Our Dutch counterparts at FrontierBV published this article last week. We are sharing it here with slight modification for a US audience.
Most of the European emergency services communicate and coordinate through the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) system. It is also known as the C2000 system and it is not new. It has an advantage over other technologies, such as GSM networks that exist throughout Europe (AT&T and T-Mobile cellular in the US), because its low frequency give it a very long range, even in remote places. The significant drawback, is that TETRA is a primarily a voice system with very low data rates. In more than a few occasions, the system has failed when it was needed most. Given threats Europe has faced in the last few years, quick and through response from emergency services should not be hampered by outdated communications technology.
Communication Failure
The European C2000 emergency services communication system broke-down after the 2009 crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Last year, on the morning of March 22, 2016, three coordinated suicide bombings occurred in Belgium: two at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek metro station in central Brussels. Both incidents created an overload of the system, preventing messages from reaching everyone involved. The radio based European emergency communication system cannot handle the data load of modern disasters.
European governments are currently working to improve the existing C2000 network. However, the authorities are not exploring truly innovative communications ideas. Discussions have centered around voice communications to replace the existing primarily voice system at a time when any new system should enable video and photo sharing for better, immediate situational assessment and appropriate response. This level of communication requires a robust connection to control rooms, command centers and related hotlines. The TETRA network will never have sufficient throughput, and these more data intensive communications should be diverted to other technologies. The current network could continue to be used for voice communications with a faster pipeline employed for data, and overflow communications.
Peplink a Possible Solution
Peplink produces a line of routers, access points and related software to allow unbreakable communication. Many Peplink solutions are used in mobile and machine-to-machine communication, including law enforcement, and have direct application to emergency services over a range of departments. Current Peplink technologies makes it possible to have a secure, fast connection in even the most remote locations. The Peplink devices band together multiple channels and technologies and can seamlessly switch between wireless WAN, 3G / 4G / 5G, and satellite connections. The Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) always selects the best connection option, and can dynamically change from one type of connection to another without any interruption to the users.
Flexible, Wide Band Connection for Emergency Services
Throughout Europe there are cameras monitoring public streets and spaces. With the bandwidth available through bonded communications, image feeds from those municipal cameras could be instantly transmitted to vehicles or command centers. Police and the fire departments could react quickly and more securely by understanding the situation before they even arrive. In addition, video could be directly shared between vehicles, police helicopters and emergency rooms. Police and fire departments all over the world already use Peplink for communications. Extending that technology to interdepartmental networks makes sense.
The Dutch ambulance service is developing software to connect live video and audio from the scene of an emergency directly to physicians in the hospital, allowing ambulance personnel to respond more quickly and appropriately. In addition, vital information can be communicated from the ambulance to hospital staff so they are ready when the ambulance arrives, for faster, more efficient patient care. This sort of system will require bandwidth that Peplink technology can deliver without interruption.
European emergency service networks would do well to employ Peplink’s unbreakable power and failover connections to avoid communications failures. That same technology is readily available for any sized business and even home users. Frontier Computer Corp., together with our partner resellers, can find the right Peplink solution for your application.
We stock the full line of Peplink and Pepwave solutions.
Contact FrontierUS at 866.226.6344.
Frontier Computer Corp. is the World’s Largest Peplink Distributor
