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1. Why upgrade the system?

• February 2015 Fiscal Court received Trott's Public Safety Radio System Analysis and Recommendations Report (PDF).
• Report identified 9 major infrastructure components, of which 7 were either currently unsupported (end of useful life) or would be unsupported by 12/31/18 (see Report Table 4, page 16 (PDF)).
• Cost of Upgrade to 800Mhz vs Updating Analog system was a difference of $637,000 ($5,635,000 vs $4,998,723 see table 9, page 45 and table 10, page 46 (PDF)). We want to gain the benefits of a digital upgrade (see Heat Maps, Fire current/Police current/800MHz trunked (PDF)).
• Future Narrow banding may force us to digital so it makes sense to switch now.

2. What is an 800MHz radio system?

An 800MHz radio system is a blend of traditional two-way radio technology and computer-controlled transmitters. The system's main advantage is that radio transmitters can be shared among various departments, with the aid of computer programming. Virtual radio groups called talk groups are created in software to enable private departmental conversations. This gives the new system the appearance of having many frequencies, when in fact everyone is sharing only a few.

3. What are the Benefits to Switching to a Digital 800MHz System?

A digital 800MHz system will give the County better coverage and penetration. It reduces the problems with future narrow-banding.

4. When will the system be live?

According to the current timeline, a live switch is scheduled for 2019.