THE GOVERNMENT MOBILE

COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT (GMCP)

GREATER SUDBURY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

PROGRAM COMMITTEENovember 25, 2004

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This presentation will provide an orientation to :

•THE GOVERNMENT MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT

•FLEETNET and NETWORK FEATURES •TRANSITION PHASES•PROJECT STATUS

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What is the GMCP ?

•Government Mobile Communications Project•A partnering agreement between the Ontario

Government and Bell Mobility Radio•It is a 15 year, multi-phase project to provide a

trunked (shared) VHF radio network to the government’s public safety Ministries• Currently, the project is in its implementation phase.

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What are the project objectives ?

• Province-wide common network for all Ontario based public safety organizations

• Private sector partner to design, build, finance and operate the new network

• Improve security and reliability• Inter-operability between user groups• Maintain legacy radio networks until transitions have been

achieved• Evergreening - planned replacement of mobile radios

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Who shares the network ?

Participant Ministries:• MOH - Ambulance services, hospitals• OPP• MTO - traffic enforcement, highway maintenance• MCS - Correctional Services - offender transportation,

facility communications• MNR - conservation, parks

Broader Public Sector Public Safety agencies:- Guelph Police and Fire Departments

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What is the GMCO ?

The GMCO is the Government Mobile Communications Office

It is an office of the Management Board Secretariat, whose mission is to:• Coordinate and promote the present and future mobile communications

needs of the Government of Ontario (GO)• Integrate GO requirements with the system supplier’s capabilities and

plans• Protect the interests of the GO in the administration of the GMCP

agreement

Responsible for managing the project for the Ontario Government

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What is FleetNet ?

• FleetNet is a Bell Mobility Radio trade name for the new network

• The network divides the Province into 4 distinct zones:1 southwest2 southeast3 northeast4 northwest

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FleetNet Operational Zones

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What will the new network provide ?

• Improved VHF coverage• Confirm access to the network• Allow contact with home CACC from anywhere in southwestern

Ontario; i.e. within the zone• Provide flexibility in operations by the use of various TalkGroups• Permit Vehicular Repeater activation from the UHF portable radio• Provide Emergency Button signalling to the CACC• Provide communications with OPP (via patch by CACC)• PTT caller ID on dispatcher’s console

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What about the conventional channels?• Provincial Common will be maintained across the Province, but

with limited coverage and use• Continue to use Provincial Common for communications with air

ambulance, St. John’s Ambulances, First Response Teams….• CACC will continue to use Inter-Agency channel for

communications with mine rescue teams

• District Channels - will be decommissioned after transition to FleetNet

• Paging - will remain unchanged for now.

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How are TalkGroups used?�Daily operations within the CACC area:

• use the local District TG; e.g. SUD CITY, SUD DISTRICT�Patch to a receiving hospital:

• use Tactical TG as directed by the dispatcher;e.g. “go to TAC 3 for your patch”

�Special operations:• use Tactical TG as directed by the dispatcher; e.g.

“all units responding to this MVC, use TAC 2”�Non-local transfer:

• switch to Folder 1 and use the CACC Common TG to call CACC at the usual boundary areas (no change in policy)

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What are the TalkGroups in the mobile radios ?

• Each mobile radio will be formatted with 9 folders• Each folder contains specific TalkGroups• Folder 1 – will have the CACC Common TG for each CACC in

the province• Folder 2 – will have the Zone Common TGs for the province• Folders 3-6 are CACC specific • Folder 7 will have the Conventional channels and will be de-

programmed after cut-over to the network

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Emergency Alarm • Used by the paramedic to signal the CACC that their personal safety is in jeopardy or that they are in a high risk situation

• An audible tone is sent to the paramedic to confirm the system has received the emergency

• Audible and visual alerts are generated at the dispatch console monitoring the talkgroup, including the Unit ID

• A sent alarm can not be cancelled

• Usage is monitored by Bell Mobility Radio

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Radio/Telephone Patch

Radios can be connected to a phone line from the dispatcher’s console only. This allows a paramedic to participate in telephone conversations over the radio.

• significant impact to the network

• use should be limited to assist in field operation -conversations shall be concise and of short duration

• usage is monitored by Bell Mobility Radio in terms of the Grade of Service

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Private Call

A private call between a Communications Officer and a paramedic

•can only be initiated by the CO

•radio must be in MOB mode to receive

•Used to relay information of a sensitive or personal nature

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System Tones •Talk Permit tones

a series of high-pitched tones tells a user to go ahead with the call

•System Busy tones

a series of low-pitched beeps informs the user that the system is busy and will call back

•Out of Range tone

a continuous low-pitched tone that informs a mobile or portable that they are out of range of the system(radio will display “Out of Range” or “No SYS” on the Network portable)

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SYSTEM FEATURES

Trunked Call

•The most common type of call.

•Communication occurs between members of the talkgroup or to the dispatcher.

•When the radio is keyed, the vehicle ID is displayed at the dispatch console

18London CACC console screenshot

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Grade of Service•GOS is a measure of system performance in relation to how many calls may be blocked because other calls are being processed.

•FleetNet was designed based on an average radio call length of 5 seconds

•System access may take up to 5 seconds- occasionally longer (1 in 100 calls may be blocked for longer than 5 seconds)

•BMR is adding additional repeaters to various key sites to meet the additional loading with MOH transition to FleetNet

•Review of NEZ call volume and its impact on network loading is being undertaken by BMR

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Transition PhasesPhase I – Mobile Radios• Replace legacy radios with new trunking radios; programmed with

conventional channels and trunked talkgroups• Reprogramming of existing FleetNet radios operating in the Sudbury area

Phase II – Hospital Radios• Replace legacy radios with new trunking radios; programmed with

conventional channels and trunked talkgroups

Phase III – CACC Equipment• Motorola Gold Elite consoles (NBY 3, SUD 7, TIM 3, SSM 5 )• Motorola MCS2000 back-up fixed mobile radios; on and off-site• Logging – upgrade and/or replacement of Dictaphone ProLog

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Transition Phases

Phase IV – Training• 663 full and part-time dispatchers provincially• 5251 full and part-time paramedics provincially• Training needs analysis completed• Identifying objectives and outcomes• Paramedic training

• 4 hour hands-on program• Delivered locally via RTC network• Delivered in conjunction with dispatcher training timelines

• Dispatcher training• 16 hour program• Delivered centrally via MOH Trainers at OPP training

facility at Georgian College in Orillia• Alternative program delivery location is under consideration

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Transition Phases

Phase V – Transition to FleetNet• Transition sequence to be confirmed

• Sudbury is forecast for the summer of 2006

• Consideration of ARIS II training & implementation timelines

Phase VI – Post Transition• Locally - debriefing meetings MOH, GMCO, BMR, CACC, EMS• Centrally - determine procedure and dates for decommissioning conventional

channels and removal of legacy equipment

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Project Status

• Implementation Phase (IV) is currently under way• Preceded by

• Phase III – Planning• Phase II – Network Design • Phase I – Outsourcing

• Followed by:• Phase IV – operations and evergreening• Phase V – expiry of contract in July 2013

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Project Status – SWZ Ministry of Transportation• Winter Operations transitioned to FleetNet in October 2001• Enforcement group transitioned autumn 2002

Ontario Provincial Police• Transitioned autumn / winter 2002• Comm centres – London & Orillia

Ministry of Natural Resources• Enforcement group transitioned April 7, 2003

Ministry of Correctional Services• Upgraded communications within corrections facilities is under

development, including mobile equipment• Transition by year end 2004

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Project StatusMinistry of Health• Early transition, using mobile radios only:

• Thames EMS, March 2003• Windsor / Essex EMS, June 2003

• SWZ – actual and planned transitions:• Georgian CACC - April 15, 2004• Wallaceburg – December 16, 2004• Windsor, Hamilton, Cambridge, Oshawa, Mississauga and Toronto – throughout Q1 Q2 2005

• SEZ – implementation plans ongoing; transitions to begin Q4 2005• Lindsay, Kingston, Ottawa, Renfrew, Muskoka and Parry Sound centres

• NEZ – discussions to begin mid 2005• North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie centres

• NWZ - discussions to begin mid 2005• Thunder Bay, Kenora centres