Dynamic Communications
for PUBLIC SAFETY
Increase responsiveness everywhere
to enhance safety for everyone
Dynamic
Communications
for Public Safety
For public safety agencies, saving time means
saving lives. Charged with protecting citizens
daily and responding quickly and effectively
to emergencies, public safety personnel cannot
allow any operational obstacles to interfere
with their mission. With increased man-made
and natural threats, constrained budgets and
growing citizen expectations, ensuring community and first responder safety is becoming
increasingly challenging.
With dynamic communications based on nextgeneration technologies, public safety agencies
can increase responsiveness everywhere and
enhance safety for everyone.
dynamic communications for public safety
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Police car computer
Sheriff’s badge
The pressure on public safety personnel is intensified because they are managing
S
Ambulance
ever more complex situations: emergency response to accidents
and man-made or
natural disasters; border and coastal control; protection of key buildings and mass
transit systems; and security at large public events. Many of their missions require
efficient and effective collaboration across multiple agencies, with everywhere access
and sharing of real-time information between the field and the command and control
center. All of this requires better situational awareness.
Police car computer
Police car
Sheriff’s badge
In this context, communications capabilities play a vital role. The growing use and
sharing of real-time visual information, along with data and mission-critical voice,
enhance decision-making by personnel in all phases — from emergency call-taking
in next-generation 911/112 centers, to call dispatching and control by command
Ambulance
centers, to the first responders in the field. The combination of advanced multimedia
communications and mobile broadband enable true multi-agency interoperability and
collaboration, making first responders safer and more effective wherever they are.
To successfully achieve the transformation to a broadband, interoperable and multiservice communications network, public safety agencies need a partner with a deep
Ambulance
understanding of their constraints
and objectives and with multisystem/multivendor
telecommunications integration experience and skills.
Police car
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Fire truck
thE cruciaL roLE
of communications
in PuBLic safEty
agencies are staffed with well trained, responsive personnel, but if they cannot
securely share information in a timely way, their safety and decision-making abilities
are significantly diminished. being constantly connected and able to immediately
evaluate the situation are the keys to success in their mission.
Public safety personnel need to collaborate when required and to evaluate conditions
and locations through analysis of real-time information from multiple sources,
including emergency calls, voice calls, images, video streams from a closed circuit
television (cctv) system, biometrics and weather sensors. therefore, information and
communication technologies (Ict) become the most powerful weapons in their security
and prevention strategy.
the alcatel-lucent Dynamic communications Infrastructure supports next-generation
communications, ushering in new levels of efficiency, reliability and security. further,
as a standards-based solution, it enables public safety agencies to collaborate on an
as-needed basis — instantly delivering data from a next-generation 911/112 application
across an entire city, for example, or allowing applications that have been developed
by regional or national agencies to be accessed in real time by authorized personnel.
the Dynamic communications Infrastructure integrates real-time voice, data and video
communications in any combination relevant to the operation (routine, training, a
planned event, an accident or a response to a major crisis) and the device, enabling:
• enhance situational awareness
• a connected community
• optimized operations
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Enhanced situational
awareness: sharing multimedia
information everywhere
Today’s public safety environment needs seamless and high-data-rate connectivity
among all agencies and emergency services to enhance situational awareness for first
responders.
In many ways, commercial mobile applications and technologies have outstripped
the capabilities of a bandwidth-constrained public safety network. This has led many
first responders to literally take matters into their own hands, pressing consumer
smartphones into service and relying on commercial networks to exchange data,
images and video.
However, this solution presents several problems, not the least of which is that
commercial services do not have the required level of resiliency in case of a major
crisis. In the event of a major natural disaster or a terrorist attack, the commercial
network may be supersaturated with traffic or simply brought down altogether due to
a lack of power to the cell sites.
The best alternative — one that agencies have traditionally pursued — is to deploy a
dedicated public safety network that is both secure and highly resilient. The next step
is to implement true mobile broadband connectivity using a similar approach.
“In the past, interoperability primarily meant
voice communications.
But today, everybody
knows a picture is worth
a thousand words.
Interoperability now
means data, live video,
PowerPoint or similar
graphic displays
accessible via mobile
devices as well as
fixed lines.”
Doug Onhaizer, Communications
Technology Administrator for
the City of Virginia Beach
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With a dedicated,
end-to-end, Long
Term Evolution (LTE)
network,* public
safety personnel
can securely
communicate,
collaborate and
interoperate,
regardless of
location or device.
This strategy provides better outcomes and faster, more precise critical decisionmaking. It also improves safety by a more systematic use and exchange of data,
images and video between first responders in the field and the command centers.
Alcatel-Lucent Public Safety
LTE solutions
Alcatel-Lucent Public Safety LTE solutions using lightRadio™ technology operate:
• In a dedicated 700 MHz band, for example in the United States, for the FirstNet
nationwide Public Safety LTE network that will overlay existing P25 networks
• In the 380-470 MHz band, in particular for the integration of broadband services into
existing TETRA/TETRAPOL networks; this solution is being developed in partnership
with Cassidian
This approach provides new multimedia applications to first responders through realtime connectivity and integration with command and control centers while also allowing
first responders to leverage mission-critical voice provided by existing systems.
Various deployment models are available: a conventional model where the agency
fully owns the network or a hosted core model where the agency owns the radio
access and backhaul networks. In the United States, Alcatel-Lucent provides hosted
core network services with the Alcatel-Lucent LTE Cloud for Public Safety solution. This
solution enables one or multiple agencies to optimize operational cost and improve
interoperability between agencies.
As part of an end-to-end solution, the Alcatel-Lucent lightRadio portfolio revolutionizes
the architecture of a wireless network all the way from the radio to the packet
core. lightRadio is purpose built for 4G LTE and includes capabilities such as pooled
baseband, cloud-based controllers and its award-winning 6 cm x 6 cm x 6 cm form
factor cube that combines the functionality of both an antenna and a base station
device. This allows lightRadio to deliver more capacity at a lower cost and in a form
factor that can be mounted on lampposts and sides of buildings, making it nearly
invisible in the urban environment. The lighRadio portfolio greatly reduces the expense
and minimizes the visual impact, thereby also minimizing citizen objections.
This secure mobile broadband platform better leverages CCTV video protection
applications. Incorporated with data analytics software, these solutions detect
significant events — such as a fight or a fire — focus the nearest camera on the problem,
and alert personnel in the command center to pay attention to the appropriate monitor.
The officer in the command center can then locate the nearest response team and
transfer video information to them in real time, before they reach the scene. This
enables the team to immediately evaluate the situation and respond rapidly and
appropriately. Also, with mobile broadband technologies, the traditionally fixed CCTV
network can be augmented with temporary fixed wireless cameras and sensors, and all
patrol cars can be equipped with mobile cameras that can stream images or video, in
real time, to a command center.
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* LTE: The 4G wireless technology that delivers broadband transmission
of several 10s of Mb/s and very low latency, around 10 ms.
In addition, the communications network must be able to manage and monitor an
increasing number of IP-based fixed and wireless cameras, high-definition (HD)
images and storage sites. The images must provide compulsory quality levels for
use as evidence in judicial proceedings.
With greater capacity and sustainable capability, the Dynamic Communications
Infrastructure offers the potential for 360-degree video protection, carrying live
HD video to public safety personnel in control centers as well as in the field.
Connected community:
enhanced collaboration
and interoperability
A key challenge for public safety agencies is to eliminate barriers that interfere with
collaboration or information sharing. The situation is a common one: separate agencyspecific networks include incompatible mobile radio systems that have limited or no
interoperability.
New communications technologies help public safety agencies enhance inter-agency
collaboration and augment situational awareness, increasing the speed and precision of
decision-making. The inherent efficiencies of enhanced communications also allow agencies
to compensate for personnel reductions and decrease the incidence of false alarms and
security breaches.
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“our goal was to create a
network capable of
converging traditional
mission-critical telecom
traffic with the county’s
data traffic not only to
meet our needs today,
but also to pave the way
for new IP applications
in the future. a reliable
public safety network
is a critical service for
any municipality, and
interoperability is
absolutely essential
to meeting that
requirement. the new
public safety network
will help improve
efficiencies and
collaborations among
the many agencies –
including first
responders and disaster
recovery organizations
– throughout the county.”
these capabilities are not optional where homeland security and global terrorism call for
collaboration on a national or even international scale. based on IP/mPls technologies,
a unified, secure, standards-based mission-critical Wide area network (Wan) empowers
public safety agencies to seamlessly exchange critical information with counterparts
throughout cities and countries.
switching from agency-specific networks to a converged multi-agency Wan for all
traffic creates a strong foundation for greater resiliency while enabling shared/lower
costs. With prioritization features for mission-critical communications, a converged
Wan accommodates voice, data, video and multimedia collaboration applications. a
converged Wan also supports augmented reality solutions, video protection with extended
deployment of cameras, and border and coastal surveillance. this terrestrial infrastructure
can be complemented with the standards-based, end-to-end lte solutions to extend the
interoperability further into the field between first responders from multiple agencies or
jurisdictions.
there are significant benefits to being ready for a future where relevant information from
Kristin mcmEnomEy, gEnEraL sErVicEs
agEncy DirEctor for mEnDocino county
a growing number of sources is instantly shared everywhere. for example, the nextgeneration 911/112 centers transform current voice-centric 911 and 112 systems into
multimedia contact centers that can collect information gathered from smartphones and
social media sites and push it to a dispatch center to be transmitted as compiled information
to the field.
With the Dynamic communications Infrastructure, agencies can leverage new multimedia
sources — as well as high-quality streaming video and sensor information — while
supporting legacy voice communications on P25 or tetra mobile radio systems. these new
technologies extend the range of an agency’s real-time eyes and ears on the street.
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Optimized operations:
gain an unobstructed view
Public safety organizations rely heavily on telecommunications networks to ensure missioncritical operations and reduce costs.
Moving to a single communications WAN that supports different types of traffic and offers
unified, end-to-end management dramatically simplifies operations and helps public safety
agencies improve efficiency. Alcatel-Lucent further simplifies network operations by
proposing a single network management tool for all the components of the Alcatel-Lucent
end-to-end LTE solutions and of the Mission-critical WAN.
Ultimately, a fully functional operations support system (OSS) — composed of an array
of management functions, including responsibility for fault, configuration, accounting,
performance, provisioning, billing and security management — gives public safety agencies
an unobstructed view of everything that is happening on their networks. It serves as a
single point of management for a public safety agency’s network, including applications
such as TETRA/P25 and LTE.
An OSS hides the complexity of multiple technologies, increasing efficiencies and enabling
network owners to realize higher value from network assets. An OSS must also be able to
filter out true alerts from the false positives sometimes generated by the network itself.
Further, it should allow the command and control center to isolate events and drill down
to retrieve information or see what is happening on the ground. These capabilities are key
to simplifying operations, ensuring reliability and maximizing performance. The end results
are significant long-term savings for the agencies or even the central government.
To optimize operations further, integration services transform fixed and mobile
communications infrastructure to support new integrated services, reduce operating
costs and increase operational security and reliability. Managed services and the use of
the Alcatel-Lucent LTE Cloud for Public Safety solution remove the burden of network
management from agencies, ensuring maximum network availability while allowing
agency personnel to focus on their agency-specific tactical operations.
Securing the end-to-end communications network from outside attacks and internal threats
is also essential. The network must enable segmentation into virtual private networks
to separate mission-critical traffic, such as P25/TETRA, from non-critical traffic, such as
video-based training. It must also separate police, fire and emergency medical services
(EMS) traffic. Non-critical services must be firewalled to ensure they do not provide a
back door into mission-critical operations systems. Cyber-security capabilities provide the
management tools to deliver high resiliency and rapid recovery from cyber attacks.
Picking a partner is a critical consideration for public safety agencies. They need a partner
who understands that communications capabilities can be a matter of life and death. They
need a partner who has unparalleled experience with complex networks and systems
integration. They need a partner who will be there for “the long haul.”
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“We are excited about
our partnership with
Alcatel-Lucent and
what this LTE technology
will mean to the citizens
of Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County.”
Charles Robinson, Key Business Executive
for the City of Charlotte’s Business
Support Services
“Decision-makers were satisfied that Alcatel-Lucent could deliver a system with the
redundancy they sought. “We said ‘break it,’ and they did. We said ‘break it again,’ and
they showed us what their next level response was. We said ‘break it a third time,’
and they had a third level of response. They had contingency upon contingency to
demonstrate that they could meet our needs for reliability.”
Nick Gragnani, Executive Director of the St. Louis Area Regional Response System
its communications, and includes:
Supporting public safety
agencies in every step of
their transformation
✚End-to-end LTE network tailored
Alcatel-Lucent is trusted with the design and integration of some of the most complex
Alcatel-Lucent experience complements
an agency’s capabilities as it transforms
for public safety operations
✚A converged, multiservice, missioncritical WAN composed of microwave,
optics and IP/MPLS products
✚OSS to simplify network operations,
ensure reliability and maximize
performance
✚Network consulting services to
help public safety agencies evaluate
their options, determine the best
to mitigate risk and reduce costs in multivendor, multi-technology environments — from the
earliest planning stages through end-to-end network integration and operations.
Innovation for public safety is led by Bell Labs, which designs products and services that
are at the forefront of communications technology. Guided by both experience and vision,
Bell Labs is the innovation engine shaping tomorrow’s broadband networks, powered with
service intelligence at every network layer.
Innovation is also being fostered with the ng Connect Program, a strong ecosystem of
pioneering, market-shaping companies that, together, can deliver the next generation of
communication services and applications on LTE-enabled devices and solutions.
course of action and select the right
As a global leader in communications and networking, Alcatel-Lucent is an active member
technologies from the right vendors
of key international standards bodies. As governments around the world look to reallocate
✚Design, project management and
deployment services to take public
safety agencies from consulting to
execution
✚Multi-technology and multivendor
integration services that help
ensure new IP/MPLS networks are
seamlessly integrated with existing
fiber and microwave networks and
with P25, TETRA and public safety
LTE mobile networks
✚Network operations services that
take the pressure off public safety
agencies so they can focus on their
core mandate
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networks in the world. Our global team of experts uses carrier-proven processes and tools
spectrum to help public safety agencies take advantage of broadband applications, this
participation — and the knowledge it creates — becomes critically important.
The ability to work closely with public safety agencies at every step of their evolution is
one of the main reasons organizations around the world choose Alcatel-Lucent as their
mission-critical communications partner.
Alcatel-Lucent
Communication
Solutions for
Public Safety
To meet the needs of first responders, Alcatel-Lucent
acts as the end-to-end system integrator to design,
integrate, deploy, operate and maintain robust,
resilient communication solutions. Alcatel-Lucent
understands public safety requirements and brings
to each project its accumulated expertise in the
customization of mission-critical communications systems.
A broad product portfolio provides mission-critical
network solutions that reliably and efficiently interconnect all types of fixed and mobile communication
networks and provide LTE for public safety mobile
broadband. Alcatel-Lucent solutions are effectively
running in multiple mission-critical public safety
networks around the world. And Bell Labs innovations
that include lightRadio are helping reshape the future
for public safety networks.
With operations in more than 130 countries and one
of the most experienced global services organizations
in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with
global reach.
www.alcatel-lucent.com/publicsafety
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