Eye-Opening Finding from our Inaugural LMR System Management Survey

Land mobile radio (LMR) system management has come a long way since the days of analogue-only radios and manual support services. Maintaining today’s software-centric LMR system requires a new set of tools and expertise. This paradigm shift brings its own set of challenges, benefits, and considerations.

To understand how LMR system management trends are evolving, we conducted an inaugural study on the way systems are managed across the globe.

We received 120 respondents from 24 countries, representing public safety, government agencies, and enterprise organisations in a range of business- and mission-critical industries. Our research uncovered some interesting trends, especially about network monitoring.

It is widely understood that network monitoring is crucial for a healthy LMR system and the results from our survey support this. But what was especially eye-opening is just how critical network monitoring really is. Our research reveals that organisations that monitor their systems 24x7x365 have had nearly 50 percent fewer outages in the past year than those that do not.

And yet, networking monitoring is not a given. In fact, almost a third of survey respondents do not monitor their LMR systems 24x7x365. Like similar communication environments, LMR networks generate thousands of system alarms on a daily basis. And while leading networking monitoring software allows system managers to pinpoint critical alarms faster, these resources require a large investment in tools and staff, including a sophisticated network operations centre (NOC).

Almost 20 percent of organisations that do not monitor their network 24x7x365 say their internal IT support staff is simply too small to provide around-the-clock service. Half cited budget constraints as the main impediment to robust monitoring.

For both, partnering with an outside service provider can provide the necessary support. Along with delivering the skills that may be hard to hire in-house, outside providers can often offer partnerships that take smaller budgets into account with manageable monthly payments.

You can download the full 2018 Motorola Solutions LMR System Management Benchmark Survey Report

We can help too. Our mission is to ensure that your LMR system works seamlessly, is safeguarded, and can adapt to new operational complexities and technology changes. Motorola Solutions offers best-in-class universal support, maintenance tools, resources and a global team of experts who have an intimate knowledge of LMR systems and associated technologies.

Graeme is Director Global Infrastructure Services Product Management at Motorola Solutions

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Cyber crime continues to proliferate across the globe with the number of data breaches on an upward trend. The result is an immense demand for skilled security professionals to address growing concerns. Unfortunately, the availability of security experts is a challenge for organisations and agencies – and is only expected to get worse. Already, the cybersecurity workforce gap is on pace to hit three million globally.

This growing gap will have a significant impact on the industry. Organisations who find themselves with a shortage of security personnel are at risk of slowed adoption and implementation of the critical tools needed for cybersecurity efforts – opening them up to potential breaches and attacks. When looking at effectively securing infrastructure, 87 percent of companies believe that hiring and retaining qualified security professionals is critical.

Yet, despite efforts to increase hiring and fill needed positions, demand continues to outpace supply. Today’s organisations face a staffing problem that is more logistical than financial – with security budgets increasing but talent recruitment continuing to be a challenge.

The growing workforce shortage is being driven by a lack of qualified personnel – with a large segment of the available workforce lacking the requisite skills that enterprises need. Sixty-four percent of organisations report that only half of their applicants are qualified for an open security position – with technical skills being the biggest existing skills gap. For public safety and government agencies, there is the additional challenge of competing with private, enterprise organisations that can be more attractive to potential talent.

Unfortunately, traditional recruitment methods are falling short. It is not uncommon for cybersecurity workers to arrive at their roles through unconventional paths. In fact, 87 percent of current professionals did not start their careers in cybersecurity – but rather moved into the field from a wide variety of other professions including information technology. Further compounding the issue is a lack of training, with only three of the top 50 US university computer science programs requiring cybersecurity coursework.

In order to close the gap, hiring managers need to explore new recruitment and development channels and find innovative strategies and techniques to engage potential professionals. This can include professional development programs, training and apprenticeships to grow security talent.

Filling the long-term, growing cybersecurity skills gap is critical. But organisations have a need for professionals now. For companies in need of security expertise, partnering with an organisation that can provide cybersecurity support and services may be the solution. These organisations are prepared to work with companies to safeguard their critical communication networks and technologies and are trained to stay actively informed of the rapidly changing landscape of security threats and compliance requirements. Read the full Motorola Solutions White Paper to learn more about the need for cybersecurity experts.

You can learn more about our cybersecurity solutions at www.motorolasolutions.com/cybersecurity

Troy Mattern is Vice President of Cybersecurity Products and Services at Motorola Solutions.

Troy is on LinkedIn

This post was originally published in our sister blog for North America.

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Every 6 minutes, a police officer in the UK presses their radio’s emergency button. With today’s TETRA digital radio technology, that single button press sets off a series of life-saving and automated actions:

1. The officer’s location is shared with the control room
2. The radio is assigned to an emergency talkgroup and given priority access to the network
3. The radio’s microphone is activated, allowing colleagues to hear what’s happening

It goes without saying that for officers on the frontline, the two-way radio is their communications lifeline.  Frontline safety is a continuum and for over 90 years Motorola Solutions has been at the forefront of innovation, advancing mission-critical radio technology and pioneering new areas of cognitive research that explore human performance in high-stress environments.

As this new video highlights, technology advancement promises to further enhance the safety of frontline teams while also improving the effectiveness of incident response.

Multi-constellation satellite support will help reduce incident response times
A recent study by Loughborough University(1) highlighted achievable reductions in response times based on identifying the closest available resource. That study also showed potential improvements in response performance, from 94% to 97%, through the efficient use of frontline resources.

An accurate personnel positioning mechanism is vital to realising faster incident response. Modern tracking technologies that are integrated in next generation TETRA radios are able to increase positioning accuracy through the use of more than one Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). In particular, the GPS-GLONASS dual-GNSS receiver can enable a location accuracy of less than 2m - compared with a typical accuracy of ~10m for a GPS single-GNSS system. The high positioning accuracy provided by combined GPS-GLONASS receivers is crucial in urban settings in particular, as it could help determine which side of a street an officer in need of help is situated, and help to ensure a faster response.

Intelligent emergency alerting will improve officer safety in weak coverage areas
Many police forces deploy TETRA repeater gateways to ensure communications in areas with limited coverage such as in remote rural locations and indoor environments.  Repeater gateways implementations are typically based on mobile (vehicle) radios and may not always be available during an incident response.

For example, consider a police officer on a foot chase which leads into an underground car park.  While attempting to make an arrest, the suspect becomes violent and the officer tries to call for support using his radio. In such situations, lack of network coverage would put the officer’s personal safety at risk. To enhance personal safety, Motorola Solutions has developed an intelligent emergency alerting technology that will allow an emergency alert to be sent via direct mode (radio-to-radio communication) when a network signal is not present. As Motorola Solutions TETRA radios can be configured to scan both trunked mode talkgroups and direct mode talkgroups, colleagues within direct-mode range can receive the emergency alert and provide critical support to that officer. 

Advanced noise suppression will enhance frontline communications
Windy conditions and noisy environments, such as sporting events, can severely impact audio clarity, making it difficult for frontline officers to communicate effectively. While many officers are mandated to use ear-piece accessories for health and safety reasons, the radio’s microphone is often relied upon to transmit critical audio messages.

Using noise suppression technology, the effects of wind and background noise can be minimised - resulting in improved audio intelligibility in difficult environments. To ensure high quality speech, Motorola Solutions has developed advanced noise suppression technology that also minimizes the effect of wind hitting the microphone. The end result is clearer communications and safer frontline officers.

When selecting your next mission-critical TETRA radio, look for capabilities that enhance personal safety. We believe that safety is never too much.

To find out more check out this video:

…and visit our Frontline Safety website too:

Tunde Williams is Head of Marketing for Europe, Middle-East and Africa

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References: (1) - S. Dunnett, J. Leigh, L. Jackson, (2018), Optimising police dispatch for incident response in real time,  Journal of the Operational Research Society

Today, there are more cameras and recorded video than ever before. This has created a problem for security operators, who are struggling to keep pace. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that can help overcome this challenge by being able to analyse more video data than humans ever possibly could. It is designed to bring the most important events and insight to users’ attention, freeing them to do what they do best: make critical decisions and then take action.

Faster Search & Focused Attention
Imagine using the internet today without a search engine. You would have to search through one webpage at a time, combing through all of its contents, line by line, to hopefully find what you’re looking for. That is what most video surveillance search is like today: security operators scan hours of video from one camera at a time in the hope that they’ll find the critical event they need to investigate further.

The ability of AI to reduce hours of work to mere minutes is especially significant when we think about the gradual decline in human attention spans, thanks to the vast amount of information we’re now bombarded with and the continual flurry of digital distractions in the form of alerts, notifications and emails.

Delivering Actionable Results
There’s no denying it, the role of AI in security today is transformative. AI-powered video management software is helping to decrease the amount of time spent on surveillance, making security operators more efficient and effective at their jobs. By removing the need to constantly watch video screens and automating the “detection” function of surveillance, AI technology allows operators to focus on verifying and acting on critical events.

When integrated throughout a security system, AI technology has the potential to dramatically change security operations. Just as high-definition imaging has become a quintessential feature of today’s surveillance cameras, the tremendous value of AI technology has positioned it as a core component of security systems today, and in the future.

Looking to the Future
The continued evolution of video analytics and AI will provide security personnel with even more powerful tools, resulting in smarter, safer cities. Powerful new tools are being created that will allow us to modify our approach to video search to help solve critical challenges facing areas such as border and customs security, secure government facilities and energy sites. With AI, we can deliver true actionable results, real-time alerts and automation, so that we are no longer constrained by our attention spans.

Avigilon
Avigilon was acquired by Motorola Solutions in March 2018. The acquisition brings advanced video surveillance and analytics to Motorola Solutions’ public safety, government and commercial customers.

Hands-on with Avigilon
Check out this video by my colleague Lukasz Pitera giving a practical demo of Avigilon AI in action for Public Safety:

You can also learn more about Avigilon solutions on our website.

Alex Asnovich is Vice President, Global Marketing and Communications, Avigilon

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I’d like to share some really engaging videos we shot at last week’s combined BAPCO and Critical Communications Europe, including some in-depth hands-on demonstrations of new solutions. I hope you find them interesting:

Advancing The Lifeline at BAPCO and CC Europe 2019
Check out this whistle-stop tour of this year's most important mission-critical event. Look out for the new Si200 bodyworn video camera, two-way radios, Avigilon video surveillance, purpose-built devices, key conference topics and more:

New Si200 Bodyworn Camera and Digital Evidence Management
Mike Williams takes us through a hands-on demo of CommandCentral Vault showing how video footage can be reviewed and analysed alongside, for example, gps location data and mapping. Mike follows this with a hands-on demo of the new Si200 bodyworn camera, shows how it can work with a companion device and finishes with a live demo of it working with CommandCentral Vault:

Digital Policing with Pronto
Norman Dixon gives us a hands-on demo of the Pronto Digital Policing application, showing how it replaces police officers' traditional paper and pen. Norman takes us through some of the applications and explains how Pronto enables police officers to spend more time supporting the public:

Purpose Built Devices - Two-Way Radios and much more
Sean Fitzgerald explains how Motorola Solutions has communications devices and infrastructure to suit every possible user. Whether its unlicensed, TETRA or DMR, Sean explains how users can take mobile and handheld devices, accessories and applications from across the portfolio to meet their own specific needs:

Hands-on with Avigilon Video Surveillance and Self Learning Analytics
Lukasz Pitera explains how Artificial Intelligence is used to keep cities and businesses safer -  addressing key public safety and security challenges. Lukasz goes on to give us a practical demonstration of how Avigilon video surveillance integrates with CommandCentral Aware, how analytics can be used to speed investigation, how Appearance Search can find target subjects rapidly and how self-learning analytics can be used to provide actionable alarms to police officers.

Cloud - Based Control Rooms: CommandCentral Control Room Solution
Mark Swift explains the benefits of moving your control room to a fully hosted environment and addresses key questions around deploying CommandCentral CRS: What are the advantages in scalabilty and flexibility? How can you ensure  reliability and resilience? What is the cost benefit?

Motorola Solutions Kodiak Broadband Push-To-Talk
Steve Beach introduces the Kodiak broadband solution and how it is used by carriers worldwide to provide LMR augmentation.Steve gives a hands-on demonstration of its standards-based mission critical push-to-talk functionality, including priority, pre-emption, quality of service, ambient listening, and emergency button integration.

You can catch all these videos in one place on our BAPCO/CCE 2019 YouTube playlist too.

I hope you enjoyed this selection.

Paul Jeffs - Editor - Think Public Safety.

Paul Jeffs is Public Safety Editorial Lead for Europe and Africa at Motorola Solutions.

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It is clear that tough challenges still exist in achieving the technological change that deliver solutions to significantly improve efficiency and deliver benefits across a range of operational and corporate areas. However it is also clear that very positive moves are being made towards effective exploitation of solutions, as well as increased force collaboration, for example on record management systems. This information sharing is now enhancing, and enhanced by, the successful performance of mobile workforce applications such as Pronto, with all the efficiencies they are delivering.

These points are made clear in the report released last week on the Fourth Digital Policing Summit. This summit, convened by Cityforum, brought together a senior community of interest (including national programme leaders, force technology bosses, chief officers, politicians, vendors and consultants) to discuss not just the challenges around digital transformation but thinking and actions to address them.

We welcome the fact that the report acknowledges the need for closer collaboration, communication and partnerships with the Technology Vendor community. In this brave new world of defining the right technology to solve some of the current and future challenges faced by the emergency services, clear articulation and understanding of needs must be a positive step towards delivering solutions. Helping forces balance both community policing needs and national threats is obviously critical and whilst technology is a tool for change we also know that it can be viewed with concern by the public and even within blue light organisations. However, achieving rapid change and technology adoption may be key to responding not only to everyday resource challenges, but to external threats at the national level.

For this to happen, public safety organisations need not just the best tools and data to meet their evolving needs, but also a partner with specialised knowledge and experience to identify ways of working never thought possible. Motorola Solutions is working with forces in the UK now, helping them to effect the technology transformation that we must all embrace in order to remain relevant and effective.

You can download the summary report of the Fourth Annual Digital Policing Summit ‘Perennial Changes and New Hope’ here.

With over 90 years experience of supporting the public safety community internationally and a 50 year history with the emergency services in the United Kingdom, we believe we are best placed to help meet evolving public safety needs. Do come and see our solutions for policing at forthcoming events including Security and Policing 2019 (Farnborough, 5/7 March), Senior Women in Policing (Birmingham, 6/7 March) and British APCO 2019 (Coventry, 12/13 March).

David Robinson is Head of Sales with Motorola Solutions

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