VoicesInMyHead
Driver In Training
Well, from the looks of the commission agenda, Paulding County is going with a MotoTRBO digital radio system for their new public safety system. I couldn't disagree more with this decision.
First, it means that we're the ONLY county in the area that has not standardized on the P25 system, which is open and intra-agency capable. This means that agencies can network their systems together to create a large geographical radio system where you have almost no chance of losing signal. The Cobb County P25 system is a great example of this. Every agency in Cobb County, as well as Fulton and Douglasville use the system. The Western Area Regional Radio System is P25 and links Carroll, Coweta, Haralson, and Heard counties seamlessly. Any agency in any of those counties can talk to anywhere else in those counties. And what is probably the most shining example of a P25 intra-agency system is the Chattanooga Regional P25 system that links every county from North Georgia all the way through Knoxville in northeast Tennessee.
... and Paulding goes with a closed, proprietary business radio system for public safety. This means that their radios won't be able to inter-operate with any other agency in the area. It also means that they are tied into buying ONLY Motorola MotoTRBO radios, whereas you can buy any brand and any model of P25 radio and it would work on a P25 system (being an open standard). P25 means lower cost to replace radios. MotoTRBO means higher cost.
And last, but not least, this means that for all intents and purposes, the public will no longer be able to listen in on the public safety operations in the county. MotoTRBO is a closed, proprietary system by Motorola, and no commercial scanner can decode it (not even the digital ones). This means less awareness of our surroundings, less public helping out law enforcement, and less transparency in our government operations. P25 is scannable, yet encryptable for sensitive radio communications. Cobb Police, for example, encrypt their anti-drug operations communications, yet are still able to talk in-the-clear when they need to.
This is a bad decision by our commissioners.
First, it means that we're the ONLY county in the area that has not standardized on the P25 system, which is open and intra-agency capable. This means that agencies can network their systems together to create a large geographical radio system where you have almost no chance of losing signal. The Cobb County P25 system is a great example of this. Every agency in Cobb County, as well as Fulton and Douglasville use the system. The Western Area Regional Radio System is P25 and links Carroll, Coweta, Haralson, and Heard counties seamlessly. Any agency in any of those counties can talk to anywhere else in those counties. And what is probably the most shining example of a P25 intra-agency system is the Chattanooga Regional P25 system that links every county from North Georgia all the way through Knoxville in northeast Tennessee.
... and Paulding goes with a closed, proprietary business radio system for public safety. This means that their radios won't be able to inter-operate with any other agency in the area. It also means that they are tied into buying ONLY Motorola MotoTRBO radios, whereas you can buy any brand and any model of P25 radio and it would work on a P25 system (being an open standard). P25 means lower cost to replace radios. MotoTRBO means higher cost.
And last, but not least, this means that for all intents and purposes, the public will no longer be able to listen in on the public safety operations in the county. MotoTRBO is a closed, proprietary system by Motorola, and no commercial scanner can decode it (not even the digital ones). This means less awareness of our surroundings, less public helping out law enforcement, and less transparency in our government operations. P25 is scannable, yet encryptable for sensitive radio communications. Cobb Police, for example, encrypt their anti-drug operations communications, yet are still able to talk in-the-clear when they need to.
This is a bad decision by our commissioners.
