Nextel Has Arrived

An odd story posted on the Firehouse.com Web site details how Richmond (Virg.) added Nextel handsets and Blackberry PDAs to their own public safety radio system, creating “dramatically expanded logistical capabilities.” The site’s “TechZone Editor” Charles Werner explains how the city evaluated its own communications systems, and then decided to expand them using Sprint-Nextel gear, and how operations have improved. Fire chief Robert Creecy found that, “Command officers were having a difficult time performing the necessary email activity that was required during their daily routine,” the story says. Now, all the Spriny-Nextel equipment is “bundled under one government account,” and every fire officer has a Nextel handset assigned to him/her. Since the implementation, the story states, “There was an immediate reduction in radio traffic over the 800 MHz radio system as it naturally migrated over the Nextels, most commonly through the use of Direct Connect.” Read the entire story here.