IT bellwether Cisco, a supplier of networking equipment and network management solutions, this week launched its IP Interoperability Collaboration System or “IPICS” 4.0, an intelligent network system that integrates disparate push-to-talk radio together with voice, video and data networks.

 

IPICS is part of the Cisco (News - Alert) Connected Physical Security portfolio, which provides organizations with a tightly integrated, modular, highly secure, scalable, network-centric solution to support integrated video surveillance, access control and incident response.

 

The enhanced IPICS now “provide those on the front lines of safety and security with a new way to view, assess and coordinate action for an emergency situation,” according to company officials.

 

IPICS 4.0 harnesses the power of live streaming video and put it right in the hands of first responders via a device as ubiquitous as the mobile phone. The solution enables those on the front lines of safety and security to do their jobs with greater efficiency and incident intelligence.

 

With IPICS, public safety officials and security personnel from universities and schools, critical infrastructure agencies, businesses, and other first-responder organizations can quickly share vital incident information including live mobile video, across previously isolated radio networks.

 

Bill Stuntz, vice president and general manager, Physical Security business unit, Cisco, said, “Cisco is the first and only company to deliver such a comprehensive networked solution for public safety, including incident response and unified dispatch, along with video surveillance and access control.”

 

Cisco IPICS is tightly integrated with Cisco Connected Physical Security solutions with extensive built-in support for interoperability, the company said. Its Web services application programming interfaces or “APIs” can easily trigger or receive communications from Cisco Video Surveillance and Cisco Physical Access Control or third-party applications.

 

The IPICS Dispatch Console can integrate with virtually any analog or digital radio system and introduces rich-media incident management. Dispatchers are able to create a collaborative session to quickly share multimedia data such as video, photos, alarm monitoring and Web links with those on the scene, the company said.

 

The Mobile Client enables first responders in the field to use their smartphone or other mobile device to participate in incident push-to-talk groups, share and receive rich media, including pictures, live and stored videos, and provide personal status updates to fellow incident responders and dispatchers.

 

The solution also helps to break down communications silos among safety and security personnel, providing cost-effective and comprehensive communications interoperability between push-to-talk radio systems, mobile phones, IP phones and PC clients using proven IP standards across the network.

 

In another announcement, Cisco made headlines this week when it unveiled its CRS-3 Carrier Routing System, an advanced next-generation networking product, designed to serve as the foundation for the Internet of the future, where cloud computing and mobile video will dominate, TMCnet reported.