Icom Portables Support Republican National. Convention Security. Winter 2008

Transcription

1 Winter 2008 Icom Portables Support Republican National Convention Security GSA news, your connection to Icom America s Government Sales Division! Keep up with the latest products, news and technical information in this quarterly newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE: Icom Portables Support Republican National Convention Security IDAS Radios Provide Short Line Railroads With a Bridge to Future Communications Apco International Provides an Excellent Forum to Showcase Icom s Family of P25 Products. Palos Hills PD Investigates Portables, Chooses the Icom F4161 Icom Land Mobile and Marine Product Repair Rent Icom - If You Like It, It s Yours Icom GSA Price List available on CD Request Your Copy TODAY gsa@icomamerica.com GSA Contract: GS-35F-0109L expires 12/13/ Icom America Inc. The Icom logo is a registered trademark of Icom Inc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. All information and specifications subject to change without notice or obligation Security took top priority at August s Republican National Convention as thousands of delegates, supporters, protesters, and politicians descended upon the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., for the weeklong event. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies combined forces to maintain order on the streets. Nearly 3,500 police officers most from St. Paul and other agencies in Minnesota worked the event. Inside the Xcel Energy Center, private security forces closely guarded the event to ensure the safety of delegates and supporters. With so much at stake, event organizers contacted Professional Wireless, a local two-way radio dealer, to provide reliable communications solution for its private security force. The radios had to be durable and easy to use, and be authorized by Secret Service in advance. Through its sister company Event Radio Rentals, Professional Wireless outfitted convention security personnel Pictures courtesy of with 300 top-of-the-line Icom IC-F70 portable radios. The majority of the radios came from Professional Wireless fleet of rentals, but the dealer supplemented its supply with an additional 100 portables from Icom America s dealer rental program. The Icom America rental program allows dealers to provide high-end radios to customers at a reasonable cost, while keeping inventory at a minimum. Pat Green, president of Professional Wireless, says the rental program allows him to provide customers with a quality, well-built radio an essential component to a successful rental program. Green says that the radio rental portion of his business is booming. We find that we get repeat business, since so many are yearly events, Green says. Better yet, rentals are a great way to build long-term relationships with customers, and frequently produce sales. A good rental experience is great advertising, he says. Professional Wireless maintains a large inventory of portables, bases, repeaters, multiple audio accessories and different charger options. Continued on page 2

2 Continued from page 1 Icom Portables Support RNC The company provides training, set-up, and 24/7 support for all rental customers. For the National Republican Convention, the company also reprogrammed the radios to the local public safety frequencies and the specs from the Secret Service. While the Republican National Convention remains one of the most high-profile events to date for Professional Wireless, the dealer is no stranger to big productions. It also provides radio rentals to the Minnesota Vikings NFL team and Minnesota Golden Gophers NCAA football games at the Metro Dome. This summer it also rented Icom portables and a repeater Pictures courtesy of to the LPGA U.S. Women s Open held in June at the Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn. IDAS Radios Provide Short Line Railroads With a Bridge to Future Communications For many industries, the path to future technology can be filled with uncertainty. For short line railroads, however, decisions on which radios to choose in the future just got a lot easier to make. The Association of American Railroads Wireless Communications Committee (WCC), which represents the Class One Railroads such as Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern and CXS Transportation, has recommended that any railroad purchasing VHF trimode radios for use in the 160 MHz band specify NXDN common air interface compliance for 6.25 hhz very narrowband operation. This announcement is very important for the short lines because there are competing 6.25 khz equivalent technologies out there, said Mike Utecht, Icom s Railroad Key Account Manager. The WCC has recommended NXDN as the choice for the Class One Railroads and they are recommending that the short lines do the same. The importance of having a standard to the railroad industry cannot be understated. With multiple railroads sharing the same track, communication between short lines and Class One Railroads becomes a safety of life and property issue. The NXDN standard was jointly developed by Icom and Kenwood Corp. NXDN is not a proprietary technology, so railroads are not locked into a single vendor. In July, six other manufacturers joined them to support the standard, including Daniels Electronics Ltd., Ritron Inc. and Trident Micro Systems. The result is the NXDN Forum. Nationwide, short line railroads account for more than 800 companies with $3 billion in revenues. These independent companies, named for their smaller Continued on page 3 Winter

3 Continued from page 2 IDAS Radios Provide Short Line Railroads With a Bridge The Icom FR5000 series repeaters can receive both analog and digital signals on a single channel. size, often carry interchange traffic for the Class One Railroads. Sometimes, they link together two industries, carrying commodities back and forth. Other times, they carry tourist passengers. While they may be small, short lines are vital to the U.S. economy. Railroads Cope with Transition to Narrowband Technology In the land mobile industry, all roads lead to narrowband wireless technology. It is no different in the railroad business. The challenge for railroads is maintaining interoperability during the transition, considering it has roughly 5,000 locomotives, 100,000 portables, 50,000 mobiles and dispatch base stations located every 20 to 30 miles along thousands of miles of the track. The railroad industry has set a goal for all Class One Locomotives to be equipped with 12.5 khz capability by Class Ones will purchase that radio equipment with an eye to the future when the FCC will require them to use 6.25 khz channels. Class Ones want to make the best of their investment. Even though they will go 12.5 khz first, they want to purchase tri-mode radios, so they can eventually make that switch to digital 6.25 khz channels without purchasing another radio, said Utecht. Even as you deploy digital equipment, you still need a communications link back to the analog world. Most short line railroads are only in the early stages of looking into purchasing 12.5 khz, but they too will be required to reach 6.25 khz. Icom s IDAS Radio Smoothes Narrowband Transition Icom unveiled the Icom Digital Advanced System (IDAS) (pronounced eye-dus) last February to serve as a bridge between legacy analog system and digital narrowband systems, using the industry standard NXDN common air interface. IDAS radios operate in multiple modes allowing the short line railroads to transition from legacy 25 khz analog to 12.5 khz analog and then to 6.25 khz digital, while maintaining interoperability with the Class One lines. The key to backward compatibility is digital/analog mixed-mode operation. For example, the Icom IC-FR5000 series repeaters can receive both analog and digital signals on a single channel. Railroad users can partially introduce the IDAS system while using the existing analog radios in a system, thus allowing them to scale migration to narrow band digital at their own pace and need. As well as allowing for multimode operation, digital technology will improve the radio s performance. Microprocessors provide forward error correction, and the AMBE+2 codec provides clear audio by filtering out noise from the wind and locomotive engines. In the digital 6.25 khz mode, the radios work very well in the rail yard, which is a difficult communications environment because of all the steel and multipath conditions, Utecht said. Additionally, digital 6.25 khz channel technology will allow the rail industry, which has just shy of 100 nationwide 25khz frequencies, to at least triple their channel capacity while at the same time losing old restrictions like geographic isolation. Now that the Class Ones have committed to the NXDN standard, short line railroads can get off the fence and begin to deploy the narrowband equipment of the future. ICOM dealers have an opportunity to follow up with the short lines. It should be clear that this is the best path for them to 6.25 khz, Utecht said. A lot of the short lines need system design, service, installation every thing that a local dealer can and should provide. Winter

4 APCO International Provides an Excellent Forum to Showcase Icom s Family of P25 Products Icom s new P25 Trunking Portable (F9011T) and the 110W Trunking P25 mobile (F9511H) The APCO International show is a great place to get one on one time with the experts at Icom, and this year was no different! With both product and engineering folks at the booth, we had all of your questions covered. So what was our best product at APCO International this year? Anything and everything P25, of course! Set up in our brand-new smart looking booth were the following recent additions to the Icom family of products: New P25 Trunking Portable and Mobile - F9011 series and F9511 series, and new F9511H prototype P25 Trunking repeater in collaboration with Etherstack and JPS Intrinsically Safe Portable - F70 series, F50 series, M88 Submersible Portable - F50 series and F70 series radios in water tank (with real goldfish!) FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) encryption radios - F1721D/F1821D, F70D/F80D Enhanced MDC F70/F80 series & F1721/F1821 series IAS Systems - (100W, DRB-25 repeaters) Aviation radios and receivers (A14, A210, R9500, R20) We displayed Icom s new P25 Trunking portables (F9011 series) and mobiles (F9511 series) at the show. Also, a new 110W Trunking P25 mobile (F9511H) was displayed (although this product has not been formally announced yet, and estimated availability is January 2009). Icom America offers 4 series of P25 products and, because of APCO, we have received high interests in those P25 products! Another key highlight was a collaboration between Icom, Etherstack, Inc, and Raytheon JPS on a P25 Trunking repeater. We had a live demo throughout the show and it worked out flawlessly we were able to communicate between the booths of each vendor using Icom radios and the repeaters. Interoperability is the name of the game these days, and our ISSI interface that connects one P25 to another was also a big hit. APCO International provides an excellent forum to showcase Icom s expanded family of P25 products says Jim Smith, Government Sales Manager at Icom America. Our expanded basket of P25 products and dynamic staff made for another excellent APCO International show - we look forward to seeing YOU next year! For more information on P25, please visit our website: Winter

5 Palos Hills PD Investigates Portables, Chooses the Icom F4161 A message from Police Chief Paul J. Madigan on the Palos Hills (Ill.) Police Department website warns residents of the risk of urban crime seeping into the southwest Chicago-area suburb. We need to take action to find the best ways to address these concerns before serious problems begin, Madigan writes. One way Madigan provides officers with the tools they need to do their jobs effectively and prevent an influx of urban crime is by investing in the latest communications technology from Icom America. [Chief Madigan] contacted me, says Jim Orsen of A-Beep, a Chicagoarea two-way radio dealer and SMR operator. He knew what he wanted. What Madigan wanted was 27 Icom F4161 portables, which features built-in MDC signaling and optional 6.25 khz digital technology. Slated for general, day-to-day operation, the radios also offer durable, water-resistant construction and 512 memory channels. The new F4161 portables replace the department s aging Motorola HT1000 portables and go into service this month. Orsen credits local manufacturer representative George Farmer for assisting in the sale. As a rep with RF Marketing, Farmer brings additional knowledge and expertise, key ingredients for providing customers with a positive sales experience. The F4161 portable is built on Icom s IDAS system. IDAS radios offer a flexible migration path from analog to digital and allow mixed-mode analog and digital operation on the same channel. Utilizing 6.25 khz narrow-channel spacing, IDAS radios can also double channel capacity. Like the majority of twoway networks in Illinois, the Palos Hills Police Department still operates in analog mode. But the option of migrating to digital at a later date significantly influenced the department s decision to purchase the F4161 portable. This is a common trend across the public safety vertical, Farmer says. It depends on the market, but more and more public safety agencies are moving toward digital, he says. Icom s F4061 Winter

6 Icom Land Mobile and Marine Product Repair Icom America s Service Department is continually looking for ways to improve repairs and turn times to get our customers their equipment as quickly as possible. One way we accomplish this is making Icom Service Centers (ISC) available to our customers. Today I d like to highlight our Icom East ISC located in Syracuse, New York. This company, also known as United Radio, has been in the repair business for over 85 years and is a full servicing repair center for Icom s land mobile and marine VHF (non-single sideband) products. They cover the entire east coast region and beyond, providing exceptional in/ out of warranty service of those products while utilizing in stock OEM parts. The typical turnaround time is 1 week door to door, or 3 business days in house, for most products. In addition, as an authorized Icom dealer you are able to track the status of your repairs in real time via their secure web portal. To request service on your Icom product please contact United Radio: Eastern Service Center hours of operation are 8:00 5:00, Monday Friday. The mailing address is: Icom Service Center New York 5703 Enterprise Parkway East Syracuse, NY I highly encourage any customer or dealer on the east coast to give them your servicing business. Dwayne Black Icom America National Service Manager Winter

7 Rent Icom If You Like It, It s Yours! What are the Benefits of Icom s Rental Program? The major benefit of our rental program is for customers who have never used an Icom radio before. With this program, they can finally try one out for an event without having to purchase it. enthuses our Land Mobile Product and Marketing Coordinator, Etsi Tamura. A Snapshot of the Rental Program Our dealer rental program allows you to rent Icom radios to your customers for special events, conventions and other short term needs. This is a great opportunity to try out Icom s radios! We offer top-of-the-line F70/80 and F1721/F2721 series radios, our rugged and full featured radios. The portables are fully submersible, and our rental fleet now includes Intrinsically Safe versions. Purchase Option 50% of your rental payments will apply to the purchase of the units. Propose this option to your rental customers as a try & buy program. If your customer exercises the purchase option, we will ship NEW radios upon return of the rental radios. If they decide they want to purchase a P25- compliant digital radio instead of the rental radios, we will gladly accommodate such requests. Grant Money Available Grant money available to state and Local Governments steadily increases each year. It is highly recommended that the emergency response community migrate to P25-compliant equipment for nationwide interoperability. This is where our rental radios play a role the analog radios are upgradable to P25 digital via hardware and firmware upgrade. Have your customer try our analog radios today - if they like it, they can opt to buy the rental units, or they can apply for grant money to purchase our P25-compliant radios.. To try out the rental program, contact Customer Service and ask for the rental program administrator. rentals@icomamerica.com Phone: Fax: Winter