P25  |  2022-11-18

Salt Lake City Awards Federal Engineering for Consulting Services for a new P25 Critical Communications System

Curated by: Gert Jan Wolf - Editor-in Chief for The Critical Communications Review

Salt Lake City, Utah has awarded Federal Engineering, Inc. (FE) a contract to provide radio system consulting services to assist in the evaluation of City’s current analog government radio system and the development of specifications for the upgrade to a modern P25 digital system.

Ms. Brandi Thompson, Project Manager for the City said: “The current Salt Lake City Radio System has been in use for over 20 years. This system is past the end of its useful life and must be replaced. Technology has dramatically changed over the years with the current state-of-the-art being a P25 standards based digital radio system. The City requires that a new system be implemented to support the needs of City’s radio system user base and also be interoperable with the Utah Communications Authority (“UCA”) statewide public safety radio system. Accordingly, the City sought specialized consulting services to assist in the development, procurement, and installation oversight of our new City radio system. Through a competitive proposal process, we selected Federal Engineering. FE’s proposal plus their years of experience here in Utah made them the obvious choice to assist us.”

Mr. Rajit Jhaver, Director for Federal Engineering, provided more details: “The Salt Lake City project is comprehensive and includes the following six tasks:

Task 1 – Requirements Capture: collect radio user requirements and review existing system
Task 2 – Preliminary Design Development: based on agreed to requirements, begin design of new “generic” system, collaborate with department subject experts and stakeholders to fine tune the design
Task 3 – Final Design Development: further develop the level of design detail and generate a cost estimate
Task 4 – RFP Development: create a request for proposals (RFP) suitable for solicitation of system
Task 5 – RFP Evaluation: support a bidders’ conference, respond to bidder questions, evaluate proposals
Task 6 – Contract Negotiations: support contract negotiations and provide recommendations

FE will also be available to provide implementation support including project management, independent validation & verification, and inspection services should the City desire.”