8 Communications Buzzwords You’ll Soon Be Buzzing About

1. Analytics

                Gleaning better insight from data has been an important trend for law enforcement. It drives better decision making and resource management, says Steve Marz, Vice President of Product Management at Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure. “We’ll see increasing efforts to deliver task-specific analysis in real time or near real time to put relevant information into the hands of decision makers as quickly as possible.”

2. Cloud & Mobility

Some folks have their “head in the cloud” … others, their data. The cloud is no longer the relatively unknown, unused gamble it was a few years ago. In fact, Marz says the cloud and mobile apps are creating opportunities for better, more accurate and more relevant information anywhere and everywhere, including the capability for distributed workflows. These deployments will only increase and lead to improved productivity and decreased cost of ownership for technology investments.

3. Convergence …. Complete

                The IWCE 2016 Conference proved that the convergence trend and evolution toward network-based wireless communications is here to stay.  “At the end of the day, it’s really about the network, not the technology,” says Dave George, engineer and president of Pryme said in a recent interview with RCR Wireless.  A plethora of partnerships between major wireless carriers, software application developers and hardware manufacturers were prevalent at this year’s Expo.  

PTT over Cellular (PoC) technology has begun extending beyond business enterprise to first responders, and Bluetooth has been the driving force behind wireless accessories, mainly because of its wide acceptance and versatility. 

 About 5 years ago, word of Bluetooth technology reached the Belgian Police Department and they approached Pryme to develop a remote PTT device for PTT over Cellular application.

4. Firstnet

                The wireless broadband network is still a work-in-progress, with the end goal being significantly improved services to about 320 million people. What can state and city public safety orgs do now to prepare? According to IWCE Urgent Communications News, a number of states and municipalities are starting to map out their coverage by pinpointing needs and identifying what areas that need to be supplemented or overlapped by the network.

Any public safety org can begin preparations for FirstNet upgrades by evaluating these criteria: Connectivity (Steve Fallin, Sr. Product Manager for NetMotion Wireless says rural agencies in particular should seek out a mobile virtual private network (VPN) that provides session persistence and roams seamlessly between FirstNet pilot networks, carrier networks, WiFi, mesh, satellite, etc.); Data measurement (understanding current coverage usage and needs); Security (Fallin says states should verify they have the ability to secure and protect CJIS, HIPAA, and PCI data—as well as their device ecosystem—through mobile-device-management (MDM) and mobile-VPN technology); and Helpfulness to the end-user. “The ideal solution should be transparent to the end user and allow first responders to focus on their jobs,” says Fallin.

5. Hybrid Equipment

                Land mobile radio usage isn’t going away, but it is changing. Pryme’s Dave George says, “The emergence of simultaneous LMR and LTE capabilities, along with PTT apps on smartphones, tablets and WiFi only devices, opens up a world of potential new products, such as more robust phones for industrial use, dual or triple band radios with LTE phones built inside, possibly even with a USB port on the side for uploading data, etc. So if LMR, LTE or WiFi is the channel best suited to the user’s requirements, they can easily switch networks.” 

 Integrated systems are already in the works and new radio equipment will soon follow. As George predicted last year, regardless of whether its voice or data, communicating the message is more important than the device or network used to transmit it. 

6. Long View—Merging Multiple Devices

George says one device will increasingly fulfill a combination of needs, whether it be communicating, internet, computing, body cam or more.

7. Service, Service … and more Service

“This is the one trend that hasn’t changed and never should,” says George.  No matter the product or provider, the value of premium quality, specialized customization, unparalleled service and affordable price points will always separate “trendy” from “permanent”.  

8. Situational Awareness

Hexagon’s Steve Marz says situational awareness remains the key to public and officer safety. “Different and better awareness tools have been deployed in recent years, but they are still often disconnected. A holistic approach to real-time information and intelligence is the next wave. This includes comprehensive and seamless integration of mission-critical systems, including computer-aided dispatch and records management; integration of video feeds, including body cameras, into the communications center; real-time mapping and location intelligence; and more.”