"Interoperable communication only"

[mrlthse]

Been doing some additional research,
and this terms comes up on quiet a bit of freqs,
Can anyone give a closer explanation.
Interoperable communication only"

 

[theaton]

My mind always first reads it as "Inoperable."

 

[reedeb]

Nice little catchphrase since 9/11. Just a way they can sell you more and more sophisticated radios.

 

[Thunderknight]

Interoperable communication only"

It varies by jurisdiction or funding source (e.g. was it paid for by a Federal grant), but loosely it means: Communications that are part of a coordination between multiple disciplines or jurisdictions. In other words, the frequency is supposed to be used only for coordination or operation with more than one jurisdiction or with many different types of users. It's not a single-agency "extra" frequency or everyday working channel.

Nice little catchphrase since 9/11. Just a way they can sell you more and more sophisticated radios.

Except that most of the interop channels are analog conventional. About as unsophisticated as it gets. And if you are talking about interoperable talkgroups on a trunked system...if you are already using the system anyway, there is no need to buy a more sophisticated radio.

 

[PACNWDude]

Huge catchphrase since 9/11/01 as mentioned above. In theory, if your organization has received federal grant money for radio equipment, you are supposed to program as many interoperable channels/frequencies into your equipment as possible. The guide, known as the NIFOG, National Interoperability field Operations Guide, has been shared on here before. Here is a link to the current version. https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/NIFOG Ver 1.6.1A.pdf

 

[bneilson]

Basically it’s common frequencies that agencies should have programmed in their radios so they can talk to each other.

So for example if somebody from another state is coming to help with a fire or search and rescue they would be able to have a common channels that they could use or that could be patched to the main channel being used for the incident.