Agenda - 06-14-2001-4c - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Established and agreed to standards would have facilitated discussion prior to acquisition on a more global level and all aspects of the communications system would be considered. This would ultimately yield a better operating communications system for all users. Further, the Public Safety Radio System is still made up of all the single individual radio frequencies that were pulled together to consolidate the agencies into a .central communications system decades ago. Systems have grown and become more complex over time and a Master Plan for Communications Systems is essential.if the system is to meet the long-term demands of our growing community. Compatibility of all components is critical. The County conducted one other limited scope communications study in 1991. The study, conducted by R.F. Projects at a cost of $11,900, looked at specific problems regarding the inability of fire departments to communicate with the communications center while on calls (dead spots). The study made recommendations on how to improve the abilities of the Volunteer Fire Departments by changing to a repeated channel and erecting additional towers and radio repeat transmitters. The action being considered by the Board at this time would, for the first time, look comprehensively at the entire communications system countywide. The final report would among other things, lay out clearly the needs of the system and set out a plan for future direction and growth of Public Safety Communications. As is customary with services such as these, Orange County solicited a Request for Proposal that addressed the County's specific needs and also reflected input from the various entities served by the system. The project will consist of two phases. Phase ~I .tasks include but may not be limited to the following: 1) Evaluate the present Communication System, facilities and technology for growth, dependability, and adaptability in providing service without failure or overload in the future. The evaluation process will include interviews with selected Public Safety Agencies to determine their perception and future growth considerations. 2) Evaluate the existing system including such areas as frequencies, relays, towers, transmitters, mobile radios, hand-held radios, pagers, consoles and computers. 3) Evaluation the street addressing, mapping, GIS, and other support tasks for communications. The successful firm will be provided copies of the County's GIS and IT Plans so that they may be considered as the recommendations are formulated. 4) Recommend any short-term system enhancements that could be made to improve the existing , system without major capital expenditures. Phase II of the project would include: 1. The development of recommendations, including cost projections, for a state of the art Communication System to meet the long-term needs of the Public Safety and Support Agencies. 2. At such time the recommendations are endorsed, the successful firm would design a communications system that would include radio, computer, mobile data, video, automatic vehicle locator (AVL) among the communication center and all mobiles and facilities. Cast projections for the designed system would be provided in order to facilitate budgeting by the various entities. 3. Further, the successful vendor would assist in the preparation of specifcations and provide technical analysis during the evaluation process when bids are received.