Operational Context. The System Managers will be responsible for managing the Fleetmap information of the users they are representing. This information is also shared with the other system managers; the ID information also must be kept.
Operational Context. Priority levels in the system will be managed at the Talk Group level. The goal is to distribute priorities across the systems talk groups in a way that maximizes the ability for critical groups to communicate and minimizes the number of talk groups with high priority. All User Priorities will be set to the lowest priority level, 10.
Operational Context. The private call resource should primarily be used as a supervisory function, if there is a business need for a radio user to have this ability, it should be granted, but the resource overall needs to be managed to protect the RF resources of the system. This is also a function that dispatch consoles overall would be capable of. Due to the risk of cutting off emergency / life safety communications, the duration of Private Calls must be set to a time limit of two (2) minutes. The number of channels that allow the feature of Private Call will be determined by the individual System Manager. The need to make a Private Call must be restricted to emergency and business related use. Radio users of the Private Call feature must understand that when this feature is being used, they cannot hear a Dispatcher call.
Operational Context. With the exception of the first three (3) characters users are technically free to choose any unique name they wish for their radio aliases. However, since this is a shared system Radio User Aliases that are programmed into the system must have naming conventions between agencies that will not conflict with each other.
Operational Context. All radios are programmed with the required Talk Groups, Mutual Aid (Local and Statewide) and features to allow it to operate on the 800 MHz Trunked radio system. Codeplugs/templates are created by the individual agencies radio shop or their contracted vendor.
Operational Context. All radios must meet these specific requirements for antennas and batteries when installed on a subscriber’s radio. Failure to utilize the manufacturer’s recommended standards for the radio auxiliary equipment may cause Law Enforcement and/or Fire Rescue field force personnel to experience static, interference or audio communication breakdown with their assigned Dispatchers. While it is recognized that it is desirable to utilize the accessories manufactured by the radio manufacturer, there are alternative after-market accessories that provide performance equivalent to the manufacture’s items, or functionality not available from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The permissibility of these after-market items shall be determined by the System Manager after performing a technical evaluation to insure a performance level equivalent to the OEM items.
Operational Context. With the exception of the first four (4) characters (see Appendix A), the System Managers are technically free to choose any unique name they wish for TG’s assigned within their partition (maximum of twelve (12) characters). The NPSPAC Mutual Aid conventional TG’s are assigned a name that is known nationwide. When possible, subscriber TG will be consistent with the console database and zone controller. Any subscriber with less than eight (8) characters display will be handled on a case by case basis.
Operational Context. Talk Groups are considered to be “Owned” by the agency requesting the creation of the Talk Group, similar to the ownership that applies to conventional RF resources. As the owner of the Talk Group the owning agency has the authority and control to define who can and cannot use the Talk Group and to what “degree. Traditionally this process has been primarily accomplished with “letters of authorization.” The optional method to simplify this process is for the owning agency to predefine sharing authorization, as diagrammed in the table example below. The predefined authorizations would be kept in the Talk Group spreadsheet maintained by the System Managers. These spreadsheets would be shared between the System Managers, and would be a reference available for Talk Group planning. If an agency does not pre-define sharing authorization for a particular talk group, the default will be a “P” as defined below.
Operational Context. The network infrastructure and subscriber units will be configured to balance the ability for users to achieve wide area coverage where necessary, and maintain an acceptable level of service for all users. The use of “Critical User” and “Critical Site” in the system for the purpose of non-priority Scanning is not permitted and Scanning between different sites will be accomplished by the use of “requested sites.” Before priority Scanning is allowed on an individual subscriber’s radio, it must be pre-approved by the agency’s management and/or command. Additionally, priority Scanning of Talk Groups must be evaluated by the System Manager to make sure the radio system is not affected by the use of this feature.
Operational Context. An Agency may choose to utilize the Emergency Button functionality, or to disable its use. If an Agency chooses to use the Emergency Button it shall be utilized as an indication of an immediate threat to life or property. Use of the Emergency Button to advance a routine Talk Group call in the priority cue is not an accepted usage. Agencies may choose to have the emergency activations occur on a primary dispatch Talk Group, or be directed to a specific Talk Group set aside to handle Emergency Activations. Agencies that may have access to the Talk Groups from other Agencies in their consoles will receive the emergency activation notifications if that Talk Group is active in a folder in the console operator position. Agencies shall NOT acknowledge/silence/cancel emergency activations from another Agency without contacting that agency before taking action. To do so may cause a valid emergency alarm to go unanswered. Any Agency that acknowledges/silences/cancels emergency activations from another Agency more than 3 times, without contacting that agency before taking action, shall remove the other Agency Talk Groups from their consoles within 30 days of receiving notification from the Talk Group owner or System Manager. Subscriber units that send an excessive number of false emergency alarm activations shall be located and corrected by the subscriber owner agency as expediently as possible. Excessive is determined to be four (4) or more false alarm activations within a 24-hour period. The subscriber owner agency shall take all steps necessary to locate and correct the false activations. There are circumstances where it is not possible to stop the false activations by attempting to inhibit the radio or by removing the radio authorization record from the system databases. In these cases the radio must and shall be located by the Owner Agency and brought to the servicing vendor for repairs within 30 days of the first false activation. Dispatch Centers shall report all instances of excessive false emergency alarm activation to their System Manager. The report shall include the date, time and Talk Group the emergency occurred on, along with either the subscriber alias or displayed radio ID #.
