Cisco upgrades first-responder IP-radio system

Cisco this week is expected to update its system for tying together first-responder radios with VoIP and cell phones.

Cisco's IP Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS) 2.0 includes a new Policy Engine for automatically notifying and connecting communications systems among disparate groups during events impacting public safety. New push-to-talk recording/playback, support for e-mail/text messaging, and broader support for more Cisco IP phone models are also part of the IPICS 2.0 upgrade. Cisco says these features can help public safety organizations, or private enterprises, better coordinate and connect employees using varied types of communications devices.

Listen to our interview with Boulder County, Colo.'s IS director about Cisco's IP Interoperability and Collaboration System 2.0.

The IPICS system consists of a server appliance, which manages the setup and coordination of communications streams among endpoints. The system also includes Cisco's Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Gateway device, which ties the 700MHz to 800MHz UHF and VHF radio systems, typically used by police and fire departments, into an IP network. The IPICS can interface with Cisco CallManager IP PBXs and Cisco IP phones, as well as tie in cellular phones through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) via Cisco VoIP gateways.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says this type of system interoperability is needed to achieve seamless communications among first responders. In the DHS's Tactical Interoperability Communication Scorecards, released in January, a survey of emergency communications systems in 72 metropolitan areas found that over 60% of the communities demonstrated basic "multi-agency interoperability' as part of an incident response. However, only 21% "demonstrated the seamless use of all types of interoperability equipment (such as cache radios, gateways, shared channels and shared systems.)"

IPICS early adopter

Boulder County, Colo., was an early adopter of IPICS 1.0, and is now using the second release among its public safety agencies. (The community, as part of the Denver area, ranked 10th out of the 72 regions surveyed in the DHS report.)

The Policy Engine is a good addition to IPICS, says Drew Depler, head of information technology for Boulder County, because it automates many communications setup tasks required during an event. The Policy Engine allows a public safety organization to translate communications standard procedures — groups or individuals to contact, and in what order, during specific events — into the IPICS system.

"That really allows you to be ahead of a major event, such as a wildfire," he says. "You can do some planning that will allow for the communication to be preset … based on standard procedures … rather than ad hoc."

In addition to coordinating departments during major events, cell phone/radio interoperability through IPICS is also being used in day-to-day policing. The police department's drug force, for instance, is exploring the technology as a way to improve surveillance techniques.