Having a smartphone with a push-to-talk function for group communication with a team of people sounds great. For example, volunteers working in an operation led by fire and rescue teams could use their smartphones and a push-to-talk application to communicate in professional TETRA talk groups.
It sounds cool but how practical are today's smartphones in practice? Can they deliver the five things that a professional, everyday user cannot do without?
What do you carry on duty? Your mission-critical radio. Smartphone. Mini-printer. Flashlight. Digital camera. Body worn camera. Tazer. Night-stick? Could you reduce the number of devices you carry? And how would you do it? Should you do it?
Nearly three-quarters of professional organisations are either using or planning to use mobile apps in the near future. These users are taking the app message onboard and making use of the many advantages that apps have to offer in critical communications.
Police officers could scan crowds for known criminals, fugitives, or terrorists using facial recognition applications. Commanding officers could soon be able to track firefighters inside burning buildings where GPS does not go. And emergency medical care personnel could soon be able to observe patients for symptoms — before the ambulance reaches the scene of the accident. Which applications would...
This is the age of the app. We have all become used to the power of running apps on our smartphones – so why should public safety workers be left out? Public safety organisations have huge opportunities with new smart devices and new apps. These become possible in hybrid networks that combine the extremely secure and reliable TETRA/Tetrapol networks with mobile broadband data services. Public...
