Firefighters serving with the New Zealand Fire Service will benefit from improved safety and communication while working in fire grounds through an innovative two-way radio solution.
The new system from Motorola Solutions and Spark will enable the service’s 10,000 career and volunteer firefighters to stay connected to their colleagues in the field via reliable and robust voice communication.
The fire service will receive more than 4,500 new radios designed for use in the most severe fire ground environments, which will undoubtedly prove extremely useful for an organisation that attended more than 73,000 incidents last year alone.
A major feature of the solution is a cornerstone Motorola Solutions innovation, a remote speaker microphone that will be fully integrated within firefighters’ breathing apparatus.
This will be combined with the radio’s convenient push-to-talk button, which enables firefighters to communicate easily and safely in the harshest conditions.
The radios feature enhanced audio with windporting to ensure that the wearer’s voice is heard clearly and not any surrounding noise.
Exaggerated controls allow easy transmission even while wearing protective gear, while the rugged housing includes emergency and volume controls that are large for quick access but protected to avoid accidental activation.
New Zealand Fire Service chief executive & national commander Paul Baxter says communication is critical to safety on the incident ground, and much of that communication comes from the use of incident ground control (IGC) radio. “That’s why we were so exacting in our requirements for these new radios,” he adds.
“The radios will help us to resolve radio interface issues with firefighters’ breathing apparatus while also delivering improved noise cancellation and battery life.”
By using a combination of single and multiband radios operating across both VHF and UHF bands, the solution aligns with the fire service’s vision of leading integrated fire and emergency services for a safer New Zealand.
“This radio solution enables us to move away from using a mix of models and frequencies and toward a nationally consistent standard that will make it easier to work with our emergency service partners,” Baxter explains.
New Zealand Fire Service director ICT Murray Mitchell says the service wanted a solution that is safe, easy to use and doesn’t distract firefighters from their work during critical incidents. “The design features incorporated in these new radios will help our firefighters work more safely and efficiently.”
Spark will provide in-country support including service management and a customer support desk as part of a five-year contract, giving New Zealand Fire Service operational and cost certainty throughout the life of the contract.
The contract also provides access provisions for related government agencies wanting to take advantage of the new radio technology, which works across multiple bands and frequencies and is therefore accessible for organisations that may be using different technologies/radios.
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