BAE Systems’ First InterComm system, also known as the First Responder Interoperable Communications™ system has received SAFETY Act designation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a qualified anti-terrorism technology.
“This designation is another significant step in our ability to offer cost-effective communications interoperability for our nation’s first responders,” said Mike Greene, BAE Systems’ director of Homeland Security Solutions in Nashua, NH. “This technology will help save lives during emergencies.”
The First InterComm system enables first responders at the scenes of emergency situations to use their existing radio equipment to communicate with other responders, though they are using different frequencies and protocols. The low-cost, vehicle-mounted units link all of the radios at an incident scene without costly towers or other infrastructure.
The system also allows the creation of "talk groups" to eliminate distractions resulting from too many people talking on the radio at the same time. The First InterComm system allows an incident commander to maintain communications with all first responders while assigning agencies to particular talk groups.
The system has been demonstrated in a series of trials and exercises, including operation by first responders during actual emergencies. Police and fire departments from Amherst, Bedford, and Merrimack, NH recently conducted a mock test of the First InterComm system in which officials were automatically patched in with other radios of different frequencies and operating modes, enabling them to communicate instantly.
The SAFETY Act designation is provided under a 2002 federal law known as the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act.
In 2004, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9-11 Commission, published its report documenting the difficulties first responders faced due to a lack of communications interoperability at the World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks. That same year, BAE Systems established a homeland security initiative to address those needs. The First InterComm solution is among several capabilities that BAE Systems offers to help first responders communicate more effectively.
For further information please contact:
BAE Systems
First InterComm system
+1 904 741 1745 or +1 603 885 9605
firstintercomm.eis@baesystems.com
