Butler County, PA Maximizes the Value of its P25 Radio System While Boosting Coverage, Capacity and Interoperability
In Summary:
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Butler County, PA's existing public safety land mobile radio system was facing end-of-life and had begun to experience reduced reliability.
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They County worked with MCP to develop a road-map that would replace the system with one that would meet their future needs.
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MCP provided a detailed assessment and implementation support and eventually, helped Butler County realize 43 percent cost-savings and long-term maintenance savings.
"MCP has played a key role in helping us meet our project goals by managing multiple vendors on our behalf—holding them accountable for meeting project milestones, managing project risks and ensuring that they meet schedule deadlines and requirements."
Steve Bicehouse, director, Butler County, Butler County
Overview and Agency Challenge
Located 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA, Butler County serves nearly 200,000 people across 800 square miles. Their existing radio system was facing the need for end-of-life support and had begun to experience reduced reliability. The ten-site, eight channel system operated in a frequency band that had be reallocated by the Federal Communications Commission as mandated within the Middle-Class Tax Relief Act of 2012.How Mission Critical Partners Helped
Working with an experienced team of radio experts from Mission Critical Partners (MCP), Butler County began to develop a road-map in 2015 that would allow them to replace their existing land mobile radio system with one that would meet their needs today, and into the foreseeable future, with the lowest amount of risk. MCP helped the County accomplish the following:
- Evaluate every option on the table and make an educated decision about a solution that would address their challenges and limit the need for future upgrades
- Complete a detailed assessment that presented several alternatives and comprehensive cost-estimates
- Support their procurement and implementation efforts for the new Project 25 (P25) system
The Results
Butler County implemented a new system, which became fully-operational in 2019. The solution included an impressive 43 percent cost savings off of the list price, with an additional savings estimated at upwards of $350K to be achieved through sharing systems with nearby regional partners.
Topics: Next Generation 911 Networks, Land Mobile Radio, Consulting, Case Studies
Posted on August 1, 2018
