Project Strategy and Background
The problem of incompatible radio systems began to attract attention with public safety officials in 1995 after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. These problems gained public notice in 2001 with the attacks on the World Trade Center. What first responders have known for years is now getting priority - users on radio systems in different frequency bands (i.e., VHF, UHF and 800 MHz) and/or on different manufacturers' systems cannot talk directly to each other.
Florida faced the same problems with the ValueJet crash, Amtrak derailment, and fires in 1997. Unlike cell phones, where a person with a Nokia phone and Verizon service can talk with another person on a Motorola phone and Sprint service, a firefighter on a Motorola UHF system cannot talk directly to a police officer on a M/A-COM 800 MHz system or a emergency medical technician on a EF Johnson VHF system. The systems are not interoperable.
Florida's interoperability strategy has, and continues to be, grass roots-based and reflects local, State, and Federal interests. Each of the seven Regional Domestic Security Task Forces (RDSTFs) has an Interoperable Communications Committee which is open to all radio systems staff in the region. Individuals who are responsible for radio service and dispatch meet regularly to address short-term and long-term issues, build business relationships for interagency actions, and contribute to statewide discussions and actions.
The Domestic Security Oversight Council (DSOC) sets the overall direction and priorities for domestic security and related emergency management plans, actions and funding. Linking the DSOC to the local RDSTF local committees are the State Working Group and Florida Executive Interoperable Technologies Committee (FEITC).
Rather than supporting a variety of local or regional interoperability efforts, the FEITC, State Working Group and DSOC decided to pursue a statewide strategy that would result in consistent interoperability throughout the state, leveraging the existing systems and user training. Rather than replace the systems already in place, Florida provides an interoperability solution that uses those systems with which the users are familiar and maintains autonomy of the local systems