The County of Los Angeles Fire Department provides fire protection and life safety services to more than 4 million residents in Los Angeles County, California. Nearly 100 dispatchers answer 911 calls and dispatch units to approximately 400,000 incidents annually.
Situation
The County of Los Angeles Fire Department’s service area covers 2,300 square miles and 60 cities. This county spans an eclectic mix of urban, suburban, beaches, open water, and mountainous terrain making wireless connectivity an ongoing challenge to safe and effective operations and rescue.
Specifically, the Department needed to utilize their LMR spectrum not only for voice but for digital data and messaging which would connect the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) with every vehicle mobile data computer (MDC) in order to send incident dispatches, receive status updates, provide digital messaging, and share location information among all responders. In addition, the Department wanted to have more control over costs and network security than could be achieved by relying solely on commercial broadband.
Response
The Department partnered with RadioMobile, a provider of mobile data communications technology to Fire and EMS departments and a Tait Communications partner to devise a solution. RadioMobile proposed the creation of a private LMR-based mobile data network combining several RadioMobile and Tait technologies.
The proposed solution would ensure coverage well beyond commercial broadband by automatically switching between LMR and LTE depending on network availability and speed. In addition, the network would be closed to outside threats placing security under greater control. Finally, because the Department was no longer dependent solely on commercial broadband, the network would have an overall lower cost-of-ownership.
“We chose RadioMobile based on the strength of their technology and their ability to understand the Department’s very specific needs,” according to England. “Also, we had heard about the remarkable things they had done for the Los Angeles (city) Fire Department and CAL FIRE, so we knew they could deliver on their promises.”
“The mobile data network helps us deliver on our mission to protect lives, the environment, and property of those we serve by keeping everyone informed and connected. We look forward to the time when the entire region can share live-saving data and information as easily.”
Read the full solution in our LA County Fire Client Story
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