There are a lot of changes going on out there in the world of wireless communications. Some things we wonder about, some we make fun of, and some we think are great. Many people do not realize that emergency responders often can not even communicate with one another. They tend to use "closed" networks and incompatible equipment. They knew this was not an ideal situation, but until recently it was a daunting challenge to even attempt to correct.
With the introduction of digital communication equipment though, it is a bit easier. Now part of this is because if people are going to buy new equipment, you can set some standards that everyone can use. In a prudent move, it was also decided that communications equipment should also be able to be more flexible and work with a large number of frequencies. The new radios are currently referred to as Multi-band Radios (MBR).
I plan to do some more post soon about digital radio communications. It may be a while before we are all using digital radios, but for now I am glad to see that new technology is being so quickly adopted by emergency responder agencies. We are all going to benefit from police, fire and rescue departments being able to work together more effectively.
