07-09-2003 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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METROPOLITAN RADIO BOARD INFORMATIONAL MEETING FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2003 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1. What is the definition of participation? Participation in the system can take place on several levels. Full participation generally refers to those governmental entities that have invested in the additional infrastructure required to provide full coverage in their geographical areas, have installed dispatching equipment that operates solely on the regional system, and have a plan to migrate all or most subscriber radio users to the system. Partial participation refers to entities that continue to maintain and use legacy equipment (VHF, UHF, conventional analog 800MHz), but have installed and use, or plan to use, some 800 MHz subscribers for specific purposes. An example might be an entity that equips some squad cars with system- compatible radios to make interoperations with fully participating agencies easier. Subscriber -only participants include those who have made no infrastructure investment, but use radios that are on the system and are satisfied with the coverage available on the existing backbone. An example would be the St. Paul School District. What is important in the context of receiving homeland security grants is that the first priority for receiving funds will be given to those entities and agencies that are committed to becoming full participants as defined above. 2. Do all radio communications need to be on the 800 MHz system for full participation (meaning Police, Fire, and Public Works) or can just one be on? Just one can be on. But if only one comes on, it must be a public safety, first response agency, such as police, fire or EMS. Priority will generally be given to agencies that plan to eventually migrate all public safety agencies to the system, as fostering interoperability —not only between geographically separated cities and counties —but between different agencies within the same city or county, is a key requirement for receiving homeland security grants. 3. What if a county cannot afford to migrate all operations onto the 800 MHz system —can it just center on population centers and still be considered full participants? If a county plans to use the system for only one agency —for example, the Sheriff's Department —it would seem to make most sense to equip every squad car used within the county, as dual dispatching and dual radio systems within one agency would be expensive and cumbersome. Each application will be considered on an ad