Introduction
Hytera provided the Philippines Office of Civil Defense with a reliable communications solution that can be quickly deployed to provide wide signal coverage in any emergency situation.
User
Office of Civil Defense, Philippines
Market Segment
Public Safety
Project Time
2020
Products
DMR RD98XS Repeater
GTW-836C Mobile Repeater
DMR PD98X Portable Radio
Background
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is part of the Department of National Defense of the Republic of the Philippines. It is the administrative arm of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Their primary mission is to implement a comprehensive National civil defense and disaster risk reduction and management program.
OCD leads the development of strategic and systematic approaches to civil defense and disaster risk reduction. It deploy measures that will reduce the Country's exposure to natural and man-made hazards and manage the consequences of disasters when they occur thereby providing a safer and more resilient community.
The Challenge
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The current OCD communication systems and radio devices were too old and could no longer satisfy the organization’s requirements for day-to-day operations and emergency response situations. The OCD wanted to procure modern & portable radio communication system that is easy and convenient to use and supports the functionalities they need in providing efficient response and action at normal times and emergency situations.
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The OCD also wanted a solution that can be up and running within a few minutes, powered independently, could work for several hours providing a wide range communication between users in the affected areas. With this design, OCD staff can communicate effectively in emergency situations in areas where there is no network coverage and limited power source, enabling them to provide a faster, safer and more efficient response even in adverse environment conditions.
The Solution
Hytera was able to provide a high quality, professional DMR communication solution that met client’s needs. At the heart of the solution are DMR RD98XS repeaters and the Hytera GTW-836C, a mobile repeater. The GTW-836C integrates the functions of a repeater and provides a link unit between different radio networks. It is housed in a wheeled trolley case making it easy to transport.
The GTW-836C can be set up very quickly, which means it is ideal for providing temporary communications at large rallies, natural disasters and public safety emergency situations, as well as providing coverage in blind spots or remote rural areas. Once the emergency situation is over, it can be packed up ready for use next time.
OCD staff were issued with feature-rich Hytera PD98X DMR hand portable radios. The radios are IP68 certified against dust, dirt and water ingress, making them suitable for use in very harsh environments. The PD98X offers clear and loud voice quality thanks to its output speaker and its Hytera noise cancelling technology.
One of the key features of the PD98X is its single frequency repeater mode, which enables the radio to act as a repeater to extend the coverage range. It works by using interference cancellation technology to enable one slot to receive the signal and the other to transmit it at the same frequency and at the same time in DMO mode.
Other features include a micro SD card, which can record or store critical voice calls or data and built-in BT 4.0, which not only supports audio transmission, but also data transmissions, such as programming via Bluetooth. The radio also supports full duplex calling with PD98X radios, fixed telephones and mobile cell phones.
The Results
OCD is using the Hytera fast-deployment digital communication solution in many different situations to access reliable temporary communications as the need arises. The solution fulfills all the functionalities the client required, as well as meeting its cost budget.
The client expressed high satisfaction to Hytera services, saying that Hytera's Emergency Radio Communications System was indeed of great help in the disaster risk reduction and management efforts of the country. With its advanced, easily deployable and backwards compatibility technology, the responders, command posts and emergency operations center (EOC) can communicate without having to rely on commercial communications.