Demonstration Participants
| Responding agency | Responder | Band | Radio operating frequency |
| Police | PD1 and PD2 | VHF | 154.57 MHz |
| Fire | F1 and F2 | UHF | 453.950 MHz |
| Fire marshal | FM1 and FM2 | VHF | 159.66 MHz |
| Emergency Management Agency | EMA1 and EMA2 | Low band | 45.64 MHz |
Interoperability problem
These four responding agencies—police, fire, fire marshal, and EMA—have incompatible radios with different operating bands and two VHF radios programmed to different frequencies. When these agencies respond to an incident, they are not able to communicate using only their standard issue radios.
Demonstration objectives
The exercise’s primary objectives were to demonstrate to responders that the First InterComm® system
- provides seamless and instant communication interoperability among dissimilar radios
- allows the responders to use their standard radios
- is easy to use at an everyday incident
The secondary objectives were to demonstrate to responders that the First InterComm system
- provides the incident commander with the ability to easily establish communication hierarchy through talk groups
- provides the incident commander with direct communication with all responders, even those with dissimilar radios
Observations and conclusions
- The First InterComm units provide seamless interoperability among disparate radios, the primary objective of the demonstration.
– Interoperability was established instantly and seamlessly.
– Individual participants may move around the scene with their standard mobile and portable radios. Their First InterComm communication range between the vehicle and the portable is the same as their portable-to-portable range today.
– First InterComm allowed the responders to interoperate at a small fire incident. - Talk groups were quickly and easily established to provide independent communication channels.
– First InterComm units can be assigned to separate talk groups.
– Communications isolation between talk groups can be maintained.
– The incident commander can quickly and easily send an all-alert message to responders over the First InterComm network. - Participants were very pleased by the First InterComm technology, remarking that the basic system was so seamless it seemed as if every participant was on the same frequency. They were also impressed with how easily the talk groups were arranged. The participants said the technology would be helpful in many scenarios, including larger structure fires and HazMat/chemical situations.
A multimedia demonstration - First InterComm in operation
Contact us for a copy of the full report.
For further information please contact:
BAE Systems
First InterComm system
+1 888 45 INTEROP (+1 888 454 6837)
firstintercomm.eis@baesystems.com
