MELBOURNE, Fla. – Each and every day, first responders put their lives on the line to protect the public, no matter if it is a routine traffic stop or an emergency situation. It is vital their radio equipment is working properly providing clear, and reliable communication when they need it.
Approximately 15 to 20 percent of radios can drift out of alignment each year, causing them to fail at any time. Many public safety agencies have anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 radios or more, on their LMR networks. Technicians don’t know which radios are fine and which need to be aligned – without bringing them all in for testing, which can cost an agency hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
LocusUSA’s patented DiagnostX technology can eliminate those added expenses. DiagnostX is a long-range over-the-air radio waveform analyzer. It measures the alignment and field performance of portable and mobile radios as they’re deployed in the field through a 24/7, real-time network. The unit indicates when a radio needs to be brought in for service. This unique technology is non-intrusive to a radio system and can be networked to provide system-wide coverage.
Several large metropolitan areas in the United States are already using DiagnostX. They range from Seattle to Washington, D.C., and from San Diego to Orlando with statewide systems in development as well.
Chris Pandolfi, the communications specialist for the city of Tallahassee, Florida, agreed. “The unit saved us 250 man-hours in the very first week,” Pandolfi said.
Cost-cutting isn’t the only benefit derived from DiagnostX. The ability to determine whether communication problems are specifically due to a faulty radio or a problem on the network means fewer issues between users and dispatch. This is a huge advantage for agencies that are located in rural or mountainous areas, where coverage can be spotty.
The system has made quite an impression on the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado since it was installed to monitor the Pikes Peak Regional Communications Network. “Servicing all the radios in the system is immensely time-consuming. I estimate that it would take two people three months of every year to go out into the field and check every radio. It also inconveniences the radio user,” said Randy Bell, former communications manager for the city’s Department of Information Technology Communications, which oversees the maintenance of the 5,500-plus radios in the network. “DiagnostX is another tool that helped us do more with less.”
DiagnostX has proven to be a powerful tool, ensuring that police, fire and EMS workers can feel confident their radios will work whenever and wherever they are needed.
For more information about DiagnostX by LocusUSA, visit www.locususa.com or [email protected].
About LocusUSA
LocusUSA is an engineering and software development company in West Melbourne on the Space Coast of Florida since 2001. It is a leader in the area of RF capture for location and analysis. The ability to capture and analyze the characteristics of the radio waveform led to the development of DiagnostX, a patented system that can ascertain the alignment and other key metrics of a radio, long-range over-the-air in real-time without user intervention.
LocusUSA supports government customers across the United States and Canada on the local, state and federal levels with this first-of-its-kind, proactive tool, ensuring the optimal performance of a radio system.
To learn more, visit www.locususa.com, or connect with LocusUSA on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
