I guess you don't understand the issues with designing radio systems..
Designed and maintained many for former and current employers, thank you.
. Leave it to the vendor and your going to get the corn cob where it really hurts with no bear grease..
Then it's time to find a new vendor. Not ALL vendors are sleazy scumbags. Not all radio shops are either. But I cannot say the same about so-called "consultants" which usually have friendly ties to the very same sleazy vendors that "corn cobb and grease" their customers.
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The help and expertise a consultant can provide will save an agency a pile of money and they will end up with a much better radio system before it's all said and done. .
The help and expertise of an educated, vetted in house employee can do the same thing, for less money, and total transparency. Happens everyday. Please don't ASSume every public safety communications agency are staffed by morons.
. Before you go bashing consultants, maybe you should compare different agencies and their results on if they used a consultant or didn't use a consultant.
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Easy, plenty of agencies have in house people and don't need to bring in high paid consultants everytime they begin a project. The city of Marietta, GA is one. Maybe the radio system analyst on staff will chime in. He is on here.
. However, I will say that there are good consulting companies and then there are those that just have their hands out for a free ride to the bank. In the consulting business, if you don't do a good job, you don't last long. Your reputation is where the work comes from.
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True, there are some good folks, but there are also many worthless firms that are just stooges for those same vendors. They produce skewed, costly and planned results that always somehow seem to point contracts and projects to that particular vendor.
When you start looking at the bios of those on these small firms, you don't need that TI-108 basic calculator to do the math and figure out why.
It's also the consultants job to see that the correct equipment and materials are used. Take for example, along the Gulf Coast, you can expect to see hurricane force winds frequently. This means the radio tower design needs to be in the order of 140 to 155 MPH at least. You also need to make sure the microwave dishes and antennas have half a chance of working and surviving these kinds of winds. If a vendor goes and supplies a microwave dish that is only rated for 64 MPH, it won't fit the requirements. So someone needs to watch for these small things that can kill a functioning radio system early on in a storm..
and that person should be the one who is paid a salary by the agency to oversee their emergency communications. That is why COM-L, COM-T and GROL should be requirements for an E-911 director. One should know this stuff IN HOUSE and not rely on a vendor or their appointed consultant to run their show. The vendor should only be there to sell you the parts and put them together. You should have staff with the right experience, training and certifications to do it in house whenever possible.
The job of the consultant is to make sure the vendor toes the line and follows what the project specs are. Do you think an agency can do this without the experience of someone that has been doing this kind of work for a long time?
Yes, the can and do it everyday. Agencies like NYC, LA and other cities use in house project managers and staff to handle their own and don't need to hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars just to have some vendor friendly consulting firm tell them what they need to buy.
That is called
EFFICIENCY and COMPETENCY in government. Sorry if this may put you in the unemployment line. But that is what is truly needed around here.
