Next Step for Interoperabiltiy

First responders widely recognize two-way radio communications as a valuable and indispensible tool needed to perform duties in the interest of maintaining or restoring public safety on behalf of our citizens.

Now, public safety professionals can add a new tool totheir communications arsenal... the P-25 Network.

P-25 is the most current public safety communications standard available today that enables interoperability among various jurisdictions from local to county to state and federal. Very soon, the NJ Office of Information Technology (OIT) will deploy a P-25, 700 MHz digital trunked radio communications network statewide. Network buildout was funded in large part by the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grant Program. First responders in the UASI Region can access the network using portable radios; whereas mobile radios are needed to access the network outside of the UASI region. Regardless of location or equipment, the network has 95% coverage.

Why Join the Network

The FCC Narrowbanding mandate requires all public safety entities using land mobile radio systems operating in the 150-512 MHz radio bands to transition from using 25 kHz efficiency technology and begin using at least 12.5 kHz efficiency technology by January 1, 2013. The costs of such a transition can be an expensive proposition for communities that are facing difficult budgeting decisions. Municipalities that stand to benefit the most from the P-25 network are those that are either in the UASI Region or are located in counties that do not have a countywide network. Counties or municipalities that have, or are planning to build, their own network can link to the P-25 network built by OIT to achieve statewide interoperability. There is a significant cost savings to participating in the statewide network. Since it will be subscription based, there will be virtually no infrastructure costs to network participants. Municipalities will benefit from the economy of scale that can be leveraged with a single infrastructure. Equally important is that radio equipment will be interoperable with surrounding or federal public safety entities. Network participants will be better able to communicate with each other, obtain enhanced coordination of activities, and further improve upon response times.