Scattered clouds, high 92°

1997 Annual Conference
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO)

Tuesday, August 12th

by Gary Allen

[links are photos]

(Charlotte, S.C., 2:15 p.m. EDT) -- A committee of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International has announced that it will allow a so-called "interoperability mode" in its Phase II standards for public safety digital radios, a major shift that will allow Ericsson to provide Project 25-compliant radios.
The committee formulating the standards for digital radio has apparently approved a dual-transmission approach when specifying how radios should use 6.25 kHz frequency spacing. In Phase I, only one method--frequency division multiple access (FDMA)--was specified. In an exclusive interview with DISPATCH Monthly, Steven Montealegre, director of Ericsson's marketing and standards programs, said it was a "win-win" situation brought about by a better understanding between APCO's committee, Ericsson and Motorola of how to move from 12.5 kHz channels in Phase I, to 6.25 kHz channels in Phase II. The interoperability mode will be FDMA, the technology used in Phase I of Project 25, and which Ericsson has steadfastly claimed does not provide benefits to public safety. Instead, Ericsson has promoted time division multiple access (TDMA) technology for digital radio, but that decision has locked them out of any competition for Project 25-compliant systems--up to now. The committee's decision will allow Ericsson radios to use TDMA as their primary method of transmission, but will permit interoperability between FDMA and TDMA in the interoperability mode. This change will allow them to eventually bid on digital radio systems that agencies require to be Project-25 compliant. According to Montealegre, it will take several months for the Phase II standard to be finalized and for it t be approved by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). Once TIA approval is received, Ericsson will market its systems as "Project 25 compliant." APCO has not issued a statement on the Project 25 committee's decision as yet. See Wednesday's Flash New for more information.

(Charlotte, 1:31 a.m.) -- The big--and serious--event of Tuesday was the opening of the trade show, featuring over 200 companies that are competing for public safety budgets. Outside, Carolina Sunshine, a tap dance group, entertained the attendees who just finished up seminars. The products and services ranged from the most complex radio or telephone gear, to simple software, radio antenna beacons, mobile terminal mounting equipment, headsets, RF mapping services, consulting and comm center design.

Several new company names appeared on the show floor, representing first-time entrants, consolidations and purchases. Panasonic Personal Computer Co. appeared with a unique--and dramatic--display to demonstrate the durability of their CF series of laptop computers. The booth featured a drop test from two feet, showing that the laptop continued to operate after the fall. The computers don't skimp on features: Pentium-series CPUs up to 150 MHz and some using the new MMX multimedia technology. Some have audio speakers, CD-ROM drives and PC card slots. All are constructed of a rugged magnesium shell and have a sealed keyboard. A salesperson swore it could handle anything that a police officer could throw at it, and after seeing the drop test, I'm a believer. The 2 Gb disk drive and 800x600 SVGA didn't hiccup or short-circuit. (800) 662-3537

Walkabout Computers Inc. was offering a portable pen computer, but mis-named it the Hammerhead. One look at the device and you know it should be called--The Walkabout! It's a very simple-looking, rectangular device that cleverly fits the crook of you arm--from wrist to elbow--so make carrying it easy and intuitive. It's built around an aircraft aluminum frame, and includes a 100 MHz Cyrix 5x86 CPU, up to 32 Mb of memory and a 1.3 Gb hard disk. The 9.4-inch backlit LCD display displays up to 1024 x 768 resolution and an external display can also be connected. The really neat part of the computer is its case--it's a foam-backed, black, Cordura-like material that adds only slightly to the computer's dimensions. It makes for easy pick-up and handling--and it looks like a stealth machine! It handles DOS, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 applications. (561) 881-9050

A new name at the show was Printrak International Inc. based in California. They attended because of their July 21st purchase of the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and records management (RMS) business unit SCC Communications Corp. of Boulder (Colo.). In a press release, Printrak describes itself as a "leading world-wide supplier of biometric identification systems primarily used in law enforcement applications." They also sell systems to identify social service recipients and those passing through immigration check points. They have over 500 customers in 25 countries. Terms of the purchase weren't mentioned, but Printrak did say they paid cash for SCC, and will take a charge on their second quarter earnings for the purchase. The SCC unit purchase comes on the heels of the acquisition of TFP Inc. (SC), which markets computer-based mug shot systems.

SCC markets computer-aided dispatch and telecommunications software and has over 200 agency software customers, and report sales so far in 1997 of $5.1 million. Printrak said all SCC employees would be retained, the unit will operate a division of Printrak and will continue to focus on CAD and RMS applications. Printrak president Richard Giles said the purchase continues the company's strategy for building an integrated solution for public safety. (714) 666-1055

Dictaphone announced its Symphony CTI logging recorder system, which handles voice and its associated data, such as channel and user IDs, date, time, talk group, ANI/ALI, called telephone number and more. The call data is stored in an ODBC-compliant database, which means it can be retrieved and displayed or printed by any number of database software applications. The logging software can be configured to tape only certain channels or talkgroups, monitor only certain incoming or outgoing calls based on an extension or telephone number, and many other combinations. It runs on a PC under Window NT and acccepts both analog and digital input. It can be scaled to handle scores of channels either locally or via a computer network. The system can handle up to 1,280 hours of audio, and even more audio can be stored using Dictaphone's Archive Media Warehouse system. (800) 447-7749.

Another new name appeared on a booth--International Public Safety, the re-named Intergraph Public Safety. Their graphics and banners were new, but they hd no new application to display.

Cunanan Captured

The 911 telephone system in Miami Beach played an important role during the murder of Giani Versace and the subsequent capture of suspect Andrew Cunanan. George Bush, who manages the city's comm center, explained that several 911 calls were received at key points before, just after, and one week later which were handled by call-takers and triggered the dispatch of officers. Bush also counsled APCO members on how to handle a blitz of media, like those who descended on Miami Beach for over a week. As Bush retold the story, he replayed audio tapes of the phone and radio traffic.

Five days before Versace, Bush said an employee of a sandwich shop called to say that a man resembling Cunanan was in the store buying food. He had seen the person's face on America's Most Wanted. The call was entered quickly, dispatched with four minutes and officers arrived on a busy late Saturday night within eight minutes. By then, the man was gone, but from the later description of Cunanan's clothing, police believe the man was Cunanan.

The 911 telephone rang again just after Versace was murdered, this time from one of his employees who heard the gunfire and found his employer mortally wounded on the front steps of the coverted hotel that was Versace's home. The call was broadcast immediately, and almost simultaneous an nearby officer was flagged down with a report of a possible shooting at the same address. Bush said that within one minutes of the initial 911 call form Versace's employee, a local television station telephoned to ask about the shooting!

Several things occurred in quick succession--an officer arrived at the scene within two minutes and broadcast a description of the person fleeing north on the street just west of the murder scene. Several officers began clogging the radio, including a bike officer who was difficult to understand. In the process of coordinating the officers' responses, the description of the suspect's clothing got garbled and switched.

At the same time, a parking control employee radioed to report a shooting to a separate radio dispatcher, but then disappeared from the radio channel and could not be contacted again. Just after that, another parking officer radioed his supervisor, who then telephoned the comm center. The call-taker handling that call asked questions to the supervisor, who then asked the parking officer via radio. Bush said the process was slow, but the parking officer eventually gave a very accurate description of the fleeing suspect.

Lastly, Bush explained that the press overloaded virtually every telephone line the police department had, trying to find someone to give them information. At the same time, the department set up a tip hotline that fielded over 800 calls. He suggested that press and tip calls be handled outside of the comm center, preferably by an existing crime tip service (Crime Stoppers?) or by administrative or detective personnel.

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Tuesday ended with a trip north to one of America's premier race tracks, and a night of dancing, eating, drinking, vintage car watching and motor sports. It was MANAPCO night, traditionally the big social event of the conference. It's sponsored by the commercial members of APCO and those companies who attend the trade show.

Buses picked up APCO members from their hotels and delivered them to the infield pits area, where the garage had been cleared out and filled with tables and serving stations for barbequed pork and chicken, potato salad a iced tea--long lines snaked outside. Out back, a catering company--staffed mostly by Gastonia (NC) firefighters--cooked pork and chicken on several large, trailer-mounted barbeques. Outside, a rock band played on a stage illuminated with colored spotlights.

Alongside the garage, 15-20 vintage cars were lined up for examination. There were also two NASCAR stock cars and a Legend car. Nearby, a North Carolina Highway Patrol helicopter stood by. For those interested in actual moving cars, the speedway was holding Legend car races (they look like miniature Dick Tracy sedans) and karts (like go-carts but--whew!--even sleeker and faster). These races were being held on a 1/4-mile track in front of the grandstand, allowing spectators to actually walk on the track to get a sense of the steep bank that full NASCAR racers must handle. Of course, if you wanted to take a little bit of the Speedway back home, souvenirs were available.

All photos and text copyright 1997, 911 Dispatch Services, Inc.