Chicomm Blog

School communication systems have come a long way from backpack notes and early-morning news broadcasts announcing snow days. Parents and caregivers expect to hear from schools quickly and conveniently about everything from their student’s grades to district-wide announcements. 

This is especially true when it comes to safety: families and school employees alike want the most reliable, fast, and intuitive communications solutions to be a core element of their school or district’s emergency response plan. 

Body cameras for first responders and security personnel are being implemented nationwide and are increasingly becoming legally mandated, even as they remain controversial. 

In Illinois, all law enforcement agents are now required to wear body cams, a law police departments must follow by 2025.

Communication equipment needs to assist us, not complicate our lives.

One of the worst situations to be in is to walk into a high-stakes situation only to learn that your radio isn’t getting a signal. 

In Illinois, STARCOM21 pays off in increased public safety. STARCOM21 is a radio system that offers reliable high‑speed mobile connectivity to more than 60,000 subscribers in Illinois. In this blog, we’ll discuss the system in more detail, including a case study of how one police department overcame serious safety issues by fixing coverage problems with their STARCOM21 system.

I see a lot of 911 communications dispatch centers in the course of my work, and some function better than others. When attention is paid to the design and layout of dispatch center furniture, that makes a positive difference in efficiency and comfort.

The furniture and layout of a dispatch center can almost always be improved. There are techniques for arranging dispatch center furniture, two-way radios, monitors, and phone systems to help emergency responders do their jobs.

A recent article in Fleet Management Weekly noted that when the COVID‑19 pandemic hit the United States, many fleets were riding the high of an economic boom. The fall from full‑time employment and growing fleets to lengthy lockdowns presented fleet management with new challenges. The ebb and flow of restrictions across the country means that safety is still a fundamental concern — but in business, productivity matters too.