From CLEMIS Radio Oversight Co-Chairs Chief Doreen Olko, Auburn Hills Police & Chief Bill Nelson, Troy Fire
As members of the Radio Oversight Committee from the beginning of this project several years ago, it is a thrill to us to see the OAKWIN 800 MHz radio system coming on line in the near future.
In the early days of this project, we were part of a Committee dedicated to the idea that the choices we made served the best interests of Oakland County police, fire and emergency medical agencies and hospitals.
From the beginning we knew that it would be a difficult and complex project to complete because we wanted a system that would serve our needs now and into the future. No system like it exists anywhere with 41 police agencies, 35 fire departments, 28 Public Safety Answering Points, 13 hospitals and various public and private emergency medical agencies.
Given the population density of Oakland County, we knew that we did not want a system like many around the country that were built and later determined “failed” because they did not deliver on their promises. Many other public safety radio communications systems were oversold and underbuilt. We made a deliberate choice to build 36 towers to assure ourselves that our coverage would be exceptional throughout the county, and we already know that it is.
We chose new technology that ultimately will be able to deliver voice and data, is upgradeable, largely generic in components, and will allow us to maximize the system capacity given the small number of frequencies we could secure for a county this large.
We wanted to use the fiber optic backbone that already existed in Oakland County to process the digital data more efficiently. Radios can be reprogrammed over the air instead of the long process standing in line at the Radio Shop. And most importantly, we will be able to communicate among agencies, county-wide.
We secured grants through a CLEMIS member, the City of Warren, to provide a unique tool for regional interoperability, Network First. The Network First system has been deployed tested and is ready to facilitate communications when the OAKWIN system is fully operational.
We are still confident that we made the right choice. Sure, there have been unexpected delays: frequency coordination issues, delays in tower installation due to permitting issues in some areas, consoles, and selecting brand new portable and mobile radios. But those issues have been worked through and we are pleased to let you know that the system will soon be operational. It is undergoing final phase testing in Farmington as this is written.
Others have made different choices and been operational quickly – but we are not believers that quick solutions are always best. I think that the hard work of many people from the County and many other agencies have made this a system we will proud of in the months to come.
Stay tuned to this Web site to stay updated on the system progress. We will be sharing information for departments to prepare for the system and for the operational changes we will need to make in our departments going forward.
