City of Augusta, Maine, USA

The Challenge

Improve coverage in the City’s urban and rural areas 

The City’s 25-year-old analog network did not meet the standards of today’s Public Safety voice communications networks.

Wayne McCamish, Retired Police Chief, describes Augusta’s coverage problems: “The radio system the city was operating left public safety workers in the Dark Ages. There were numerous locations throughout the City where Police and Fire individuals were not able to communicate to other responding units or back to the radio dispatch. This left major gaps in the flow of information and in requesting additional assistance when needed.”

To improve coverage in the urban and rural areas of Augusta, the City decided to replace their network. Ralph St Pierre, Assistant City Manager, explains, “With Department of Homeland Security funding, we made a conscious effort to upgrade the City’s communications to a digital radio network.”

They needed a solution that would provide:

• maximum network coverage in the City’s urban and rural areas,
• reliable digital voice communications for Police, Fire and EMS operations,
• digital and analog modes for voluntary Fire teams working with the City Fire Department,
• digital and analog modes for the mutual aid channel with smaller communities outside the City,
• connection with the state-wide network for interoperability.

The Solution

TaitNet P25 Simulcast Public Safety Network

The City of Augusta selected a three-site TaitNet P25 Conventional Simulcast network for Police, Fire and EMS operations. The solution comprises:

• four narrowband 12.5kHz channels that operate in the 150-174MHz VHF band,
• an existing analog paging frequency for Fire volunteers,
• interconnectivity with the new fiber-optic link and microwave system.

The new network has two channels for Police tactical units and two channels for Fire teams. Ralph St Pierre describes the City’s channel management practices:“Police and Fire use one channel for active and the other for incident. If there is an incident taking place they will switch to the second channel and keep the first channel open.”

Regarding the mutual aid with neighboring communities, Ralph St Pierre explains, “When we require mutual aid from neighboring communities we have a second alarm for emergencies and vice versa. If they have an incident where they need our support then we respond and go to them. Volunteer firefighters from the area are not P25-compliant, so the Tait P25 system had to accommodate both analog and digital, which we were able to accomplish.”

Jerry Vargas, Tait Senior Systems Engineer, elaborates on the turn-key solution: “We were very pleased to offer the City of Augusta a complete radio solution that interfaces with their existing console equipment. From network design, project management, installation, commissioning and training, we made sure the city got the results they wanted.”

Ken Knight, Radio Consultant for City of Augusta, continues, “The Tait engineers and project managers assigned to the project made a huge difference to the overall implementation of the radio network. It was completed successfully because of it.”

The Outcome

City-wide network coverage improves from 55% to more than 90%

Expert network design from Tait specialists saw coverage substantially increase. Retired Police Chief Wayne McCamish explains, “With the implementation of the Tait Radio system we took a giant step forward in radio communications and into the 21st century. The system cleared up the vast majority of places in the City, on the roads and in buildings where we had limited coverage. We now feel safer in providing services to the citizens of our city.”

“I have been doing this job for 37 years and almost for the entire 37 years we took for granted that we were not going to be able to talk on portable radios in specific locations. To be able to communicate with other responders or dispatch, we would have to go back to our vehicles. Now we can talk on our portable radios in areas where we have never been able to in the past. The system has exceeded our expectations.”

By choosing a P25 solution the City has made a future-proof investment. Dan Brooks, Tait Project Manager, says, “The FCC mandate for radio users operating in the 150-174MHz frequency band states that they move to 12.5kHz narrowband voice channels by 2013. The city has met this deadline well in advance with four 12.5kHz channels in the network.” 

Interoperability for public safety agencies was a key consideration for the city when the network design was finalized. Ralph St Pierre explains, “Interoperability is the ultimate goal and we plan on connecting our system to Maine’s state-wide system as it upgrades in the near future.”