Jed Barton wrote: > Hey guys, > Alright, got an interesting one ehre. > I've got a fire department who has an existing repeater on the air. They > want to have their dispatchers actually dispatching through the internet, > sending tones, ETC. > I know it can be done, the question is how? > This is a very unique thing, they have several dispatcher in other parts of > the state and they want them to have remote access to dispatch. > Right now they have a vhf repeater that simulcasts on to a small 800 analog > trunk system. > Any ideas? > > Thanks, > Jed >
Yeah-DON'T DO IT! Putting a public safety agency's radio system on the internet is a guarantee of trouble! Someone WILL hack into it, and at the very least, lock out your dispatchers, putting the system off the air. It needs to be a dedicated network (sometimes called an intra-net) completely isolated from the rest of the world. There are several companies that make IP based dispatch consoles. Also there is inherent lag times on the internet, such that a transmission may not make it out for several seconds. Jason made many good points, but to take one thing a step further, DON'T use an outsourced provider for the network. The city, county, or state needs to build and own the network. Otherwise they are leaving themselves open to failures that they cannot control. Privately owned microwave is by far the most reliable. An internal fiber network is OK, but only as a backup to the microwave. Fiber and phone lines are easily subject to what is called 'backhoe fade'. (self-explanatory)
