No need for walkie-talkies with smart emergency communication
Featuring FIBA company GlobeKeeper. A powerful smartphone app provides secure communications between emergency service and security personnel. It enables on-the-spot teams to download pictures, video footage and important data they need to assess a fast-changing situation.
When first-response personnel arrive at an emergency, they usually communicate with other team members and with their command centre via walkie-talkie radio. But this has limited range and functionality. The EU-funded CoP1stRespond project has created a smart and highly functional communications system based on existing mobile phones and networks. This could replace walkie-talkies and expand the way frontline personnel securely receive and transmit information to include images, which voice-only walkie-talkies cannot do. The CoP1stRespond platform uses advanced encryption and exchange protocols to integrate cameras, GPS and Internet of Things (IoT) devices that can be accessed in real time on any smartphone – Android or iPhone. “It’s a bring-your-own-device system. But it’s secure,” says Dan Peleg, CEO and co-founder of GlobeKeeper Tech, the Tel Aviv-based company that developed the system.
“Even while they are on the way to the scene, first responders can receive video from the field on their mobile phones, so they know what to expect,” Peleg adds. The system mimics the walkie-talkie’s ease of voice communication. “It supports push-to-talk and also an open line. You click on the smartphone screen and speak. When you stop speaking, the communication stops,” Peleg explains.
Read the full article on Cordis here.
