Lake County, Florida Marks Full Year Operating Motorola 700/800 MHz Project 25 Radio System With Over 11 Million Calls

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lake County, Florida today announced that it has successfully marked a major radio system milestone with more than 11 million push-to-talk calls on its one-year-old Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) ASTRO® 25 digital radio system, the state's first 700/800 MHz licensed network. The $32 million radio system, formally accepted by the county earlier this year, is providing regional interoperability just 3-1/2 years after severe tornadoes raised serious communications issues for the Central Florida county.

The new countywide system provides interoperable communications among all cities in Lake County and gives public safety agencies the ability to communicate with adjoining counties to allow for mutual aid capabilities on a single platform.

"One year into operating our new Motorola system, we have reached a major system milestone and recorded 11,262,742 push-to-talks on this robust network," said Greg Holcomb, director of public safety communications technologies, Lake County. "We have now been in operation a full year and many calls and emergencies have been addressed and many interagency operations have been successfully coordinated through the system. System performance has far exceeded anything known to us previously."

Statistically, the system during the first full year of operations compiled a total active air time of more than 25,000 hours, with an average voice call duration of 11 seconds for the more than 11 million calls made.

"The Lake County Board of County Commissioners, Sheriff, Police Chiefs, Fire Chiefs and municipal agencies unanimously agreed and supported the proposed system funding and designed use," said Holcomb. "For the first time, Lake County has reliable interagency, portable communications across the entire county This speaks highly of what can be accomplished collectively. We're all committed to providing the necessary interoperability, safety and protection for our first responders and citizens throughout the Central Florida region."

The Lake County system includes 36 mixed 700/800 MHz trunked channels in an 18-tower simulcast system design. The Motorola ASTRO 25 system features P25 Common Air Interface, effective radio channel management, fast and reliable communications protocol, integrated voice and data, advanced IP-based system architecture, trunking-specific mobile and portable radios, and dispatch functionality to manage Lake County radio users. The radios include Motorola XTS® 2500 and XTS® 5000 portable radios and XTL® 2500 mobile radios. Each radio can be programmed to communicate with multiple field users, as well as dispatch center operators.

In addition, Lake County's Emergency Medical Services Dispatch Center now includes eight Motorola MC7500 dispatch consoles, and the Lake County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center now also has eight Motorola MC7500 consoles that can communicate with Lake County field units in a clear or secure communication mode.

"Until July 2009, public safety organizations in Lake County lacked a means of dependable inter-agency communication," said Holcomb. "The Motorola system now enables emergency crews to quickly contact any emergency service within the county and other Central Florida first responders with the touch of a button to help improve the safety of our citizens."

The Lake County radio system connects all of the county's emergency service radios. The system allows for the coordination of all Lake County emergency response services, including the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Lake-Sumter Emergency Medical Services, Florida Highway Patrol, Lake County Fire Rescue and all local police and fire departments in 14 communities. Under the previous systems, Lake County emergency crews had three radios, one each to communicate with police, paramedics and firefighters. The new network also helps Lake County first responders communicate with agencies in surrounding counties, including Orange, Osceola, Marion, Polk and Seminole.

"Motorola has a long history of providing mission critical solutions to public safety throughout Florida, and Lake County's Project 25 system is another example of our commitment to Florida's first responders and the citizens they serve," said Marshall Wright, Motorola vice president. "This state-of-the-art digital radio system is providing public safety personnel throughout the county with the ability to communicate across all agencies in daily as well as crisis situations, as evidenced by the millions of calls already made."

About Motorola

Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and focused on advancing the way the world connects.  From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to high-definition video and mobile devices, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile.  Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $22 billion in 2009. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com.

MOTOROLA and the stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Motorola