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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-29-2003-2~ ,~u,.;. f I CTA COMMUNICATIONS, Inc. E~~~\ I CONSULTING ENGINEERS COMMUNICATIONS, Inc. NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT Consolidated Communications Network Design Services ~. ~_ ~~~ ~~~ ~/~'~~ ~'~~~ Orange County Emergency Management A Hayes, Seay, Mattern a Mattern, Inc. Company June 12th, ZOOZ ~ecds ;lssessment Report ,lone 1.3"', ~0~?~ Orauge County Emergency il7anssgeanent EXECUTIVE SUNIMARY Abstract: Orange County and its communities operate a variety of communications systems for Emergency Services (Police, Fire and Ambulance), Facilities Services, Utilities and other Public Safety and Public Service functions. These systems have been plagued with problems in recent years. The existing systems are characterized by inadequate radio coverage, limited capability for interoperability, aging equipment, channel crowding, congestion, and lack of capacity. These major deficiencies, plus a number of other operational and technical concerns such as a crowded dispatch and EOC facility, interference and reliability, currently inhibit Orange County jurisdiction personnel from operating at full capacity and efficiency. If these conditions are not remedied, the existing communications situation will seriously impede the County's and its communities ability to meet basic public safety demands as the community grows over the next 10 to 1 S years. Lack of reliable communications will negatively impact the ability of all jurisdiction's staff to perform their jobs in a timely manner, and may in extreme cases place personnel at risk. The needs assessment performed by CTA Communications has confirmed the concerns expressed by Orange County and the participating communities staff members interviewed. In this report, CTA analyzes existing Orange County and its communities systems and problems, develops a list of attributes for a radio system based on interviews, surveys and CTA's experience, and provides several short-term recommendations. Short- term fixes will not resolve the major deficiencies of interoperability and radio coverage for all jurisdictions. We recommend that Orange County and its communities replace existing VHF and UHF conventional radio equipment with a modern trunked radio system in a single frequency band, which will be a common communications system for all jurisdictions. The envisioned system would provide sufficient capacity for current and future operations through 2017. The report recommends Orange County and its communities proceed as rapidly as possible to implement this system. Background The existing two-way radio communications capabilities of Orange County and its communities are characterized as a collection of uncoordinated systems populated by crowded and congested channels, with poor radio coverage on the street and inside buildings in the County, and interference from other systems or users. These major deficiencies, plus a number of other operational and technical concerns, inhibit impact the ability of all jurisdiction's staff from operating at full capacity and efficiency. Mutual aid and assistance to and from neighboring jurisdictions routinely occur with Emergency Services personnel, but are cumbersome due to the limited ability for radio communications with the public safety personnel of those jurisdictions. ~~ Executive Summary I -~ COMMU~IICATIOI~S ,eecis Assessment Rc~~ort Orange County E~ner~ency I~'lanagemenl This situation is inefficient at best. .lime 12m, 2Oh~ The user organizations are presently using a variety of conventional (non-trunked) radio channels and equipment that operate in the UI~' and VIA Low and High Bands. Most of the users report problems with the existing systems. These problems include channel crowding, poor coverage, as well as congestion, skip interference, aging equipment, lack of advanced features, limited ability to communicate with other agencies, and various other problems. At Orange County Emergency Management, where the consolidated Police and Fire/Ambulance radio dispatch consoles are located, the dispatchers' operating procedures have adjusted to compensate for the mixture of equipment types and frequency bands in use. The facility is crowded and currently lacks the ability to grow with the communities needs. Recognizing the need for an independent, comprehensive study of the existing communications system and the future communications needs in Orange County, Emergency Management retained the services of CTA Communications, Inc. in December 2001. CTA's scope of work in Phase 1 included short-term recommendations to correct all Orange County jurisdictions communications problems at minimum cost and along-term recommendation that will provide their users with a reliable and comprehensive two-way radio system. Phase 2 is a long-term system design that would provide radio coverage estimates, define site facilities, analyze alternatives, develop a preliminary radio system design and develop an opinion of probable cost for a consolidated radio system. Communications Problems & Concerns The CTA investigation identified a number of problems with the existing radio systems serving Orange County and its communities. Radio users reported some of these to CTA, while other problems were observed directly by CTA Communications. Problems that were determined to be severe, and which compromise the ability of the users to fulfill their mission include: Not Portable Based -- Dead spots, or lack of coverage, portable units cannot generally and reliably be used, especially inside buildings. ~` Executive Summary -~ ~ t I COMMU~diCAT~ONS ~ceds f~ssessment Report Orange County Gniergenc}~ M14anagcu+ent June t~'+', ~Ot13 • Local Interoperability -- The systems do not allow users the ability to communicate between agencies and jurisdictions within the County for mutual aid. • Mobile Coverage -- Dead spots, or lack of coverage, users cannot on mobile units from locations in the County. • Lack of Space in the Dispatch Center -Crowded and no room for expansion. • Inadequate Dispatch Center Ergonomics -Ventilation, lighting and temperature control. • Dispatcher Access -The users cannot gain access to a dispatcher when multiple incidents arise. • Regional Interoperability -The systems do not allow users the ability to communicate with agencies outside the County for mutual aid. • Backup/Redundancy -Lack of sufficient backup or redundant communications when primary communications fails. • Channel Crowding -- The radio channel is not available to users because other legitimate users are already using it (talking). • Channel Congestion -- Too many unrelated functions using the same channel. Problems that were determined to be somewhat less severe, but nevertheless affect operations to the extent that there is a loss of efficiency include: • Inadequate EOC Ergonomics -Facilities inadequate for long-term activation. • Security -Lack of secure channels for private communications. • Capacity -- The system becomes quite crowded during emergencies with the result that critical users are not able to communicate. • Foreign Interference -- Interference on some jurisdictions' frequencies. Executi.~e Summary ~ iii ~~ ~~~. COMMUtJICATIONS zeds Assessment Repnt•1 .lone 12u,, 20(12 ,Jr~ngc County Emergency Nlanagcment • GIS does not contain enough information -Insufficient for efficient dispatch/CAD. • Lack of Uniformity -Different types of radios and documentation on systems. • Lack of Alarm System - No single comprehensive alarm system providing detailed status of systems. • Lack of MDT Compatibility -Different types of Mobile Data equipment and software cannot intercommunicate. • Numerous Communications Devices -- Users have to carry too many devices (radios on different bands, pagers, cell phones, etc.) for communications. Other problems, judged to be such that they affect operations, but are generally worked around by each jurisdiction's personnel, include: aged equipment, maintainability of the radio systems, as well as maintainability of the mobile and portable equipment. Using the interview comments and problems of the current communications environment as a starting point, CTA developed a list of functional attributes for an improved radio system. A system incorporating these functional attributes would not only correct present problems, but also expand capabilities to improve the productivity and performance of the user community. Analysis The existing radio systems were compared to the attributes to determine how well they meet the attributes. The scores were then used to determine areas that can be improved with short-term fixes and those items best resolved with along-term design. The short- term fixes identified; address items that affect reliability of the existing systems, training; and backup equipment for critical communications. The overall result indicates the existing radio systems are inadequate to meet the users stated needs. Many of the problems such as interoperability, crowding, congestion, and emergency capacity are inherent in the frequency bands and in the conventional configuration in which the current two-way communications take place. For the most part these cannot be improved unless additional VIA and UHF radio frequencies and radio sites are made available. Executive Sumnnarr~ lV i~ COMMUNICATIGNS reds Assessment Report Jrange County Emergency Management .tune l'_'~', 20(12 Obtaining sufficient additional VHF and UHF radio frequencies plus constructing additional radio sites to enhance radio coverage will not resolve interoperability problems of users operating on multiple frequency bands. While some improvement of the communications within the current radio bands is feasible, CTA believes that the major problems experienced cannot be alleviated with short-term solutions. CTA's long-term recommendation involves combining all communications on a single frequency band and to a new kind of system. The type of computer-controlled communications system recommended in the common frequency band is the "trunked" radio system, where all users on an "as needed" basis can access multiple frequencies or channels. The frequencies become a shared resource. CTA Communications recommends that the level of coverage established by a new system include as a minimum hand-held portables inside heavy buildings in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, on the UNC-CH campus, and mobiles throughout Orange County. We note that hand-held portables should have sufficient on-the-street coverage throughout the vast majority of the County. Resolution of coverage problems involving many independent systems operating on multiple frequency bands is best served by a long-term solution. Consultant's Opinion of Probable Cost Budgetary estimates have been developed for the short-term recommendations. Cost information was obtained from historical CTA cost and vendor pricing files of comparable projects, and then applied to the quantities of equipment indicated in the short-term recommendations for Orange County and its communities. It is important to reiterate the fact that these figures are the "Consultant's opinion of probable cost", and as such are only an estimate based on our professional experience from similar projects. Therefore, these costs should not be viewed in the same light as a vendor "proposal". Only the vendors themselves will be able to give definitive cost figures to the County and its communities following receipt of a Request for Proposal. Negotiations with the vendors would further refine the content of the project and the final cost of the system. ~~ L~ccutive ,Summary ~~ ~~~\ y COMMUPJICATIONS .ieds ,Assessment Report Orange County [~mcrgenc~~ l~~lanagement June 12`x', 7002 Our opinion of probable cost for the short-term recommendations described herein is: Estimate Set up and test backup transfer of 911 line to UNC-CH $300.00 per line x 7 Multi-channel UHF backup repeater Multi-channel VHF backup repeater VIIF and UHF backup control stations Restore voting equipment to proper operation Eno Mountain Grounding and surge protection Emergency Management Grounding and surge protection Shift Supervisor training for communications bus setup Carrboro Grounding and surge protection Chapel Hill Grounding and surge protection Enable Carrboro Public Works tone squelch Chapel Hill fire ground LTHF license and radio programming Conclusions & Recommendations 23,500.00 23,500.00 52,000.00 1,000.00 25,700.00 25,700.00 Internal to County 25,700.00 25,700.00 labor only 2,500.00 CTA Communications recommends that in the County and its communities proceed with plans to develop an integrated communications system using trunked radio technology. The most cost-effective approach will be to purchase and install the entire system at one time. Such a system will provide the capacity, coverage, reliability, and advanced technology features to meet both the present and the future needs of the County and its communities well into the 21S` Century. We recognize that there are many factors involved in these decisions which are not technical in nature, such as budgets, procurement regulations and funding availability, that are beyond the scope of this study. What we do recommend, however, is that regardless of which option is chosen, awell-defined Specification be developed that includes minimum requirements for reliability, dependability, functionality and maintainability. This should include performance objectives for functionality, interference protection, radio coverage, as well as requirements for an Acceptance Test Plan to insure that the selected vendor meets the system objectives, and that the system meets the County's needs. ,~~„~" executive Snmmarl~ ~~ V I ~.. COR~MUP~IICATIONS