Public safety agencies can upgrade existing solutions for access to first responder dedicated networks
Every year disasters put lives at risk and cause damage to buildings, homes, and naturally preserved areas. At the time of a disaster or emergency, multiple agencies with different responsibilities in the community are called upon to come together to protect lives, property, and to help establish control over chaotic episodes.
The most common first responders to arrive during an emergency are police, fire, and EMS. If it’s a large enough emergency then other agencies will be involved — such as Public Safety Commissions, Search and Rescue, the National Guard, or maybe even FEMA or the Red Cross. During emergencies unpredictable events occur like power outages, floods, and physical damages to areas. This hinders network communications, which then affects operations that are critical to these instances like the evacuations of residents or critical agency interoperability — or the ability to talk to one another on a neutral singular channel to communicate and orchestrate. These advanced communication and collaboration methods are required to help those first responders do their jobs safely and effectively.
Networks Dedicated to First Responders
Today, dedicated public safety networks with priority and preemption are helping deliver benefits like interoperability, speed to recovery, and pervasive emergency response communications. These networks have been created as a result of 9-11 terrorist attacks and will facilitate a more robust level of community and officer safety. These networks will be enabled by new and emerging technologies — like Gigabit-Class LTE and 5G connectivity for high-bandwidth applications with artificial intelligence and virtual reality — for years to come.
These networks will help equip first responders for unpredictable, yet unstopping, emergencies. Man-made and natural disasters are showing no sign of slowing down. In 2011, we endured 16 record setting major natural disasters including drought, massive wildfires, tornados, flooding, and a hurricane. In 2017, we saw 15 major natural disasters, each costing $1 billion or more, and claiming the lives of (323) people. Then, 2018 faced Hurricane Michael, the strongest storm to hit the U.S. in 50 years, and Hurricane Florence, as well as deadly widespread wildfires, mudslides, and flooding.
To prepare, agencies are turning to LTE connectivity with rugged, field-proven solutions for emergency command centers, incident response teams, and network deployment kits with access to these first responder networks.
Cradlepoint's Solutions Support First Responders
Cradlepoint offers first responders the ability to have dual active sim cards and — by utilizing our software-defined modems — two separate, redundant cellular networks simultaneously. With the build out of FirstNet, the nationwide public safety broadband network, and Verizon’s Public Safety Private Core, a dedicated private core for first responders with critical network features built in including priority and preemption, we saw the need to give our first responder customers access to these networks. Cradlepoint customers have the ability to complement the Cradlepoint hardware that they’ve already invested in by field-upgrading their fleet for access to first responder dedicated networks.
A Commitment to Support First Responders
Cradlepoint is committed to “Connect and Serve” first responders who “Protect and Serve” the community — delivering solutions that are compatible with networks dedicated to first responders reinforces this commitment. Today’s agency needs to meet employee’s and citizen’s expectations by modernizing legacy technology that might otherwise slow down response times, while making cybersecurity a priority.
Cradlepoint can help solve agency’s pain points with a portfolio of powerful router solutions for fast, secure, and reliable access to networks dedicated to first responders, saving time and money, while offering complete security of technical systems, processes, and files.
First responders who put their lives on the line to protect and support their communities can depend on Cradlepoint for reliable, secure, and robust cellular connectivity for faster and more efficient disaster response and recovery. Learn more about Cradlepoint's solutions for first responders.