Choosing a P25 mission-critical system can feel like navigating a crossroads in a thick fog. Which road should you take? The future destination is becoming clearer with FirstNet™ and Long Term Evolution (LTE) broadband – but the path to get there is murky.
Do agencies stick with legacy Land Mobile Radio (LMR), a technology mired decades in the past? Do they forge ahead into the unknown with LTE? Or do they bridge the gap between the two? Core-based LMR systems are outdated in a world of evolving modern IP-distributed systems, and the future of LTE broadband for mission-critical push-to-talk applications is not clear.
It will be some time before push-to-talk over broadband accomplishes the mission-critical nature of LMR. According to a press release issued by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, “It is important to understand FirstNet is unlikely to replace LMR systems in the foreseeable future. Public safety will not replace their LMR systems until they are assured the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) meets their requirements.”
So what’s in store for 2018? Many agencies across the United States will find that their legacy systems are nearing end-of-life, but the LTE Broadband technology they’ve been holding out for is still in development. In the interim, public safety agencies will need a modern architecture that combines those benefits of both traditional LMR and the simplicity of LTE.
Our commitment in 2018 continues - to make safe simple for public safety agencies with solutions that bridge the gap between today’s technologies and the future’s. With its coreless infrastructure, the ATLAS® P25 system with Latitude™ technology is the next logical step in the progression of emergency communications. ATLAS systems provide a modern architecture that bridges to the future while still offering a tried-and-true design that has been proven to withstand real-world disasters.
First responders can expect to see an increase in integration between traditional P25 and push-to-talk over broadband with LMR-LTE hybrid devices. We’re already noticing this progression in the market today with ESChat and Sonim Technologies. JVCKENWOOD has invested $10 million into Sonim Technologies to develop an ecosystem to pave the way for public safety agencies to transition from LMR to LTE. The goal is to provide a Push-to-Talk over cellular application that provides a powerful convergence of narrowband and broadband technologies and extend the coverage and critical voice and data services of public safety users beyond the LMR system.
Making Safe, Simple
As the P25 public safety communication specialists for JVCKENWOOD, we are committed to providing modern P25 solutions for today and the future. We are determined to live up to that promise. No one has time for complexities. That’s why the ATLAS and KENWOOD Viking solutions are simple to purchase, deploy, use and maintain. We deliver superior products at an affordable price with local representatives that will support our products so that you can focus on your mission - protecting and saving lives.