Chicomm Blog

As children, we were taught to call 9-1-1 whenever there is an emergency nearby. It is something that has been ingrained in us. We call them first for a reason: we expect them to help us, and help us quickly. But what if the police officer, firefighter or EMT paramedic was unable to respond to your crisis because they didn’t know how to get to your location? Thanks to GPS, we don't need to worry about that anymore.  

GPS (global positioning system) has taken the guesswork out of navigation and made directions immediately accessible. The accuracy of the system has made GPS an asset to military, stock market users and emergency responders. The atomic clock’s ability to be within a millisecond can provide this industry with the precision to make calculated decisions with confidence.

Students heading off to college in the fall expect to be safe as they settle into their dorms and navigate their way through new campuses. With that expectation comes a need for colleges and universities to continually improve tactics for campus communucation, security and emergency response to ensure students remain safe during day-to-day activities, sporting events, and other school functions.

•       Analog Radio from Motorola
•       Digital Radio from Motorola
•       Digital Radio from Hytera
•       Unlicensed Digital Radios from Motorola
  

I stopped to think about this. The School District has no money, four incompatible radios and the need to provide safety, maintenance and transportation for students and faculty. The question immediately turned into why didn’t the retailer advise the customer of the problems of purchasing a disparate systems?

If you’ve received anything from us lately, or checked out our web site, you may have noticed a slight change with our logo. Instead of just our logo, you now will see that added underneath our logo is the statement, “We create the infrastructure behind mobility.” Why this change? Because we felt those six words pretty much sum up who we are and what we do.  

For decades, people have known to call “911” to easily reach police, fire, or emergency medical assistance from any phone in any location. Created in the late 1960s, the system was designed to work with the technology that existed at the time -- wired phones in residences and businesses.

As technology has evolved, “911” has kept pace, going from a landline system to a sophisticated labyrinth of new capabilities that can enhance any crisis response, better protecting people and communities.

Here’s a sampling of the new technology that is now available to many emergency agencies:

I write this to all of those Police Chiefs, Fire Chiefs and Public Works Directors as well as the IT departments of all the towns and governments that oversee a budget.

Today’s technologies are merging and what you were individually responsible for ten years ago is not the same today. Your technology requirements are starting to converge with other agencies within your city. Police, Fire, Public Works, Administration and Park Districts are all now sharing the same connectivity paths.

Is your city safe?

Many cities are asking this question. Safe City initiatives are on the rise around the world due to unique, ever-evolving and complex threats. As populations grow, so do the size and intricacy of the infrastructure required to support them. Municipalities must be able to respond with a citywide, unified approach to safety and security.

Implementing comprehensive command-and-control solutions to improve situation awareness, gather actionable intelligence and more effectively respond to incidents have become essential to growing urban populations such as those in Surat City, India, and Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Have you ever gone to use something at home only to find out it doesn’t work?  And then, when you mention to your family members that it isn’t working they look at you very matter-of-factly and tell you it’s been broken for a while?  Ugh! The frustration!