G S Kok, Hytera's vice-president for subscriber terminals, talks to ...

A FOCUS ON DIGITAL INSTALLATIONS AND APPLICATIONSRadio at workSponsored by

ContentsDigital radio at workEditor: Richard Lambleyrichard@landmobile.co.ukDeputy editor: David Taylordavid.taylor@markallengroup.comAdvertisement manager: Charles Sheppardcharles.sheppard@markallengroup.co.ukTel: 01722 717015Circulation director: Sally Boettchersally.boettcher@markallengroup.comProduction director: Richard HamshereGraphic designer: Matt BradfordPublishing director: Jon BensonChief Executive Officer: Ben AllenReader enquiry and subscription services: callfree 0800 137201 (for addresses outside theUK, +44 1722 716997). Annual subscriptionrate for non-qualifying readers is £50 (UK andworldwide). For further information pleasecontact the subscriptions department.Views expressed in this magazine do not necessarilyrepresent those of the editor or publisher.The publisher can accept no liability for anyconsequential loss or damage, howsoever caused,arising from any information printed.MA Business & Leisure Ltd is part of theMark Allen Groupwww.markallengroup.comLand Mobile is published by MA Business &Leisure Ltd, Jesses Farm, Snow Hill, Dinton,Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP3 5HN, UKTel: +44 (0)1722 716996Website: www.landmobile.co.uk©2012 MA Business & Leisure Ltd. All rights reserved.The paper used within this publication has been obtainedfrom Chain-of-Custody certified manufacturers, operatingwithin international environmental standards, to ensuresustainable sourcing of the raw materials, sustainableproduction and to minimise our carbon footprint.© MA BUSINESS & LEISURE LTD, 2012NOTICEAll rights reserved. No part of Land Mobile or itsassociated supplements may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form orby any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise without prior writtenpermission of the publisher.Foreword 03Whinfell Forest 04-06Thames pageant 07Tier III trunking 9-11TrakRanger 12Strengths of DMR 13Control room 14-152Sponsored by

ForewordFocus on innovationG S Kok, Hytera’s vice-president for subscriber terminals, talks to Land Mobileabout digital migration, trunking and other developments in mobile radioDigital reality is coming to PMR. Forthose customers who are still undecidedwhether digital is going to stay,I think it’s very obvious this year that there hasbeen tremendous growth, with all the players indigital PMR already putting out their systems.And of course at Hytera, having invested forthe past five years heavily in digital, our currentproduct platform has matured. The PD series[DMR handportables] is already fully loaded interms of features, in terms of bands, in terms ofcapabilities. We’ve got the base station out andwe are still working on the conventional trunking,which is lower-cost compared with the systemtrunking that we have.Our digital Tier III trunking was launchedin March of last year. The first system went toGuatemala and then subsequently this year wehave got multi-system setups going to Harrisand to some of our East Coast customers. Andwe’re seeing good growth in the UK in terms ofconventional, DMR and of course Tetra.With Tetra, because we’re new to this game,we are still learning and at the same timeimplementing new features. Don’t forget, Tetrawas first released in 1999 and the first terminalwas available probably in 2001. So we’ve got 11years to catch up and there are a lot of featuresthat we still need to put into our terminals. Soin terms of Tetra we are a little bit behind, butwe are not sitting down. We are trying to do aneight-second 100-metre dash!User-friendlyWe do pay a lot of attention to make sure thatthe UI [user interface] in the DMR and Tetraare similar, so that when users are familiar withour DMR and they migrate to our Tetra, theyknow how to operate the radio straight away.The features may be slightly different, but theway you use the terminals will feel the same, sowe focus on those points. It’s very importantthat when the user picks up the radio, he is ableto operate it immediately without looking at themanual.The fundamental thing about DMR wasto assist with the migration from analogue todigital. MPT has been a very good solution formany, many years but it is becoming a little bitout of date. Just to get clearer voice, digital is theway to go.What we try to encourage is to have a systemthat is able to function as an MPT trunkedsystem, and that vision is still true. We neverclaimed that we will be able to do everythingthat MPT does, because, really, is there such abig need? What you want is the important part,which is the voice call. When you want to makea call on your MPT system to go into a DMRTier III trunking system, it will accept your calland then translate it to DMR and then radiatedown to another DMR Tier III radio and facilitatethat conversation.In the same way as the terminals, when itcomes to an MPT base station, all the user hasto do is to select MPT mode and then the terminalwill register on to the MPT system. Thenhe can talk to the MPT radios. So that will allowcustomers to slowly migrate.Time for changeFor any customer, the way they change will differ,but the most important thing is when thereis a need to have more capacity. That’s the placethat you should target first. It’s cheaper to do itnow, because you don’t need to invest any moreon equipment that you know is going to beobsolete.We think we have very effective and affordableproducts – but it seems that the market islooking for even more affordable products. I’vebeen very busy for the past few years lookingat the new generation of DMR and at futuregenerations of DMR with broadband facilities,and also looking at low-end DMR. How are wegoing to solve the market problem? That has occupiedthe bulk of my time.Hytera is now very focused on innovations,on customer satisfaction. So we listen to ourcustomers and try to implement solutions forthem so that they can go to market and theycan solve their problems. That’s in line with ourcompany objectives of Respond and Achieve.We respond to customers’ requests andachieve our goal of getting the best terminalsout to the world.Hytera’s X1e, the smallest full-powerDMR handportable radio, is designedfor covert applications but is suitablealso for managerial users who do notwant to carry a full-size handportable.The radio is comparable in size with theiPhone seen on the right. By the endof 2012, Hytera will also introduce fullkeypad and limited keypad versionsThis compact TETRA handset was shownby Hytera at the Tetra World Congressearlier this year. The antenna integratesGPS reception for improved positionfindingperformance, and the controlknobs are deliberately made differentin size for easy operation by touchSponsored by3

RepeatersForest murmursFor 140 staff and their radios at Whinfell Forest inCumbria, people’s holidays are hard workIguess you know the basics of CenterParcs, the principle of a holiday in a forestlocation”, begins John Summers, technicalservices manager at the company’s WhinfellForest location, near Penrith. “We haveCumbrian lodges, which are a double-pitch,wooden construction, lodge, and we have 863of them, in 500 acres of pine forest.”But the apparent tranquillity of this Lakelandscene is regularly replaced by fermenteach Monday and Friday, the change-overdays, when up to 4000 guests depart and up to4000 new ones check in. “I guess the part thatinterests you the most is that we have 140-oddradios that we’ve just bought”, Mr Summerscontinues. “That means that on a Monday anda Friday, when they are all out and in use, wehave 140 people communicating with eachother – and that’s split across our security, ourhousekeepers, technical services, grounds andour leisure department.”The new DMR radios, by Hytera, replacean ageing analogue system dating back towhen the holiday centre opened, 14 years ago.One particular problem with it was that staffwere unable to communicate adequately atthe extremities of the large, sloping site. “Forinstance, our village is supplied by two boreholesand we lift our water up to a massivetank”, Mr Summers explains. “One million“On the move at the Whinfell Forest park is staff member Chris Robson. The newdigital radio system provides good coverage of the farthest corners of the village sitelitres go up there – it’s a swimming pool onlegs, basically!“We could never get any radio coveragethere because, with analogue, it was affectedby the trees. So the issue is that I’m sendingstaff to locations that are key to operationof the village and I can’t communicate withthem.”After examining various options, and conductingsome trials, the team chose the Hyterasystem, to be supplied by Derbyshire-basedradio company Zycomm. The equipment wasinstalled in June.With experience of digital radios gained ina previous post, Mr Summers already knewthe kind of performance improvements to expect.“We’ve now got full coverage across ourwhole village”, he says. “It’s much clearer now.In fact, that is an advantage because over theradio we are giving out addresses constantly,and you need to get the number right or we goto the wrong place. So to be as clear as possibleis one of the key things that we needed.”Twin repeatersTo provide additional capacity, the digital systemis based on a pair of DMR repeaters, eachof them providing up to two voice channelsthrough its two time-slots. “One of them coversour, kind of, emergency services – fire, securityand the medical and technical services”,says Mr Summers. “The other repeater covershousekeeping, leisure and food and beverages.”The system makes effective use of the talkgroupscapability of the DMR technology, headds. “It would be just constant barrage otherwise!Certainly, if you mixed tech servicesand housekeeping together, particularly on achangeover day, you’d never get a free channel.Those channels are not quiet on a Monday andFriday because there’s so much traffic comingthrough, of little bits that need doing.”Now that the system is installed and working,Mr Summers is working with Zycommto explore the possibilities of data messagingwith the radios. It could be used to pass outrequest for service from guests – to replace alight-bulb or to find why an oven is not working,for example. “At the moment we just passthose verbally over the radio”, he says. “But inthe long term we are looking at a way of link-4Sponsored by

Tier III trunkingChoosing efficiencyA two-way radio company in Central America has built up a history of successfullypioneering new technologies in the region. Now it has fallen in love with DMRSome of the first commercial DMR TierIII trunked radio networks in the world– if not the very first – can be found inthe Central American republic of Guatemala,where a variety of radio systems for public andprivate users are operated by a local company,Corporación Radio Electrónica (Crelosa).General manager of the company is StuartScott, who, as a new electronic engineeringgraduate, began its activities in 1988 to providecommunications for a family business.A busy radio site in Guatemala, wherePMR network Crelosa runs a widerange of analogue and digital mobileservices for business and governmentSince those times, he has gathered experienceof a whole spectrum of two-way radiotechnologies, from basic two-way radio onwards,pioneering trunked radio technology inthe region and installing systems by the score.Among these have been community repeaters,proprietary trunked systems, the BritishdevelopedMPT1327 standard, the US LTRand LTR-net trunking technologies, plus addonfeatures such as telephone interconnects. “Igrew up with radios and I really love radios”,he says. “It’s such an amazing thing to workwith radio.”Today Crelosa’s operations embrace 19DMR radio sites, on which it bases six sharedsubscriber networks and 14 private systems.Among their customers and users are governmentbodies, police, firefighters, and Transurbano,Guatemala City’s integrated metropolitantransit operator.Transport and telemetryMr Scott singles out Transurbano as makingparticularly full use of DMR technology– beginning with its backwards compatibilitywith analogue trunking. “We’ve got more than1500 units working on the DMR system, mostof them installed in buses”, he explains. “Theystarted working analogue and then finally wechanged them to digital – and the differencebetween digital and analogue was so great.“We use telemetry, text messaging and GPS.Everything has been Hytera. We created ourown application to manage our clients’ needs,especially for this client itself. We do dataintensivesystems – for example, GPS positioning.I believe GPS works really well withDMR.”With the telemetry capability, Crelosa hasbeen able to help with revenue protection aswell as fleet management. “Remember, on thebuses you have an entrance and an exit”, MrScott explains. “The idea is for people not toenter through the exit, because you can get afree ride easily if you enter through the exit! Sothe telemetry tells you two or three things: firstof all, when the exit door is open, it tells you; itEquipping a mobile radio base stationin Guatemala: last year networkoperator Crelosa installed the firstcommercial DMR Tier III trunkingsystem based on Hytera infrastructurewill tell you when the exit button is triggered.If the exit button is triggered and the door doesnot open, you’ve got a problem. And if the exitdoor opens and you did not hit the exit button,you’ve got a problem. So basically it willtell you when things are not working properly.“The other telemetry is emergency or panicbuttons. We have two panic buttons – one atthe rear and one at the driver’s side. You pressthe panic button and automatically it willshow the guy at the monitoring centre thatthere is an emergency. This happens!“The guy in the monitoring centre pressesa button and is able to make the microphoneon the bus go live for a specific time. We haveinstalled it for 30-second transmit, then a10-second delay, and then he can talk to theguy. And then the system automatically goesback into transmit mode.”Sponsored by9

Tier III trunkingIn this way, he continues, the driver can communicatewith the monitoring centre, withoutpressing the PTT or other intervention.Crelosa has exploited DMR’s telemetry capabilitiesat its own radio sites too, he adds. “Atevery repeater site that we have, even thoughwe have microwaves and we have video feedsand everything, we have hooked up a digitalradio with telemetry so that it tells you whenthey open and they close the doors of the repeatersite. And there’s another one when theyarm or disarm the alarm of the repeater site.We can see when they open the door or theyclose it.”And he offers an afterthought. “Remember,I’m not a factory, I’m a customer – I’m buyingthings and testing all the radios. We test all theradios here really good.”Fire officer in Guatemala: encryptedDMR ensures that the fire service’scommunications cannot be eavesdroppedConfidential comms“With digital, it sounds loud, it sounds good”,Mr Scott declares. “We don’t have any morehisses and whistles.” But DMR has broughtother important benefits for customers such asthe firefighters, because their radio traffic duringan incident can no longer be interceptedthrough scanners or stolen radios.“The firefighters changed to digital after havinga lot of problems with conventional, notonly because of the coverage itself but becauseof the intrusions”, he says. “The firemen wantedto be more secret in their communicationsbecause somehow when they got there, therewas someone else before them.” Reporters fromthe tabloid press and even representatives of funeralhomes often arrived suspiciously early onthe scene of an incident.“They needed a confidential system”, MrScott sums up. “And the cheapest and mostefficient system is DMR. We sat down withthem. We saw Tetra (for them it was off themarket, very expensive); we saw Apco 25 (veryexpensive as well, because the terminal unitsin Apco 25 are far gone in pricing). So theydecided to go with DMR.”Pseudo-trunkingAfter testing DMR radios from a couple ofmanufacturers, the firefighters decided upona Hytera system – and a major reason for thischoice was the doubling of capacity made possibleby Hytera’s support for ‘pseudo-trunking’or ‘dual-slot trunking’. “If one slot is occupied,then the radio will use the next one”, he explains.“It’s not a very great solution because it onlygives you one more timeslot – but in reality thatmakes a world of difference to the client.“Normally the system works in Timeslot 1.You program all the units there, so that yourunits normally are figuring out if Timeslot 1 isoccupied. If it is occupied, automatically theywill go to Timeslot 2. And the receiving radioswill continue to sample either of the timeslots.”Though the digital signalis inherently resistantto eavesdropping,a DMR featureespecially wel-With this Transurbano bus are (from left) Andy Zhao of Hytera America, Stuart Scott of network operator Crelosa, and G S Kok, Hytera’svice-president for subscriber terminals. Inset, making a radio call, is Yenny, an operations co-ordinator for the Transurbano project10Sponsored by

Tier III trunkingcomed by the firefighters is its digital voice encryptioncapability. “Hytera has one of the bestencryption protocols in the market becauseyou can have, on DMR, three scenarios: 16bits, 128 and 256 bits”, comments Mr Scott.“We’ve given them the capacity to change theirown keys by themselves. This way, the clienthimself is able to control the privacy in theircommunications.”Traffic loadingA conventional, one-slot trunking system cansupport up to 45 radios and three or four companyfleets, Mr Scott finds, although even thatmodest level of loading can lead to contention.“On pseudo-trunking, you can actually pumpthe system up to 75 units and have about 6–7companies operating with almost no collisionswhatsoever”, he says. “But here is one of thefactors that made a big difference with Hytera.Pseudo-trunking gave us an edge on loading capabilitieswith our clients.“Obviously you have to be very efficient inchoosing, because you cannot choose two taxicompanies on the same system, because theyare going to flood it! But you have to mix andmatch and be very comprehensive upon thetype of client you are going to use with thepseudo-trunking system.”Connecting with IPAnother Hytera system feature he values is theability to interconnect repeaters using IP datalinks, enabling wide-area coverage to be providedsimply. “Once you operate pseudo-trunkingDMR Tier III: new network equipmentdelivered to Guatemala by HyteraDriver’s radio in a Transurbano bus, a harsh environment for mobile communications.But dust and vibration are not the only hazard in Central America: Crelosa reportsthat a number of Hytera radios were inundated in flood waters after a recent tropicalstorm, some of them to a depth of more than one metre, but all of them survivedsingle-site, the first thing that your client wantsthen is more coverage”, he explains. “Thatmeans that you have to install repeaters.“The interesting part here is that the Hyteraproduct has the automatic roaming capabilityinstalled into the system, without an extra option.When we buy from the factory, it comesin with all the bells and whistles, so it’s easierfor us just to program whatever we need.“But the scenario of roaming works reallywell. Here’s an interesting hint: there is somethingcalled beacon programming on the repeater.It means that if no one is speaking – ifthere’s no traffic flowing through that repeater– the repeater has to have a beacon to tell anyradio scanning on DMR that the repeater ison, and it’s working and it’s ready to receivesignals. This way, the radio can actually do theroaming into that site.“That is a big tip”, he laughs. “Either youhave a client who actually uses a repeater sothat the radio can find it, or you do your beaconvery often.”But he continues: “DMR wide-area networkinghas a wonderful capacity for managementand administration, simply because youare able to program all the repeaters on the radio.You can even tell it that, for example, yourradio can only access Repeaters 1, 2 and 3 – not4, 5 and 6. We can do that. And if you want 1,5, 6 – not a problem.“If the radio gets stolen, we can turn it off,or radio-kill. We can take that ID off the system,so he will not be able to get into the systemand communicate.Split affectionsFor Crelosa, a very special feature of Hytera’sDMR radios is their support for unconventionaltransmit/receive frequency splits. These are commonlyrequired in Guatemala and other CentralAmerican countries, in place of the tidy 10 MHzor 5 MHz splits usual in Europe. “Specifically,for Guatemala, you’d sometimes get 1 MHzwhile sometimes you get 3 MHz and sometimesyou get 10 MHz”, Mr Scott observes. “Well, myfriend, welcome to Guatemala.”The solution to this problem, he continues,is simple enough: you approach your radiomanufacturer and you ask them to changetheir entire programming scheme.“Well, Hytera did it”, he adds. “And Hytera,in version 2.0, will have that difficult channelsplit. For that, with humility, I have to thankthe people at Hytera, because they have beenlistening to me.”And he ends: “I have fallen in love withHytera because of the way Hytera works – theybring you into a family. That’s very difficult forme to explain, but it’s a family feeling thatreally pushes you forward into much, muchmore than a business relationship. I have hadG S Kok here, the head of engineering, askingpersonally what would I prefer to have inour next radio. And everything that Hytera haspromised to me, it has come true.”Sponsored by11

TrackingWorldwide networkThrough a connection to the Internet, a two-way radio system can become aneven more powerful tool for managing and protecting staff – wherever they are“ We set TrakRanger up about two orthree years ago”, says Steve Keable.“We were getting quite frustratedwith existing systems that were available, and wedecided that we would do it ourselves better thanwas currently being offered.”The software which underlies the TrakRangerservice was created by his colleague Kevin Golding.“A radio system allows radios to communicatewith each other”, Mr Golding explains.“However, adding the TrakRanger applicationopens the world up to the radio system. We providea gateway, a service that allows people fromanywhere in the world to log in and send messagesto radios somewhere else in the world – orto monitor an emergency or a man-down or seewhere radios are.”A key feature of the technology is that it is anapplication which runs on the Web, which enablesit to be used from any location which hasInternet access. “It really does work worldwide”,Mr Golding emphasizes. “You don’t need anysoftware installed – it’s just like visiting a website.So you could be on your iPad at the airport, youcould log in and you could see where all yourstaff are with their radios, and you could monitortheir text messages, you can send text messages toand fro, directly to their radios.”Exploiting DMRAlready the technology is in service with users inthe UK, including several local authorities, whichuse them in activities from refuse collecting toparking patrols. But now, through a new relationshipwith Hytera, TrakRanger can exploit theadvanced capabilities of the latest DMR (DigitalMobile Radio) handportables and mobiles –such as GPS position-finding and text messaging– to deliver an enhanced service. For example, itcan be used to perform a quick radio check withoutdistracting the user from what he is doing.“Using TrakRanger, I can actually do a radiocheck from anywhere in the world to check thata particular radio is on and is within range”, saysKevin Golding. “The guy doesn’t even know thathe has been checked. He just gets a silent radiocheck which pings the radio – and the radiopings back and says ‘I am in range and I am allOK’.”“If you’ve got Web access, you’ve got access to TrakRanger”, says Kevin Golding. Thesmall pop-up window shows command options and updates for an individual radioAlso made possible by today’s DMR radios aremonitor calls, a powerful tool for aiding staff whofind themselves in danger. “If you have a guy getbeaten up, he presses his emergency button, sowe now know that he’s in an emergency situation”,Mr Golding says. “We get a GPS signalfrom him as well – so not only do we know he isin trouble, but we know where he is. But in additionto that, we can send the monitor commandand we can key up his radio so that we can hearwhat is going on, where he is.”“And if they got voice recording, we can actuallyrecord that conversation”, adds Steve Keable.“So if it needs to be used in evidence, that can bedone as well.”At the same time, a screen display can showon a map precisely where the emergency has occurred,and the system can automatically emailor text people to inform them that there is a situationthat requires escalating.Connecting upOffered through mobile radio dealers, TrakRangeris a managed system hosted within the Internetcloud – and it is accessible to user organizationsof all sizes, even the smallest. One client uses thesystem to track just two security guards. “Ratherthan paying £7,000 to £10,000 for the trackingsolution that they would have traditionallybought, they just pay a small monthly fee forthose two guys”, Mr Golding comments. “Itmakes it affordable for small systems, but it alsoworks all the way up to large systems. There aresystems with about 800 radios on them.”For many of these users, one of TrakRanger’smost appealing features is that it is exceptionallysimple to install and connect up. The all-importantnetwork link is made by a data interfaceunit, a ‘black box’ which plugs into the Internetand into a radio on the local system. In this wayit bypasses all the problems which can arise inlarger organizations, where the central IT departmentmight otherwise have to be called in, orwhere IT functions have been outsourced.“It makes it so much easier to deploy than atraditional software solution where you’re lookingto install PCs or servers”, says Steve Keable.“You won’t get permission to put them in withouta great deal of work.“The data interface units are what we callheadless – there’s no settings on them, there’s nobuttons to press. You just plug them in and theyconfigure themselves and they work. So it’s reallylow maintenance for the dealer.”12Sponsored by

Looking at DMRStrength in numbersDMR systems are in active use in more than 100 countries. And as Hytera explains,they have the strengths of a fully open standard backed by a variety of vendorsDMR (Digital MobileRadio) is a digital radiostandard developed byETSI (the European TelecommunicationsStandards Institute) forprofessional mobile radio (PMR)users. Conceived as a replacementfor analogue PMR, it is designed todeliver digital voice, data and supplementaryservices at low cost.PMR can be classified in threebroad tiers: commercial, public safetyand business-critical professionalapplications. DMR offers supportfor all three, meeting users’ needsin fields as diverse as public safety,private security, government, education,campus and hospitality, factories,construction, utilities, transport,and the oil and gas industry.DMR is designed to operatewithin the existing 12·5 kHz channelassignments used in licensedland mobile frequency bands, whilemeeting future regulatory requirementsfor 6·25 kHz channel equivalence.The DMR protocol embracesunlicensed (Tier I), licensed conventional(Tier II) and licensed trunked(Tier III) modes of operation, althoughin practice its commercialapplication is today focused on theTier II and III categories.In DMR Tier III, support is providedfor voice calls and messagingcapabilities similar to those of theanalogue MPT 1327 standard. Besidesoffering status messaging anda short message service, it can alsocarry packet data, IPv4 and IPv6.Doubled capacityA main benefit of DMR is that itenables a single 12·5 kHz channelto support two simultaneous, independentcalls. How is this achieved?In the DMR standard, the12·5 kHz channel is sliced into twoalternating time slots (an applicationof Time Division Multiple Accesstechnology, TDMA). Each time slotacts as a separate communicationchannel having an equivalent bandwidthof 6·25 kHz, yet the channelas a whole maintains the same profileas an analogue 12·5 kHz signal.This means that DMR will fit intoexisting licensed PMR bands, enablingusers to double the capacity oftheir 12·5 kHz channel.While a voice call is occupyingthe first time slot, the second timeslot could potentially be used fortransmitting a second voice call. Orit could simultaneously carry applicationdata such as text messaging orposition fixes. This would be usefulin, for example, a dispatch systemthat provided both verbal and visualdispatch instructions.Time slot1 Time slot2 Time slot1 Time slot2 Time slot1 Time slot2voice call 1voice call 2Advantage TDMA: DMR’s dual time slots can double the speechcapacity of a radio channel or support a supplementary data streamexcellentAUDIOQUALITYpoorAnalogueDigitalWith its narrow-band speech codec and digital error-correction,DMR preserves voice quality and intelligibility over a greaterrange than analogue, especially towards the edges of coverageThis dual-channel capability isachieved economically, using justone repeater, one antenna and asimple duplexer. Two-slot TDMAalso has the potential to combineboth slots temporarily to effectivelydouble the data rate, or to use bothslots together to enable full-duplexprivate calls.Data applicationsThe end-to-end digital nature ofDMR enables applications such astext messaging, GPS and telemetryto be easily added on to radio devicesand systems.As the DMR standard also supportsthe transmission of IP dataover the air, this enables the easy developmentof standard applications.In a world which increasingly relieson data as well as voice communication,this ability to add a wide rangeof data applications to your systemresults in the greatest possible returnon your investment.Battery lifeOne of the biggest challenges withmobile devices has always been batterylife. Two-slot TDMA providesan important step forward. Sinceeach call uses only one of the twotimeslots, it requires only half ofaudio qualityminimum acceptable audio qualitycoveragearea of improvedperformancestrong SIGNAL STRENGTH weakthe transmitter’s capacity. That is,the transmitter is idle half of thetime – whenever it is the unusedtimeslot’s turn. By cutting the effectivetransmit time in half, two-slotTDMA can extend talk-time by upto 40 per cent in comparison withanalogue radios.Analogue-compatibleDMR can operate in either analogueor digital mode. It smoothsthe path to a fully digital systemby allowing migration to take placeone radio at a time, one channel ata time or the entire system at once.Enhanced privacyOn an analogue channel, the audiosignal can still be monitored even ifit is not easy to identify. DMR offersinherent protection against eventhis level of interception. On a digitalchannel, the audio signal cannotbe heard if the signalling or ID doesnot match.A clear choiceDMR is the best established digitaltechnology today and is the clearchoice for organizations looking todeploy new digital two-way radiosystems, or to upgrade their existinganalogue radios to digital.Sponsored by13

Control roomSmartDispatchHytera introduces its professional dispatcher solution, a tool to help improvethe efficiency of radio systems for organizations such as government bodiesThe increasing frequency of natural disastersand public emergencies posesa great challenge to government organizationssuch as police, law-enforcementagencies and firefighters. To achieve the bestresponse when emergency strikes, a secure,reliable and efficient dispatching system is essential.As a leading supplier of professional wirelesscommunications equipment and solutions,Hytera is ready to help users conquer thesechallenges with its SmartDispatch digital dispatchingsolution.Based on a Hytera digital platform compliantwith the ETSI DMR open standard, SmartDispatchis designed for efficient communication,management and dispatching. Characterizedby a client-server architecture, modular designand support for VoIP, it is an enhanced deploymentsystem combining a control centre and atailored communications network.Key features• Radio status reporting: radios can be configuredso that they will send their online/offline status to the control station at eachpower-on or power-off event. In this way,the application can monitor the status of allthe radios in the system. The status of anyradio can be checked by means of a querycommand.• Remote monitoring: by remotely un-mutingthe microphone of a subscriber radio, thecontrol room operator can listen in withoutwaiting for the radio user to press the PTTbutton. This feature is could be useful whenthe control centre wants to monitor remotevoice activities, such as in handling an emergency.• Voice call types: SmartDispatch supports alltypes of calls required in dispatcher operations,including private calls, group calls andall call. Each client console can manage upto eight voice dispatching channels. It canreceive or initiate any type of call through aWashingtonDispatchstationGPSpositioningvoice calltext messageGatewayGPSdispatch stationGPSpositioningTopology of a SmartDispatch networkMiamiuser-friendly, easy-to-operate user interface.• Mapping support: SmartDispatch supportsmultiple mapping engines, offering a rangeof choices for users according to their particularrequirement. The mapping engines supportboth online mapping, such as GoogleMaps and OpenStreetMap, and offline mapping,such as MapInfo.• GPS positioning: for subscriber radiosequipped with a GPS module, SmartDispatchcan retrieve location information ondemand, or can set up the radio to update itslocation information periodically with configurabletime interval.Remote control centrevoice callDispatchstationServerNew Yorktext messageRemote control centreGPSdispatch stationLocal control centreGatewayMiami14Sponsored by

Control room• Real-time tracking: SmartDispatch can trackthe location of any GPS-enabled radio unitsin real time. Locations and routes can beoverlaid on the mapping. Tracking intervalsdepend on the location update interval configuredin each radio and the channel loadingof DMR the system. Total number of locationtracking activities can be activated at onetime will depend on the mapping system andsystem resources available.• Radio kill: SmartDispatch can kill a radio remotelyif it has been stolen or is being usedwithout authority. The killed radio can stillbe switched on but cannot be used to transmitor receive. SmartDispatch can reactivatea killed radio when necessary.• Dispatcher intercom: operators can communicateone to another directly throughthe system. From the SmartDispatch clientinterface they can choose either one-to-oneintercom or broadcast intercom.• Route playback: location data for each radiois preserved in the SmartDispatch databasefor later retrieval. Operators can query pastlocation information for a radio and can playback the route travelled by a radio withinspecified time limits.• Email gateway: through integration withSMTP and POP3 mail servers, SmartDispatchenables the operator to send emailfrom any email client to subscriber radios.Subscriber radios can send text messages toany email address.• Regions and geofencing: regions on the mapmay be defined as a working region or a restrictedregion for a defined set of subscriberradios. A geofencing feature can be enabledaround each region. If the geofencing rule isinfringed by a subscriber radio within the definedset, a geofencing alarm will be activatedat the control centre. Optionally, a messagecan be displayed on the subscriber unit.• Text messaging: SmartDispatch can send andreceive DMR standard text messages. A textmessage can be sent to a single radio unit orto a group of radios identified by group ID.Sending and receiving messages is made easyby a user-friendly, chat-based graphical userinterface. All incoming and outgoing textmessages are stored in the database for laterretrieval.• Offline messaging: SmartDispatch also supportsoffline messaging. If messages have notbeen delivered because the recipient’s radiowas out of range or switched off, the serverwill queue the undelivered messages and resendthem when the radio becomes reachableagain. In this way, no messages are lost.• Emergency alarm: if a radio user activates anemergency condition, SmartDispatch willTracking a radio: the mapping function supports a choice of map sourcesSmartDispatch’s user-friendly communications interfacetrigger an alarm. Location information ofthe radio unit can be displayed on the map,depending on the validity of the location information.• Voice recording: all incoming and outgoingvoice calls are captured by the SmartDispatchserver. They include all types of DMR voicecalls and PSTN interconnected voice calls.Operators can play back the recordings atany time to ensure that important details arenot missed. Recorded voices can be readilysearched by time, caller ID or receiving partyID.• Reporting and statistics: SmartDispatch cangenerate various types of reports to meetcommon needs, including call reports, radiostatus reports and location tracking reports.• Phone interconnect: using the standard SIPprotocol, SmartDispatch can interconnectradios and the public telephone network viaan IP-PABX. Radios can call telephones andvice versa, and the dispatcher can make orreceive calls through the dispatcher clientconsole.• AudioLink: this allows users to patch talkgroups, channels, sites and the system togetherto establish seamless communicationbetween all users, irrespective of frequencyand of whether the radios are operating inanalogue or digital mode. Configurationscan be easily configured through the Smart-Dispatch console.Sponsored by15

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