The Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency (MECA), which serves more than 100 public safety and public service agencies in Indianapolis/Marion County, has recently signed on to be among the first public agencies in the nation to utilize Locus Location Systems’ DiagnostX technology to detect problem radios over-the-air, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With more than 13,000 mobile and portable trunked radios in its system, David Schwartz, Deputy Director of Technology for the MECA, expects DiagnostX’s one-of-a-kind technology to cut costs, improve service and ensure that radios are functioning properly at all times.

DiagnostX verifies and analyzes the health and performance of a radio on its respective network by capturing the radio’s waveform off the airwaves. In a nutshell, DiagnostX performs like an “over-the-air” bench technician that is constantly monitoring radios for operational readiness and diagnosing problems before they become evident.

Prior to the introduction of DiagnostX, the only way government agencies and first-responder organizations were able to analyze or verify the accuracy of the mobile or portable trunked radios in their system was to take each radio out of the field and bring it in annually for service. This was both time-consuming and costly since research indicates that more than three-quarters of radios brought in for maintenance do not require service.

With DiagnostX, radios can now stay out in the field where they are needed most and “sick” radios can be detected over-the-air and serviced before they fail.

“We saw the potential of the DiagnostX tool and the opportunity to be pro-active in identifying radios that need to come in for re-alignment,” Schwartz says.

In the past, he explains, radios had to come into the Customer Service Desk with a reported problem before they could be re-aligned. Now Schwartz adds, “We hope to be able to provide greater customer service to all our users and assist in identifying issues early in the field.”

Confidence that radio communications are working properly is crucial for law enforcement personnel, public safety agencies, and first responders as they go about their daily business. It’s even more critical during emergencies, it’s vital, according to DiagnostX user, John Daly, Telecommunications Manager, Collier County, Florida. “The fact that we can now identify problem radios before they fail could also save lives. It’s a powerful tool,” he says.

DiagnostX is now being deployed in Colorado, New York, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, and Indiana.

Locus Location Systems of Melbourne, Florida is an industry leader applying TDOA technology in innovative ways to protect law enforcement officers, public safety and public service personnel. Locus’ products include SafePoint Radio Location, a non-GPS radio location system; TrackerX, geo-mapping application for GPS and non-GPS systems; TrackerXTractor, an advanced retrieval system for geo-mapping applications for GPS and non-GPS systems and DiagnostX.