Firetide Inc

Communications is quite literally mission-critical for law enforcement agencies, fire departments, emergency medical service providers and other public safety organizations. In the past, first responders were limited to voice communications with each other and with command and control. The result was a potentially dangerous lack of situational awareness. More recently, the available options have expanded to narrowband data, textmessaging, satellite video and other forms of communications. The many commercial advances in broadband wireless networking, however, have yet to be leveraged in public safety communications. But that is all about to change: The advent of licensing in the 4.9 GHz spectrum for the exclusive use of public safety agencies is certain to bring about the kind of breakthrough communications capabilities that are long overdue.

One of the more significant technological advances is the broadband wireless mesh network. Mesh networks form instantaneously and automatically and heal themselves when a link is interrupted or broken. A mesh network can deliver the performance needed to support "multimedia" voice, video and data communications, and is compatible with virtually any existing equipment, network and software. The mesh itself is stable and secure, yet utterly simple to use and extraordinarily flexible. These and other characteristics make wireless mesh networks ideal for mission-critical public safety applications. Firetide, the leader in commercial wireless mesh networking for businesses and service providers, now offers the HotPort wireless mesh nodes, which support the 4.9 GHz public safety band. This application note highlights some of the many ways public safety agencies can utilize a HotPort mesh network for both routine operations and incident response. As will be shown, the full potential of sophisticated field communications for public safety personnel is now a practical and affordable reality with the HotPort mesh network.