Public-safety organizations should be open minded to procure a blend of technologies for future communications
First responders need a better blend of reliability and multimedia capability. Until a dedicated 4G network is implemented, a blend of networks, devices, and applications should drive future procurements.
As commercial mobile broadband consumers, we've all seen the accelerating pace of product, application, and service developments for personal communications. Within the past decade, consumers have moved from cellular voice to voice plus text, data, pictures, and video. Using a variety of smartphone applications, we can deliver individual, group, and broadcast multimedia communications, providing family, friends, and colleagues with real-time updates on any situation.
Ironically, these are the same types of communications required to ensure the effectiveness and safety of emergency first responders. Yet for a multitude of reasons, the communication capabilities provided by public safety agencies are just beginning to catch up with what's available in the consumer marketplace.
Public safety's slow adoption has been the result of cost, security, reliability, and workflow concerns, all of which moderate adoption of new technologies. As a result, first responders continue to rely on aging Land Mobile Radio (LMR) networks for mission-critical communications, particularly during emergency responses. Given that these LMR networks are specifically designed to meet the performance, security, and voice-messaging capacity requirements needed for incident command and control, this is not surprising.
What is surprising is the degree to which LMR networks are being augmented by commercial services, devices, and applications. With the adoption of commercial technologies, often on an ad-hoc basis, LMR is increasingly reserved for emergency situations because, regardless of how "cool" the latest devices and applications are, first responders simply do not run down dark alleys without their LMR radio to keep them connected.
LMR still reigns supreme within public safety because its coverage, capacity, and reliability meet the requirements of "public safety-grade" communications. For example, in most jurisdictions, LMR provides 95% or better geographic coverage, instead of the 95-98% population coverage provided by commercial cellular. Link to origional article in informationweek.