Dynamic Communications Key to Emergency Responsiveness

When it comes to saving lives, time can make the difference between life and death for public safety agencies working in an emergency situation – and the availability of dynamic communications plays a critical role.

As we live in a world with rising man-made and natural threats, constrained budgets and growing citizen expectations, ensuring community and first responder safety is becoming increasingly challenging.

As a recent Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) whitepaper, Dynamic Communications for Public Safety: Increase responsiveness everywhere to enhance safety for everyone,” points out, the pressure on public safety personnel is intensified because they are managing ever more complex situations:

• Emergency response to accidents and man-made or natural disasters
• Border and coastal control
• Protection of key buildings and mass transit systems
• Security at large public events

Today, more public safety agencies are using real-time visual information, along with data and mission-critical voice, which improve decision-making by personnel – from emergency call-taking in next-generation 911/112 centers, to call dispatching and control by command centers, to the first responders in the field.

“The combination of advanced multimedia communications and mobile broadband enable true multi-agency interoperability and collaboration, making first responders safer and more effective wherever they are,” according to the whitepaper.

However, even when agencies are staffed with well-trained, responsive personnel, if they cannot securely share information in a timely way, their safety and decision-making abilities are significantly impaired.

The Alcatel-lucent Dynamic Communications Infrastructure portfolio of public safety and defense solutions supports next-generation communications, offering new levels of efficiency, reliability and security helping public safety agencies to collaborate. It integrates real-time voice, data and video communications in any combination relevant to the operation (routine, training, a planned event, an accident or a response to a major crisis) and the device, which allow for enhanced situational awareness, a connected community and optimized operations, according to Alcatel-Lucent.

In addition, Alcatel Lucent’s (News - Alert) Public Safety LTE solutions provide new multimedia applications to first responders through real-time connectivity and integration with command and control centers, which also allow first responders to take advantage of mission-critical voice provided by existing systems. Using lightRadio technology, Alcatel-Lucent’s Public Safety LTE (News - Alert) solutions offer:

• In a dedicated 700 MHz band, for example in the U.S., for the FirstNet nationwide Public Safety LTE network that will overlay existing P25 networks.
• In the 380-470 MHz band, in particular for the integration of broadband services into existing TETRA /TETRA POL networks; this solution is being developed in partnership with Cassidian.

In May, Alcatel-Lucent announced its partnership with Cassidian to launch a new technology solution called Evercor. Based on 4G LTE technology, it allows for the use of video, data and other media to improve the way the security professionals serve and protect their communities, and is being embraced by the public service community, according to Philippe Keryer, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Networks Group.

“Evercor delivers the highest speeds and greatest capacity for mobile broadband communications networks today and supports essential operations in the most cost-effective manner,” Keryer said. “Alcatel-Lucent has deep-rooted expertise in providing groundbreaking mobile broadband communications solutions to enhance operations and safety across many industries and we are pleased to work with Cassidian to achieve this.”

As an example of one public service agency that implemented Alcatel-Lucent’s Public Safety LTE solutions, Mendocino County in California was looking to bring together its existing network while enhancing its capabilities to better collaborate and improve efficiencies, according to Kristin McMenomey, general services agency director for the county.

“Our goal was to create a network capable of converging traditional mission-critical telecom traffic with the county’s data traffic not only to meet our needs today, but also to pave the way for new IP applications in the future,” McMenomey said. “A reliable public safety network is a critical service for any municipality, and interoperability is absolutely essential to meeting that requirement. The new public safety network will help improve efficiencies and collaborations among the many agencies – including first responders and disaster recovery organizations – throughout the county.”