During a major emergency, the first 72 hours are the most critical time for communications, says Jeff Critser, Cisco’s senior advisor for homeland security and a keynote speaker at a recent emergency management conference in Wellington.
Cisco has an IP-based emergency system in place at Auckland airport.
Critser says governments are increasingly relying upon technological innovation to improve operational efficiency and increase interoperability among first and second responders.
“While employing such solutions has obvious and tangible benefits, a careful balance must be reached between the promise of these technologies and real-world situations.”
Cisco has developed what it calls CUENet (Cisco Unified Emergency Management), which uses standard Cisco networking components and security protocols.
It’s designed to operate, if necessary, using a 12-volt battery or small generator and connects to the public switched telephone network and the internet. It provides interoperability between mobile radios and the telephone system and enables local and wide-area wireless networking supporting voice, video and data.