TMCnews Featured Article

Cisco Systems has unveiled a suite of all-IP mobile services designed to improve communications among emergency responders.

The company’s new Solutions with Advanced Technologies (SWAT) program is designed to integrate all forms of emergency communications - including 911, dispatch, radio, satellite, wireless, weather monitoring and video - on a common platform to improve emergency response and operational efficiency.

“SWAT represents the first approach to public safety networking that allows converged communications using multiple devices,” a press release from Cisco states. “This helps law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services (EMS) and other emergency response agencies communicate via voice, video and data, all using standards-based IP networking technology.”

The suite includes Cisco’s Instant and Mobile Integrated Communications Solution (IMICS), which allows emergency response agencies to quickly deploy IP communications including VoIP, Web connectivity and wireless hotspot capabilities. It also features Cisco’s Tactical Communications Kit (TCK), which provides highly secure voice, data and video communications solutions that can withstand harsh conditions. According to Cisco, the system allows for emergency communications in all types of conditions - including storms that knock out the broadband.

The suite also features video surveillance and communication via a mobile video kit supplied by TANDBERG. This facilitates emergency applications such as in-field video conferencing and situational awareness reports. SWAT also offers up-to-date, neighborhood-specific weather information through a Cisco partnership with AWS Convergence Technologies Inc., which operates the WeatherBug monitoring service.

More important than its individual features, though, SWAT enables emergency response agencies to quickly and easily migrate from a “patchwork quilt” of communications systems to a single- all-IP system which can be used to establish highly efficient “chain of command” communications architectures.

“Public safety networking is the foundation of a connected, safe community,” said Morgan Wright, Cisco’s global industry solutions manager for public safety, in the press release. “By providing a standards-based, converged, highly secure network, law enforcement, fire, EMS and other agencies can better safeguard and respond to their communities.”

The emergency communications market, for both equipment and software makers, is booming, as local, regional and state agencies begin upgrading their legacy systems to all-IP. There are numerous players in this market, but it appears the pie is big enough for everyone to have a healthy sized slice. Research conducted by Crimson Consulting Group shows that the five primary challenges currently facing public safety agencies are: incompatible communications technologies, insufficient staffing, insufficient information sharing, technology obsolescence and the inability of agencies to communicate and coordinate their efforts.

“SWAT represents Cisco’s unique approach to public safety networking where more and better information is available for faster, more effective decision making and response,” Wright said. “Cisco’s advanced technologies can be rapidly deployed and scaled to meet agencies’ changing requirements and deliver a converged, highly secure and more reliable network that meets public safety information needs wherever, whenever. As a result, agencies can immediately coordinate their response to events and quickly direct the appropriate resources where they’re needed.”

For more information, visit www.cisco.com.

-------

Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.