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Knox County, Tenn., E-911 Radio System Needs Replacing Quickly, Say Officials

With the loss of one key radio transmission site, each emergency agency would have access to a single radio frequency for communications.

(TNS) -- One major breakdown or natural disaster can throw Knox County's emergency radio system into turmoil.

With the loss of one key radio transmission site, each emergency agency in the city and county would be thrown into "failsoft" mode, a technical term meaning each agency would have access to a single radio frequency for communications.

Scores of police officers, sheriff's deputies and firefighters would key up their radios only to be greeted with an annoying honking sound somewhat similar to that of a goose, rather than the friendly chirp that indicates they are connected to their communications lifeline.

That radio loss, if caused by a major storm, tornado or act of terrorism, would occur at the very time emergency responders need communications to coordinate their responses, said Bill Witt, services manager with the Knox County E-911 Center.

"We can still provide the service, but it's with less capabilities," Witt said. "Every agency goes down to one channel."

The 11-member Knox County E-911 Board of Directors on Wednesday are scheduled to re-examine an $8.9 million proposal from Harris Corp. to upgrade the radio infrastructure for emergency workers. A four-person selection committee last June rated the Harris proposal over an $8.2 million plan from Motorola Solutions and a $7.7 million submission from Tait Communications.

The board on Jan. 21 took no action on the Harris proposal, effectively stopping the contract award that had been in the works for 19 months. The mayors of Knox County and Knoxville, both on the E-911 board, called for a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Harris submission because of their unease with the way the board met the proposal with silence and no public airing of concerns with the contract.

Emails obtained this month from a News Sentinel open records request revealed several board members had secretly discussed how to stop Harris from getting the contract, in apparent violation of the state Sunshine Law. Discussing the merits of the Harris proposal in a public meeting, said Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, will rectify the apparent violations of the Open Meetings Act.

E-911 administrators for years have been researching emerging digital radio technologies. The current system from Motorola was started in 1985 and has undergone multiple upgrades to create a five-site, microwave trunking system.

"It's old," said Alan Bull, E-911 technical services manager. "In my estimation, the system has served us well. It's been maintained and upgraded.

"It's like that light bulb, you know it's going to burn out sometime. You can wait until it burns out and be in the dark or you can have a new bulb on hand ready to plug in."

After Motorola in 2006 discontinued making replacement parts for Knox County's system, the E-911 center has relied upon Motorola's stockpile of spare parts or sometimes bought parts from other E-911 agencies, Witt said.

"We are at the end of life for the existing system," Witt said. "There are no more spare parts."

If the E-911 board on Wednesday approves the Harris contract, a new infrastructure with digital technology could be completed in 13 months. That system, Witt said, would provide redundancies that would keep 19 channels open to emergency personnel even if three of the five radio sites were disabled. The loss of radio sites would reduce the coverage area, but radios would continue to chirp away with an open channel each time a police officer or firefighter keyed their radios.

In addition, the new system would be Project 25 compatible. That's the technology recommended by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials that allows emergency agencies nationwide to communicate, no matter the kind of radio they carry.

"The system doesn't care what you use as long as it's P-25 compatible," Witt said. "All we're looking at is infrastructure.

"The police department could still use Motorola radios if they choose, or Tait radios if they choose, or K-Trans could go with whatever they want. It opens up the possibility of people purchasing what they want."

With the current analog Motorola system, emergency responders are restricted to Motorola radios.

Witt said the new system also will enable the E-911 system to connect Rural/Metro fire channels and those of volunteer fire departments across the county. The option of patching channels together now from disparate agencies is cumbersome and restrictive.

Because the cost of upgrading radios to a P-25 device can be daunting to agencies with hundreds of employees, Witt said E-911 plans include maintaining use of existing radios for several years. Each new P-25 digital radio can cost between $3,000 and $5,500, depending on brand and software.

"That was part of the system requirements," Witt said, "that old radios would still work on the new system."

©2015 the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.)