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News and Events

SIEC October 2009 Newsletter

Date 10/29/09

The State Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC) serves to enhance interoperability statewide. The SIEC meets in Olympia the third Thursday of every even month. You are encouraged to attend meetings and share your views.

SIEC Premieres New Video
Interoperability in Washington: Let’s Talk

The New video, Interoperability in Washington: Let’s Talk, is a new tool in your arsenal to help your neighbors and partners quickly grasp an overview of interoperability as well as the approach to address the problem.

No more will you have to try to explain interoperability to those new to the mission only to receive a blank stare. This new video is something you can use one-on-one or at the beginning of meetings to frame the discussion.

As Washington Governor Chris Gregoire says in the video, “Let’s Talk.”

The video lends third-party credibility to the importance and relevance of your work in establishing interoperability. “It just makes perfect public safety sense,” said Cowlitz County Sheriff Bill Mahoney and Major General Timothy Lowenberg adds, “It Saves lives.” 

The video runs nine and a half minutes and was built from a script that went through five rounds of reviews by more than thirty people.

Laura Kingman of the Washington State Patrol managed the project for the SIEC with excellent video production help provided by Les Profitt, Derek Himeda, Gary Schmidt and Shawndra Michell from the Department of Information Services.

The video was made possible by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Emergency Communication and the National Governor’s Association.

The video premiered at the SIEC Meeting on October 15, 2009 and was well-received in a handful of sneak previews prior to the premiere. Emergency responders are already requesting copies.

Please stay tuned and keep an eye on the SIEC ListServ for the announcement of when copies will be made available and when the video will be posted online. 

800 MHz Rebanding Project Update

Commercial wireless carriers currently occupy frequencies adjacent to those of public safety radio operations which increases the risk of harmful interference to public safety operators.  In August and December 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a set of orders mandating the reconfiguration of the 800 MHz radio band to address this issue. In addition, the FCC agreed to have Sprint Nextel (SN) pay for 800 MHz re-banding costs for affected licensees to move to newly designated frequencies within the 800 MHz spectrum. The frequency relocation effort affects the Washington State Department of Transportation, Department of Corrections, and other agencies utilizing these systems under national, state, regional, and local interoperability agreements.

On September 30, 2009, the state completed negotiations for the Wave 4 Rebanding Planning Funding Agreement (PFA) with Sprint Nextel (SN) and the Transition Administrator (TA). The PFA sets planning funding at $1,506,182.

The state signed the PFA on October 6, 2009, which was followed by TA approval on October 20, 2009.  The project team anticipates final execution from SN within 25 days. Upon receipt of the fully executed PFA, a project kick-off meeting will be convened to revise previously submitted project planning schedules to reflect approved PFA funding levels. The project team estimates a total 15 months to complete Wave 4 Planning activities, comprised of up to 11 months for planning and document development, followed by up to 4 months of negotiations.

Washington State Receives Federal Assistance for Several Helpful Technical Assistance Requests 

This year the State of Washington initiated several projects with technical assistance provided through the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Emergency Communications (OEC).  Approximately 250 Technical Assistance (TA) requests from all 56 States and territories have received assistance through the program developed by OEC dubbed the Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program (ICTAP) to support the implementation of Statewide Communication Interoperability Plans (SCIP) and the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP).  

This year, the following technical assistance was provided to the State:

• SCIP Workshop – In February 2009, OEC provided facilitators to work with stakeholders to develop a framework for a rewrite of the State Communication Interoperability Plan (SCIP) www.siec.wa.gov/plan/files/SCIP.pdf
• Interoperability Channel Planning Assistance – This summer, engineers conducted a review of interoperable channel use throughout the state. This first phase of a multi-phase review will provide the State with an inventory of channels used in various regions throughout the state. Some interoperability channels cannot be deployed in all state regions due to interference restrictions; i.e., interference with Canada. The State had requested guidance and assistance in identifying appropriate locations for the deployment of additional interoperable channels across the state as it moves forward with the development of a comprehensive interoperability channel plan for the state. The report from ICTAP is expected to be delivered in November 2009.
• Microwave Network Analysis – Federal assistance will be provided to help analyze the network requirements for a phase three expansion of the On-Scene Command and Control (OSCCR) interoperability channel. This proposed, but yet unfunded phase of the OSCCR project would extend access and control of the channel directly to the 9-1-1 Call Centers throughout Washington State.
• Regional Interoperability Committee Framework Review - ICTAP assisted in the review of the Regional Interoperability Committee agreement implemented by Homeland Security Region 3 to determine its suitability as a model that could be used by other regions across the State. A copy of the ICTAP report is available for review on the SIEC web site.

For 2010, the State has requested as its highest priority that training on the effective use and deployment of interoperable communication gateway devices. Because of the flooding potential in Kent and Auburn associated with the Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River, OEC has provided early approval to the State’s 2010 request. One training class will be held during the month of November to help agencies in the Puget Sound region prepare for the effective use of gateways should they be needed in the response to the flooding potential. A second class will be held for agencies in the eastern side of the state sometime prior to the end of 2009.

Other 2010 TA requests include:

1. a request for help to facilitate the project kick-off meeting for the development of statewide, interoperable communication procedures and protocols;
2. additional assistance in identifying appropriate locations for the deployment of additional interoperable channels across the state, and;
3. assistance in the development of a draft interoperability field reference guide for Washington State.  

National Emergency Communications Plan

In December of 2008 the Department of Homeland Security released the National Emergency Communications Plan, a document intended to provide short-term and long-term guidance to address national emergency communication deficiencies.  As a result of studying reviews and after action reports from September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, and other natural and man- made disasters, and other major events that have occurred over the past ten years, highlight the need for improved emergency communications, across all levels of governments.  In particular, the lack of effective interoperability during these events has been shown to hinder situational awareness, effective command and control, and overall response and recovery efforts.

The NECP defines three goals that state and local agencies must meet to demonstrate that effective emergency communications interoperability can be achieved in responding to routine multi-agency events as well as to major events and disaster situations.  The three goals are:

• Goal 1 — by 2010, 90 percent of all high-risk urban areas designated within the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.

• Goal 2 — by 2011, 75 percent of non-UASI jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.

• Goal 3 — by 2013, 75 percent of all jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within three hours, in the event of a significant incident as outlined in national planning scenarios.

"Response level emergency communication" refers to the capacity of individuals with primary operational leadership responsibility to manage resources and timely decisions during an incident involving multiple agencies, without technical or procedural impediments.

The Washington State Patrol’s SIEC Staff are currently working with communication representatives from the Seattle UASI region to identify a planned event or exercise in the region that can be used to evaluate the preparedness of agencies and jurisdictions in the region to meet the goal.  Goal 1 evaluation will be conducted by outside peer reviewers sometime prior to the end of July 2010.  The evaluation criteria are based on the use of “best practices” and other success factors in place which insure that effective communications takes place.

If you are not familiar with the NECP, a link to the document can be found on the SIEC Web site at www.siec.wa.gov. OEC is expected to release guidance on the selection of events to be evaluated and on the NECP performance measurement criteria in the very near future.  A link to that document will be made available through the SIEC Web site when the document is released.

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
Smart Snow Plow Data Delivery Project Update

The project serves to deliver information from smart snow plows performing snow and ice control, in real time, over the varied terrain back to a Traffic Operations Center or the Emergency Operations Center. The Washington State Department of Transportation’s ITS Communications and Wireless Technology office and the North Central Region partnered to test a Data Radio system to fill the overall needs of the agency in order to better serve the traveling public. Beginning in June of 2007, the project was to utilize mobile data for the Smart Snow Plow Project. Automated sensors both roadside and truck mounted will deliver location based information on air & surface temperature, equipment activity, skid resistance, sanding and chemical treatment, and other data to be collected and analyzed. This real time information directly from our snow plows will assist maintenance supervisors, managers, and executive staff in making decisions, resulting in more effective snow & ice removal with the current resources. 

Commercial communications service providers were not able to provide the statewide coverage & reliability needed by the agency. To meet this communications need and allow a test the available technology, an evaluation of emerging and sunrise technologies in the licensed 700 MHz band was made part of the project.  After extensive research, the IPMobileNet data radio system was selected based on its performance within a 25Khz channel usage, scalable expansion, remote management capability, customer references, and partnership potential.

Site selection, application & system engineering, and purchasing followed.  Two base station sites were selected to test coverage in rugged mountainous terrain as well as open spaces.  The system was installed in December of 2008 and commissioned in January 2009. Mobile installations were completed by March 2009.  Initial drive testing indicated a better than predicted coverage pattern for both base stations.  Additional refinement of the product has produced a setting change that improved the mobile radio’s determination of valid data, also improving coverage beyond original expectations. 

The system selection process was completed with the understanding that WSDOT possesses a wide variety of needs for wireless data delivery and that to best serve the interest of the agency, this system would need to fill multiple roles. Upon commissioning, this system was immediately pressed into service to fill additional needs. Two ITS sites were switched from unreliable dial up services to wireless connections, now delivering snapshot video, Remote Weather Information Station data, and Variable Message Sign (VMS) control to the Traffic Management Center. This has added remote highway Surveillance, Control, and Driver Information (SC&DI) systems to the capabilities of the communications system. The system is expected to become a cost effective tool to efficiently meet the agency’s critical infrastructure requirements for One-DOT common, long range, narrow-band data system. As the system is being expanded to other areas, it continues to demonstrate its worth as an efficiency tool to improve storm management and deliver driver information, thus improving safety on the state’s highways.