Two-way messaging devices may have a niche in emergency services communications.
U.S. emergency service organizations need an effective way to guarantee that their wireless devices and their users receive the emergency messages that are intended for them, according to research from Westlake Software Inc. Although 82 percent of emergency response groups said they have a system to communicate emergency messages effectively to agencies outside their organization, 93 percent said they do not have an effective way to guarantee wireless devices actually receive messages, and 96 percent said they do not have an effective way to guarantee a person receives the wireless message. Further, 84 percent of respondents said they need to notify multiple departments in an emergency.
For the study, Westlake Software implemented prototype communications systems using two-way wireless devices, which (unlike one-way pagers) allow end users to respond to messages when they are received, at 440 emergency service organizations. Participants, including the New York Police Department, Los Angeles City Fire Department, North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, Indiana Urban Search and Rescue, Michigan State Police and Medical Center of Central Georgia, used the devices and airtime-provided free by WebLink Wireless-for 200 days before logging their responses.
According to an exit survey, average response times improved from five to 15 minutes with existing systems to two to five minutes with the enhanced system. Overall, 86 percent of participants believed the new model enhanced communication within the department.
Cost constraints were cited by almost half of the participants as a major concern in implementing an enhanced wireless communications system for first responders. Westlake Software cited costs as the largest sole inhibitor moving forward.
Inadequate wireless coverage in rural areas also poses a problem to emergency service organizations in less densely populated areas. “The system did a good job of automating and expediting our notification process,” responded Roger Fox, chairman of the New York State Federation of Search and Rescue Inc. But he added, “It would appear that unless you are within 10 to 15 miles of a major metropolitan area in New York, two-way wireless communications infrastructure is just not in place to support this application.”
The study has been shared with homeland security directors and state governors in the United States.
Separately, last week M/A-COM Inc. enabled six different public-safety agencies in Kentucky to communicate in a demonstration of its NetworkFirst communications system. In the statewide interoperability demonstration, various agencies spoke using disparate brands of two-way radios and over multiple frequency bands.
“This is truly a technological and political milestone for the state of Kentucky,” said Bob Stephens, brand manager for Kentucky Emergency Management. “We [Kentucky Emergency Management] have never spoken with the Kentucky State Police through our radios or from a single remote location. The enhanced safety of implementing an interoperable system statewide is tremendous.”
