Dispatch2323
Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2007
- Messages
- 439
From Sheriff Press Release:
Last June, the current radio system provided by EF Johnson in conjunction with Zetron backbone system, experienced a series of challenges with missed communications between dispatch and first responders. Immediately a core team of County and City officials was set up to address the issue. Working with our radio maintenance provider, J & K Communications as well as EF Johnson, we began to investigate. We immediately created a radio problem reporting system for First Responders to help isolate exactly when the problem occurred so the teams could retrieve the information from the exact time of the incident. After significant troubleshooting, several things were discovered: First, there was a component on one of the towers that had run its life expectancy and a new component was immediately installed. Second, one of the servers on the system was close to the endof-life expectancy and has also since been replaced. These repairs did bring measurable improvements. Also, during this time, several dispatchers’ headsets were replaced with a higher quality headset which enabled better communication between the dispatcher and first responders. The biggest issue discovered during trouble shooting was that dispatch has pre-emption priority over first responders. Meaning, if a first responder keys up, and dispatch keys up near simultaneously, the dispatch transmission will go out and not the first responders. When this scenario occurs, neither party is aware that someone else is talking. This was happening in many of the instances where reports were filed. Upon identifying this problem early summer, Ef Johnson at the request of the County has been rewriting a software upgrade to resolve this issue. The initial new software upgrade will allow the first responder to hear dispatch on their radio in a pre-emption scenario so that the first responder will know that their transmission did not go through and therefore will be able to re-key up and transmit when the channel is clear. The subsequent software upgrade, which is being worked on at this time, will then turn off dispatch pre-emption all together and the first responder will have the priority. On November 10th, technicians from EF Johnson and J & K successfully installed the software upgrade onto the system. After a short down time, the system was brought back online with seemingly no issues. Upon initial testing, we verified that the upgrade did in fact fix the aforementioned issue. Over the next several days, EF Johnson and JK will have people on the ground in Howard County 24/7 to address any challenges that may arise as with any installation/conversion of new software. “Using the information gained from the new reporting procedure, dozens of problems were immediately identified, and many were resolved quickly. Thanks to the due diligence of the first responders in this county, we were able to isolate the few remaining issues, including the dispatch pre-emption which we are now changing.” Said Captain Jordan Buckley. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE – 765-456-2020 / FAX – 765-456-2145 DISPATCH – 765-457-1105 / CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS – 765-456-2031 JAIL – 765-456-2026 / RECORDS – 765-456-2024 “The Howard County Sheriff’s Office stands in solidarity with all other public safety agencies and understands the importance of emergency communications. We have taken a firm stance in ensuring that these problems are being addressed and we will continue to work together until they are.” Said Sherriff Jerry Asher. “I have been thoroughly impressed with our County and City team that has been working closely with all of our radio vendors to provide solutions to some of the challenges we have been experiencing. This has been one of our highest priorities and will remain so until we believe the issues have been resolved.” said County Commissioner Paul Wyman. “I want to thank the Sheriff’s Office, KPD, KFD and all first responders for their input and assistance, it has been invaluable” he added. “We have taken this issue seriously, addressed many of the concerns with some of the above noted repairs. We are hopeful that this new software update will take care of the most consistent issue that has arisen in the last several months,” said Sherriff Jerry Asher. “J&K Communications, EF Johnson and Zetron have partnered with Howard County to deliver an integrated public safety communications network. While the many complexities of this type of system will inevitably present technical issues, our companies have consistently, with urgency, collaborated closely to meet and resolve challenges as they’ve been encountered.” Said Duane Anderson, President of EF Johnson. “As a result, collaborating with local officials, we have uncovered root causes of recent issues reported by Howard County and initial solutions have subsequently been implemented. We expect the remaining updates needed to resolve these issues to be completed within the next two weeks.” He added. “We remain steadfast in our support of Howard County and greatly value the lives of the first responders we serve and the communities they protect. Given the criticality of the communications enabled by the system, the utmost priority will continue to be placed on working together to provide Howard County a high-quality, reliable communications system, now and in the future.” Said Jon Shew II, President J&k Communications.
Last June, the current radio system provided by EF Johnson in conjunction with Zetron backbone system, experienced a series of challenges with missed communications between dispatch and first responders. Immediately a core team of County and City officials was set up to address the issue. Working with our radio maintenance provider, J & K Communications as well as EF Johnson, we began to investigate. We immediately created a radio problem reporting system for First Responders to help isolate exactly when the problem occurred so the teams could retrieve the information from the exact time of the incident. After significant troubleshooting, several things were discovered: First, there was a component on one of the towers that had run its life expectancy and a new component was immediately installed. Second, one of the servers on the system was close to the endof-life expectancy and has also since been replaced. These repairs did bring measurable improvements. Also, during this time, several dispatchers’ headsets were replaced with a higher quality headset which enabled better communication between the dispatcher and first responders. The biggest issue discovered during trouble shooting was that dispatch has pre-emption priority over first responders. Meaning, if a first responder keys up, and dispatch keys up near simultaneously, the dispatch transmission will go out and not the first responders. When this scenario occurs, neither party is aware that someone else is talking. This was happening in many of the instances where reports were filed. Upon identifying this problem early summer, Ef Johnson at the request of the County has been rewriting a software upgrade to resolve this issue. The initial new software upgrade will allow the first responder to hear dispatch on their radio in a pre-emption scenario so that the first responder will know that their transmission did not go through and therefore will be able to re-key up and transmit when the channel is clear. The subsequent software upgrade, which is being worked on at this time, will then turn off dispatch pre-emption all together and the first responder will have the priority. On November 10th, technicians from EF Johnson and J & K successfully installed the software upgrade onto the system. After a short down time, the system was brought back online with seemingly no issues. Upon initial testing, we verified that the upgrade did in fact fix the aforementioned issue. Over the next several days, EF Johnson and JK will have people on the ground in Howard County 24/7 to address any challenges that may arise as with any installation/conversion of new software. “Using the information gained from the new reporting procedure, dozens of problems were immediately identified, and many were resolved quickly. Thanks to the due diligence of the first responders in this county, we were able to isolate the few remaining issues, including the dispatch pre-emption which we are now changing.” Said Captain Jordan Buckley. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE – 765-456-2020 / FAX – 765-456-2145 DISPATCH – 765-457-1105 / CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS – 765-456-2031 JAIL – 765-456-2026 / RECORDS – 765-456-2024 “The Howard County Sheriff’s Office stands in solidarity with all other public safety agencies and understands the importance of emergency communications. We have taken a firm stance in ensuring that these problems are being addressed and we will continue to work together until they are.” Said Sherriff Jerry Asher. “I have been thoroughly impressed with our County and City team that has been working closely with all of our radio vendors to provide solutions to some of the challenges we have been experiencing. This has been one of our highest priorities and will remain so until we believe the issues have been resolved.” said County Commissioner Paul Wyman. “I want to thank the Sheriff’s Office, KPD, KFD and all first responders for their input and assistance, it has been invaluable” he added. “We have taken this issue seriously, addressed many of the concerns with some of the above noted repairs. We are hopeful that this new software update will take care of the most consistent issue that has arisen in the last several months,” said Sherriff Jerry Asher. “J&K Communications, EF Johnson and Zetron have partnered with Howard County to deliver an integrated public safety communications network. While the many complexities of this type of system will inevitably present technical issues, our companies have consistently, with urgency, collaborated closely to meet and resolve challenges as they’ve been encountered.” Said Duane Anderson, President of EF Johnson. “As a result, collaborating with local officials, we have uncovered root causes of recent issues reported by Howard County and initial solutions have subsequently been implemented. We expect the remaining updates needed to resolve these issues to be completed within the next two weeks.” He added. “We remain steadfast in our support of Howard County and greatly value the lives of the first responders we serve and the communities they protect. Given the criticality of the communications enabled by the system, the utmost priority will continue to be placed on working together to provide Howard County a high-quality, reliable communications system, now and in the future.” Said Jon Shew II, President J&k Communications.
