While it’s certainly true that P25 Open Standards make P25 system procurement more competitive, there is still some due diligence you need to apply, to make sure you get the full benefits.

Your “must-comply” criteria might be technical, commercial, legal or financial. For example, you might exclude vendors for:

  • an unacceptable level of technical non-compliance
  • proposed technology that is not P25-compliant
  • equipment that lacks CAP certification
  • proposed solution has not yet been commercially deployed
  • commercial terms and conditions are not compliant with your RFP
  • poor customer references. Continue Reading

If you have never been involved in renovating your own house, you almost certainly know someone who has. It is a major logistical exercise in planning, perseverance, and above all, patience! Mostly, you will end up with what you want, but how often do you think “I wish I had shifted that wall/put in more storage/added another bathroom”?

There are so many things to decide, and only one chance to get it all right. And for most people, you will be carrying on your domestic “business as usual” amongst the chaos of upgrading your home.

Upgrading your radio system is a bit like... Continue Reading

by Lorraine Bonisch, Editor, Connection Magazine

We have just released the latest edition of Connection – Issue 4.

In four issues of Connection, we’ve now brought you 60 articles from our technical experts, thought leaders and people in the field. For example, have a look at Dave Slaten’s feature on Vehicle Area Networks, Richard Winter’s practical advice on ways to increase your network resilience and how to manage the human aspects of a technology rollout. Readership continues to increase as we reach out to everyone involved in mission-critical comms. Continue Reading

By Evan Forester, Marketing Campaigns Coordinator, Tait Communications.

Last week we introduced the new P25 Best Practice guides and website. Today we’ll dive a bit deeper to take a look at the first guide: First Steps to your P25 System.

I recently drove to a friend’s house and attempted a short cut. Unfortunately, I started by making the wrong turn. I ended up in a place I was unfamiliar with, but kept guessing the general direction of my destination. After a while, I literally found myself on the complete opposite side of town.

So much for finding a short cut.

If your... Continue Reading

In this part of the P25 radio terminology, we cover multicast IP address, P25 gateways, QoS and other important P25 terms.

Previous parts of the P25 glossary: Part 1 (A to C) and Part 2 (D to K).
L
LAN
Local Area Network

LDU
Link Data Unit. Voice calls are sent over the CAI as a series of LDUs. Continue Reading

Previously, we covered the essential P25 terms from A to C. Continuing our series on must-know P25 radio terms, this week we bring you the second installment.
D
Data Gateway
The data gateway is a function carried out in a Tait P25 base station or P25 console gateway operating in a TaitNet P25 conventional network. It provides a gateway between P25 radios and a data server and requires the Conventional Packet Data Services feature license. Continue Reading

Click to visit the website and download the P25 guides

We are happy to announce the launch of our P25 Best Practice website complete with the first four P25 Best Practice guides:

  1. First steps to your P25 system
  2. Specifying your P25 system
  3. Procuring your P25 system
  4. Implementing your P25 system Continue Reading

Over the last few weeks, we have covered P25 radio communications in great detail, including An Introduction to P25, The P25 Standard and Compliance and Benefits of P25. As a recap and to tie everything in together, over the next few weeks we’ll present a glossary of all the P25 radio-related terms that you need to know.
A
AES
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is an encryption algorithm that uses keys of 256 bits.

Algorithm ID
The Algorithm ID is an identifier that specifies an encryption algorithm (for example, DES or AES). Continue Reading

Credit: CFA Strategic Communications

Following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfire disaster in Victoria, Australia, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) sought to upgrade its state-wide critical communications system, prompted by recommendations from the Royal Commission.

With lives, communities and property at risk, choosing a new system was by no means an easy task. CFA chose a Tait P25 mission-critical communications solution to protect the safety of their people.

In the video below, Doug Booth, retired Project Director of the CFA Radio... Continue Reading

GSM cellphone technology, APCO P25 in United States public safety, TETRA in Europe and DMR worldwide are examples of successful digital standards. Successful standards bring real advantages. When vendors work to agreed standards, those managing radio systems have a choice of supplier which can bring down prices, and improve quality. Customers are not at risk of being unable to source products for replacement or expansion through the demise of a sole supplier.

To properly qualify, a standard needs to be non-proprietary, so not under the control of one vendor. It... Continue Reading