrest/booking numbers are now shared between Tiburon LawRECORDS, MobileREPORTS and JailRECORDS. LawRECORDS and MobileREPORTS 7.6 have an agency configuration option to either push or pull arrest data to or from Tiburon JailRECORDS to reduce duplicative data entry and speed the booking and report writing process. This improves workflow and reduces the time officers spend on data entry.

Tiburon JailRECORDS 7.6 leverages the latest Microsoft technologies to improve safety and reduce liabilities to correction facilities through new inmate separation management features and alerts to corrections officers.

More information on the product benefits is available at www.tiburoninc.com

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International today released for comment a standard to identify minimum training requirements for public safety telecommunicators. The revision includes information for those typically charged with receiving, processing, transmitting, and conveying public safety information to dispatchers, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, emergency medical and emergency management personnel. This document seeks to define training in certain knowledge, skills, and abilities to be provided to telecommunicators by the agency, allowing different agencies to comply with the portions of the standard applicable to the functions within their agency.

The revisions were facilitated by APCO International’s Call Center Standards Committee, which is made up of public safety communications subject matter experts from across the U.S. The Georgia Public Safety Training Center compiled the research the committee conducted through regional Occupational Analysis Workshops over the past year to assist with the revisions. The Workshops consisted of consulting multiple panels of professionals representing each position and validation panels of each were conducted to produce job profile charts.

“APCO International is proud of the work of this committee to continually review and update this most important standard for our public safety professionals,” APCO International President Chris Fischer said. “The issue of standardized training for telecommunicators has been the topic of much discussion lately and we are glad to provide this benchmark for the industry through our inclusive and iterative standardization process.”

The draft is available for public review and comment through July 30 at www.apcostandards.org . After all comments are addressed and needed changes made, the final draft will be presented to the APCO International Executive Council for ratification. Following their approval, the final document will be facilitated through APCO International’s American National Standards (ANS) process to become an American National Standards Institute- (ANSI) approved standard. The final standard is tentatively planned to receive approval in December 2009.