BCSO Communications Division Butler Regional Interoperable Communications System 800MHz Advisory Board August 24, 2017
How We Got Here The BRICS 800 MHz System was constructed in 2008 The cost to build the system was around $34 million Funded by a temporary sales tax (21 months) Included initial supply of subscriber radios for public safety users Testing was completed in December 2008 Subscribers started using the system in early 2009
How We Got Here In 2014 BCSO/BRICS became partners with the statewide MARCS system Allows subscribers to have the benefit of statewide coverage on certain talkgroups Affords the county substantial savings on infrastructure maintenance through state contract pricing For our compatibility with MARCS to work, BRICS must upgrade when MARCS upgrades Our next upgrade will occur the first quarter of 2019
How We Got Here Responsibilities: County Commissioners Building system infrastructure Funding system infrastructure maintenance and upgrades Initial radio and accessory purchase for public safety users Replacement radios for County General Fund agencies Responsibilities: County Sheriff Daily operation of the system Monitor and direct system usage and performance Interface with contracted vendors for maintenance items Program and maintain subscriber radios under agreement
How We Got Here Responsibilities: Local Users Provide insurance on radios used on the system Purchase any additional radios beyond initial purchase Replace lost radios or radios damaged beyond repair Replace accessories and fund repairs not covered by the maintenance agreement Maintenance agreement: $25/yr for portables $50/yr for mobiles User fee for non-public safety users: $10/month per radio
How We Got Here Your annual maintenance fee covers: ^One reprogramming of one template per year per agency ^Preventative maintenance every other year ^Access to bulk purchase program for accessories ^Minor repairs to radio Flash upgrades Depot repairs except for damaged radios ^BRICS will continue to provide these services until BRICS declares end of BRICS support BRICS will determine end of BRICS support when: Parts and accessories are no longer available BRICS cannot economically support repairs Additional services at $80/hour
Infrastructure Improvements The county will continue to update and improve the system to benefit subscribers at no cost to public safety users Funded by a portion of the permanent sales tax Necessary Improvements: Infrastructure Needs to Be Upgraded for Two Main Reasons We need to fully convert remaining analog components to digital before our scheduled upgrade in 2019 Some large capital items are past their end of life date Microwave An analog component that is past end of life and must be replaced with digital by 2019 IP Simulcast An analog component that must be replaced with digital by 2019
Infrastructure Improvements Necessary Improvements: DC Power System Replacement Batteries are three years past service life and must be replaced UEM SNMP Management Current SCADA alarm system will not be supported after 2019 System Enhancements Microwave / Dispatch Network Integration Provides more access points to a public safety network and reduces maintenance costs Enhanced Data Increases the amount of data traffic passed both across and outside the radio system Alias Group Download Allows radios in the field to see the alias of the user talking rather than an ID number
Infrastructure Improvements System Enhancements UEM SNMP Management Provides technicians greater diagnostic data to address system issues Radio Authentication Provides better security for the radio system NICE Telephony Enhancements Integrates 9-1-1 recordings with radio for PSAP manager convenience CommandCentral Helps bridge the divide between multiple CAD systems in the county Total Cost of System Improvements: $6,834,215
How We Got Here - Subscribers Approximately 2300 subscribers were initially on the system 10% of these radios were repurposed from the Oxford and West Chester systems dating back to 2004 Since 2009, approximately 600 new subscribers have been added to the system Most additional radios are XTS/XTL that will need to be replaced Some additional radios are APX that will need flash upgrades
Where We are Now - Subscribers XTS5000 (current public safety portable radio) Introduced - 2004 End of manufacture - 2013 End of flash upgrades December 2016 End of support December 2018 No more depot repairs No more flash upgrades No more parts availability
Where We are Now - Subscribers County Law Enforcement Portables: 620 Mobiles: 9 Butler County Law Enforcement Butler County Adult Probation 31 Butler County Coroner 6 Butler County Commissioners 10 Butler County Juvenile Detention Center 26 1 Butler County Prosecutor's Office 4 Butler County Sheriff's Office 444 Butler County Sheriff's Office BRICS Butler County Sheriff's Office - BRICS - Cache 60 Butler County Sheriff's Office - BRICS - PSAP backup mobiles/portables 39 8 Portables Mobiles Control Station / Consolette
Where We are Now - Subscribers Other County Agencies Portables: 128 Mobiles: 4 Other County Agencies Butler County EMA/air-light/tech rescue 44 4 Butler County Water & Sewer 3 Butler County Metro Parks Rangers 7 Butler County Metro Parks Maintenance 4 Butler County Engineer's Office 27 Butler County Regional Transit Authority 31 Butler County Regional Transit Authority - Middletown 12 Portables Mobiles Control Station / Consolette
Where We are Now - Subscribers Local Law Enforcement Portables: 664 Mobiles: 2 Control Stations: 9 Law Enforcement Agencies Potables Mobiles Control Station / Consolette Cincinnati State 2 Fairfield City Municipal Court 5 Fairfield City Police Dept 75 Fairfield Twp Police Dept 29 Hamilton City Police Dept 141 2 1 Miami Univ Police 46 Middletown City Police Dept - LE 98 3 Monroe City Police Dept 40 New Miami Police Dept 7 Oxford City Police Dept 61 Oxford Twp Police Dept 20 Ross Twp Police Dept 11 Seven Mile Police Dept 10 Trenton City Police Dept 20 2 West Chester Twp Communications 3 3 West Chester Twp Police Dept 96
Where We are Now - Subscribers Fire/EMS Departments Portables: 779 Mobiles: 217 Control Stations: 24 Fire Departments Portables Mobiles Control Station / Consolette College Corner Fire Dept 19 5 Fairfield City Fire Dept - includes portables from FC cache 46 17 4 Fairfield Twp Fire Dept 42 14 2 Hamilton City Fire Dept 78 20 Hanover Twp Fire Dept 40 10 Liberty Twp Fire Dept 42 13 3 Madison Twp Fire Department 27 10 Middletown City Fire Dept - (1) APX4500 mobile flash 69 19 5 Milford Twp Fire Dept 39 10 Monroe City Fire Dept 33 12 2 Morgan Twp Fire Dept 29 10 New Miami Fire Dept 22 4 Oxford City Fire Dept 40 12 1 Reily Twp Fire Dept 34 12 Ross Twp Fire Dept 44 12 2 Seven Mile Fire Dept 22 6 St Clair Twp Fire Dept 25 8 St Clair Twp Life Squad 13 4 Trenton City Fire Dept 27 6 Wayne Twp Fire Dept 20 5 West Chester Twp Fire Dept 68 18 5
Where We are Now - Subscribers Hospitals Portables: 28 Mobiles: 0 Control Stations: 0 Hospitals Atrium Medical 3 Bethesda Butler County 3 Christ Hospital 3 Cincinnati Children's - Liberty Campus - 3 Fort Hamilton Hospital 3 McCullough Hyde Hospital 3 Mercy Hospital Fairfield 3 West Chester Medical - Hospital Security 3 West Chester Medical ER 3 Spirit Medical Transport Company 1 Portables Mobiles Control Station / Consolette
Where We are Now - Subscribers Non-Public Safety Users Portables: 448 Mobiles: 0 Control Stations: 2 Non-Public Safety Butler County Metro Parks Maintenance 4 Butler County Engineer's Office 27 Butler County Regional Transit Authority 31 Butler County Regional Transit Authority - Middletown 12 Fairfield City Public Utilities 30 Fairfield City Public Works 38 Fairfield Twp Service Dept 10 Hamilton City Utilities 40 Hamilton City PW 11 Hanover Twp Road Dept 4 Liberty Twp Public Works 15 Madison Twp Road Dept 5 Miami University Physical Facilities / Admin 48 2 Middletown Area Senior Center 8 Middletown City Public Works 21 Morgan Twp Road Dept 3 Oxford City Public Works 50 Oxford Twp Road Dept 3 Partners In Prime 32 Reily Twp Public Works 3 Wayne Twp Road Department 3 Portables Mobiles Control Station / Consolette West Chester Twp Road Dept 50
Where We are Now - Subscribers Radio repairs listed year to date Replacement parts have been increasingly difficult to obtain meaning even small repairs could be fatal to the radio after end of support We are currently selling over 400 batteries per year. These are getting harder to find. Purchases include a few APX radios Maint Repair Radio Repair Non-Maint Repair Purchase Total 2010 87 0 3 90 2011 109 2 4 115 2012 252 10 16 278 2013 140 106 42 288 2014 247 226 30 503 2015 197 182 104 483 2016 224 234 94 552 2017 (as of July) 79 153 30 262 1335 913 323 2571
Where We are Now - Subscribers Table lists radios that have been sent to the Motorola depot for repair These are radios that are beyond BRICS ability to repair This gives an indication of the radios that will likely need replacement after December 2018 In addition, 17 radios have been retired as lost or beyond repair Total Depot Repair - 2012 Total Depot Repair - 2013 Total Depot Repair - 2014 Total Depot Repair - 2015 Total Depot Repair - 2016 Total Depot Repair - 2017 Radio Repair - Motorola Depot YTD Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 4 13 2 1 2 1 4 1 9 3 3 1 2 1 30 3 2 1 7 8 4 9 11 6 3 3 2 59 3 9 2 9 3 9 7 9 9 5 2 4 71 5 2 4 3 2 20 9 5 11 20 10 1 92 3 5 2 1 6 2 2 21
Was This Unexpected? No - we ve known since late 2014 Advisory Board formed a committee to explore replacement radios in 2014 Advisory Board was informed of end of support date in January 2015 Sheriff s Office staff have been working with Commissioners
What Does the Future Look Like? APX 6000 / APX 6000XE APX VA (mobile replacement) Models Recommended by the Radio Subscriber Subcommittee
What Does the Future Look Like? Total cost to replace all system radios: $12,566,569 - based on most recent figure from Motorola This compares to a state-term price of $17,932,268 Per radio cost for recommended portable and accessories: Law: $3,973.50 Compares to $5,801.31 under state contract Fire: $4,033.00 Compares to $5,888.18 under state contract
What Does the Future Look Like? Advantages of moving to the APX line 3-watt speaker (XTS has 0.5-watt) Adaptive noise cancelling microphone Endoskeleton design (APX6000) Bluetooth-enabled accessories GPS Larger buttons and knobs Dual Display (APX6000) one on front, one on top Over-the-air programming Programming over wifi Two-tone paging
What Does the Future Look Like? APX VA vs XTL Radios (mobiles) Advantages of moving to the APX VA APX VA are easier to maintain than mobiles APX VA would have the same exact template as portables APX are more reliable that the current XTLs APX could change with the crew meaning the vehicle is properly identified during a changeover APX could provide GPS data for the vehicle after an infrastructure upgrade
What Does the Future Look Like If We Don t Change? Effects of having both APX and XTS radios Equipment for the two radios are not compatible XTS Batteries are becoming harder to order. We may have to look into an after-market battery which will not be FM rated Charger XTS and APX line uses different chargers Speaker Mics The fire RSM has been discontinued as well as the 18 PSM for LE. The RSM was replaced with a higher tier / more expensive model XTS users will not have access to enhanced features Different Radio Behavior Display screen information will not be the same Buttons will not operate the same
What Does the Future Look Like If We Don t Change? Effects of having both APX and XTS radios Radio Programming APX and XTS radios require different Motorola software to program APX and XTS radios require different hardware to program Different models require separate code plugs Programming time could possibly triple Radios with different feature sets requires a variance of the template. Each agency could end up with multiple codeplugs to be created/updated