The Hound received e-mail that pointed to that 45-page communications guide just released by the International Association of Firefighters (IAFC): it bears a publication ID that is formatted just like Motorola marketing materials, the fonts are technically identical, the copyright notices oddly omits a company or organization name, and graphic elements are nearly identical. At least one person says he saw the IAFC brochure a year ago under Motorola's logo. In fact, IAFC Communications Director Jennifer Ashley tells the Hound, "We asked Motorola to head up development of this guide." The group had no particular agenda in not identifying Motorola as the author of the guide, she said, but simply wanted to get valuable information distributed to the fire service.

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The DuPage County (Ill.) comm center has filed a civil lawsuit against its former computer manager Shaun Lang, 26, to recover $140,000 the DuComm agency alleges he embezzled by using the agency's credit card. According to the lawsuit, Lang purchased pet supplies, adult novelty items, food, liquor, electronics and clothing with the card for his personal use. As for criminal charges, Glendale heights police say they're investigating, but decline to provide any details. Lang was fired on Dec. 5 after 8 years on the job, after an HR manager discovered Lang's credit card statements had been altered, and then requested originals from the credit card company, the lawsuit states.

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The shouting and debate in Congress is over, but the craziness has just begun after passage of a Feb. 17, 2009 deadline for the conversion to digital TV. First, it's unbelievable to think that it will have taken 12 years to clear the 700 MHz band so public safety agencies can begin using the frequencies allocated in Dec. 1997. It's also incredible that Congress also set aside $1.5 billion to subsidize the purchase of digital decoders for those still left with analog TV sets at the deadline. Digital decoders will cost $60 to $100, so the $40 vouchers won't actually pay for the entire cost. And the $1.5 billion (just to watch re-runs) is 34 times the money Congress recently appropriated ($43.5 million) to help fund E911 implementations.

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Donna Nash is a dispatcher at the Huntsville-Madison County (Ala.) 911 Center, but apparently some of her best work is off-duty. She recently answered a call reporting a missing man who was an Alzheimer's patient. The man had called his wife, saying he was stopped along a road, but didn't know where, and his phone wouldn't dial 911. Officers in the region were notified and given the vehicle description, but no one spotted it. Two hours later Nash went off-duty and was picked up by her husband, and the couple then started poking around roads in the area and... they located the man and reunited him with his family.

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The Headsets.com Web site has posted a free eBook on stress management that you can download a read. Surf here to take a look:

http://headsets911.com/brm.htm

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The Officer of the Controller in Philadelphia has issued a 33-page investigative report on complaints about the police-fire 800 MHz trunked radio system, noting the police generate 75% of the traffic but have just 50% of the talk groups. The report also notes there were roll-out and training issues, there is some cellular telephone interference, and that other jurisdictions have long-solved their radio problems. The Controller issued recommendations that included reassigning talkgroups, switching leased phone lines to microwave, making better use of mobile computers to reduce voice radio congestion, improved radio user training, and exploring legislation to mandate in-building, high-rise radio repeaters. Download the report at:

http://www.911Dispatch.com/reference/philly_radio_report.pdf

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A Las Vegas police department committee has postponed approval of a huge radio contract after Motorola challenged the selection of M/A-Com Inc. as the bid winner. Motorola has challenged the scoring process for the selection process, saying it unfairly scored their company lower because of cost: Motorola's bid was $11.9 million, while M/A-Com's was $8.9 million. Motorola noted that future equipment purchases would actually be less expensive under their contract, because the police department could purchase additional radios from other vendors, and they will work on Motorola's system. The radio system would serve law enforcement, fire and other public safety agencies in the region.

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Peabody (Mass.) has selected Symposium Technologies to provide CAD software that links with records management software, Zetron radio gear and a fire alarm system, all serving the town of 50,000 residents. The company has also signed Iqaluit Fire (Canada) for its Horizon Event Management Environment product to handle emergency incidents in the northern territory.