MIAMI and BOSTON, March 22
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Miami-Dade
County, Florida, has selected Harris Corporation (NYSE:
HRS), an international communications and information technology
company, to upgrade the county's public safety and public service
communications system as part of an overall communications project
for the county.
The project will provide the county with a new Harris P25^IP
(Project 25 to the power of Internet Protocol) 800 MHz radio
communications system, and also includes radio terminals for the
county to comply with the FCC's (Federal Communications Commission)
rebanding mandate (FCC 04-168). The new standards-based
system will bring the county greater functionality on a flexible
system platform.
"When this project is complete, the county will have a modern,
standards-based digital radio communications system that will last
us well into the future and provide considerable cost-savings,"
said Felix Perez, Division Director,
Radio, Enterprise Technology Services Department, Miami-Dade County. "Our current
EDACS® system has served us well for more than 18 years,
but the FCC mandate and the trend towards P25 standard equipment
led us to upgrade and modernize our radio communications
infrastructure. Harris is the ideal partner for this project
because its solution ensures a seamless transition with minimal
downtime. Miami-Dade will have a reliable, modern P25 800 MHz
radio system that will improve interoperability among our first
responders and other radio system users."
The new Harris P25^IP system will serve more than 80 agencies
and 31,000 users throughout the county, including the Miami-Dade Police Department, Miami-Dade Water
and Sewer Department, and Miami
International Airport. The new system will continue to
interoperate with Miami-Dade Fire
Rescue's conventional UHF system. The P25^IP system will
operate in parallel with the county's existing EDACS system,
providing a smooth transition for the county's users during the
upgrade to the digital system. The Harris customized
migration plan allows for the reuse of existing shelters, towers
and generators.
"We are proud that Harris has been a strong partner with
Miami-Dade County," said
Dana Mehnert, group president,
Harris RF Communications. "Our technology and support has
kept their radio system operational with extremely high system
reliability. Through this system migration, we will be able
to leverage the county's existing radio assets, providing both
advanced capabilities and real cost-savings to Miami-Dade."
Harris Public Safety and Professional Communications is a
leading supplier of assured communications® systems and
equipment for public safety, federal, utility, commercial and
transportation markets — with products ranging from the most
advanced IP voice and data networks, to industry leading multiband,
multimode radios, to public safety-grade broadband video and data
solutions. With more than 80 years of experience, Harris
Public Safety and Professional Communications supports over 500
systems around the world.
About Harris Corporation
Harris is an international communications and information
technology company serving government and commercial markets in
more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has
approximately $5 billion of annual
revenue and more than 15,000 employees — including nearly 7,000
engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing
best-in-class assured communications® products,
systems, and services. Additional information about Harris
Corporation is available at www.harris.com.
Background
The Harris P25^IP System Meeting the Needs of Miami-Dade County
With a population of more than 2.4 million, Miami-Dade County is comprised of 35
municipalities. The county is bounded by Biscayne Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean to the east, Everglades
National Park to the west, the Florida Keys to the south,
and Broward County to the north.
Miami-Dade's new scalable
P25^IP system is based on a unified IP-network architecture that
brings many benefits to the county's public safety and public
service communications users.
- Inter-networking to provide Miami-Dade users with advanced features such
as emergency services, unit-to-unit calls, caller ID, end-to-end
encryption and inter-system roaming across existing, emerging and
future airlinks.
- Integration of voice and data via Harris P25^IP technology and
the Harris VIDA® (Voice, Interoperability, Data, Access)
network, as well 4.9 GHz broadband via Harris VIDA Broadband
solution.
- Enhancement of radio coverage through two, P25 simulcast
systems with advanced, linear simulcast modulation for improved
radio system performance.
- Reuse of the county's Harris NetworkFirst gateways, EDACS IP
Gateways, and eventually the Harris P25 Inter Subsystem Interface
(ISSI) server for interoperability.
- Reuse of 80 percent of the current dispatch consoles and
associated equipment.
Harris multi-mode M7300 mobile and P7300 portable radios will
operate on both Miami-Dade's EDACS
legacy system and its new P25 system, so that only a single radio
type is needed throughout the program implementation. Harris
radios will continue to connect seamlessly with the Florida State
Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS) for mutual-aid communications.
Harris operates and maintains SLERS – a system consisting of
nearly 200 radio sites throughout the State of Florida that supports the operation
of more than 16,000 user radios.
Rebanding requirements will be met through Sprint Nextel
replacement of the county's existing 18-year old radios with 24,000
backward- and forward-compatible mobile and portable radios (Harris
M7300 mobile and P7300 portable radios) to support the system's
seamless migration. The county's current radios will operate
on the existing EDACS system as well as on the new P25^IP
system.
The P25^IP network is based on the Harris IP-based VIDA network.
The VIDA network is a cost-effective, interoperable radio
communications technology that supports OpenSky®, P25
and other IP-based systems. It addresses voice and data
communications needs of transportation, utility and public safety
radio users around the world. It provides a full,
IP-management platform for the P25 Phase 1 industry standard and
P25 Phase 2, the next-generation emerging technical standard for
mission-critical communications.
SOURCE Harris Corporation