Holistic Public Safety Radio and P25 System Upgrade Brings Long-Term Value

Black & Veatch has worked with Lake County, Illinois, since the 1990s on their evolving public safety radio systems' needs. Recently, Black & Veatch assisted Lake County with the needs assessment of Sheriff’s Department very high frequency (VHF) high band system, and development of an RFP to upgrade the system to a two-channel simulcast receiver voting system through a holistic communications plan.

Looking to add the most value to the project, the County decided to move forward with the communications plan’s long-term option developed by Black & Veatch to implement a countywide 800 MHz trunked radio system that would serve all county departments as opposed to a short-term fix.

The project plan also included the design and implementation of a new county public safety answering point (PSAP)/dispatch center. The effort resulted in implementation of a five-site, eight-channel, 800 MHz simulcast Harris radio system, interconnected with a 6 GHz microwave network.

A follow-on project included assisting the County with their 800 MHz rebanding project throughout the entire process.

The public safety radio system was approaching end-of-life status, so the County worked again with Black & Veatch to conduct a needs assessment and develop and evaluate system upgrade options.

Black & Veatch supported the project's RFP process for the P25 800 MHz countywide system upgrade in May 2013 and is currently supporting the County in the final stages of system implementation. The new system is a Motorola 12-site, 12-channel, 800 MHz P25 Phase 2 simulcast system.

Services provided by Black & Veatch included:

• Technical and Functional Needs Analysis and Data Gathering

• Specification Writing and Procurement Support

• System Procurement Process

• System Implementation