Chicomm Blog

Public safety blogs are a great way to keep up on the latest trends in technology for first responders, the new upgrades that are available and the innovative ways that agencies are using communications to keep communities safe.

The best public safety blogs represent a variety of perspectives and geographies, and they’re written by everyone from police chiefs to telecommunications executives. Many are updated frequently to keep readers consistently informed about public safety issues, and some of the ones we’ve compiled may be helpful gems that you’ve previously overlooked.

As we look forward to the new year, here are six public safety blogs to read in 2017:

Official Blog of the International Association of Chiefs of Police

With new posts several times a week, the blog of the IACP features insights on various aspects of policing, from community engagement to the group’s Benchmarking and Analytics Tool. It’s a good place to learn about what kinds of interventions and technology other agencies are using and have found to be successful.

Manufacturing communications may be one of the most misunderstood parts of the diverse manufacturing vertical. People either underestimate the reliability and enhanced functionality of radios for manufacturing, or they don’t fully appreciate how effectively wireless communications can increase uptime, productivity and safety.

Given the dynamic needs of the sector, technology provided by one-way paging or cell phones just isn’t robust enough. Two-way radios and other wireless solutions are key.

With that in mind, here are the seven most misunderstood facts about manufacturing communications.

As your boss keeps reminding you, it’s your job to make sure wireless communication at your company, campus or property is something that no one is talking about because all is well: You’re effectively using communications to enhance safety and security, you don’t need to improve wireless communications with a stronger network and dead zones are a dead issue.

But if your communications are still a topic of conversation, there are solutions available.

Here are four things your boss wishes you knew:

Two-way radios have come a long way since their first use in public safety decades ago, and with wireless communications technology evolving more rapidly all the time, it’s exciting to think about where radios will be even one year from now.

Interoperability and convergence continue to drive the biggest trends for two-way radios, and with more industry-specific functionality being offered all the time, you can imagine that even more kinds of users will embrace two-way radios over smartphones or other devices.

Peering into our crystal ball, here are some educated guesses about where two-way radios will be one year from now.

Several studies looking at technology in education have produced some troubling results, according to a recent news article, suggesting that access to computers and online coursework aren’t necessarily effective at helping students learn – not yet anyway.

The 911 communications firm West’s Safety Services has been selected to develop and operate the 911 National Emergency Address Database (NEAD) platform, a move that brings the country’s first responders closer to better locating wireless customers who call 9-1-1 from indoors.

“We agree with the FCC that providing a dispatchable address to our public safety partners is the ‘gold standard’ that the industry must pursue,” Kearney said. “We’re passionate about the NEAD project, which we believe will more effectively assist first responders in locating wireless callers.”

AT&T recently launched a first-of-its-kind trial program that uses fixed wireless broadband networks and millimeter wave technology to bring high-speed internet, cable and wireless services to a set of apartment complexes in Minneapolis.

Residents in the trial program also have access to cable television through DIRECTV Advantage -- without having to install satellite dishes on their balconies. DIRECTV Advantage uses a single satellite dish on one building to send a video signal to a central distribution system for the entire property.

The research is clear: School safety is not just a security issue, it’s an academic one. Students learn better and have better academic achievement when they’re confident in school safety and feel safe on school property.

Here we’ll take a closer look at one survey on the issue and review some options for technology – and financial assistance –  that schools have for making their campuses more safe. 

There are always new studies emerging to answer the question, what is good customer service? Even if you've got a strong background in customer service, there are likely some findings that will surprise you. To build on your base of knowledge, here are seven key findings from studies about customer service that you should read.

People Will Pay Extra for Personalization

In a study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, researchers tested whether diners would tip their servers more if they were given mints after a meal.

• For the first group, servers delivered mints along with the check and didn’t mention them at all. They received around three percent more in tips than the control group where no mints were given.
• In the second group, servers brought two mints by hand separately from the check and mentioned them to diners, saying something along the lines of, “Would anyone like some mints before they leave?” Their tips were 14 percent higher than the control group.
• In the last group, servers brought a round of mints with the check, then came back with a second set a short time later, letting the diners know that they’d brought more in case they needed them. This perceived personalization – having customers feel that the server was checking back in to fulfill their needs – earned the server 23 percent more in tips.

Most lists of workplace safety tips focus on the physical: proper posture, the importance of the right safety gear, the need to take regular breaks. But what about workplace safety that relates to communication, not just technology, but workers’ ability to effectively relate to each other?

A National Public Radio story recently relayed how Shell drastically improved worker safety on oil rigs in the 1990s by transforming rig culture with an unorthodox approach: They got workers to be vulnerable with each other by communicating more openly.