Over the past several years, many municipalities have upgraded their communication systems to sophisticated trunk radio systems. These systems allow more users in the available radio spectrum and thus increase spectrum efficiency.

But these systems also have a drawback — they are expensive. Purchasing, installing and maintaining this type of radio system is simply not affordable for many smaller, less-funded agencies. Such agencies still use conventional VHF or UHF systems to provide all necessary radio communications.

The city of Charlottesville, county of Albemarle and the University of Virginia jointly purchased a regional trunk system from Motorola, which gave them the radio channels they needed and gave their first responders more modern communications equipment. The adjacent counties of Fluvanna, Nelson, Augusta and Greene were invited to participate, but some just could not afford the price associated with the new trunk system, as it required new towers — with a price tag of about $1 million — and related radio equipment. That certainly was the case for Greene County.

This is where problems arise, particularly along county lines. Trunk systems solve many of the communication problems in an upgraded service area, but also diminsh interoperable capabilities between the trunk system and existing conventional ones.

Greene County and the Charlottesville Metro Area (Albemarle County) are on different systems. First responders at the same incident site can't talk to each other. Command either has to relay a message or walk to the crew. Exchanging portable radios provides a temporary — albeit archaic — solution. Both departments also have a radio footprint that lets us talk to our dispatchers, who then relay information.

Ultimately this lack of interoperable communications creates a difficult and dangerous situation.

A Regional Solution Pays Off

In 2007, the city of Lynchburg contacted Greene County to see if we were interested in participating in a radio interoperability program that would link all communications centers in the Virginia Metro Service Areas 3 and 6. These MSAs cover 34 PSAPs and other communications centers. The cities of Lynchburg and Roanoke had received a 2006 Community-Oriented Policing Services Office (COPS) grant that required 25% matching funds from the stakeholders. The Virginia State Police contributed the match and in February 2008 awarded a contract to SyTech to install the Radio Inter-Operability System.

RIOS lets existing conventional systems interoperate with Charlottesville's trunk system. Greene County and the Charlottesville Metro Area are located in MSA Region 3. The system — which is known as the Virginia Commonwealth Interoperable Link Communications (COMLINC) — was installed in 2008 and became operational in May 2009 after user testing. Greene County now can communicate directly with Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Nelson and 31 other communications centers in Virginia, including the state police and the Virginia National Guard.

COMLINC connects conventional base stations, trunk systems, land-mobile radios, portables, consoles, phones and more, and connects communications centers using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). In addition to providing communications interoperability, the RIOS also enables radio dispatch operations, text communications and connection to other IP devices such video cameras.

Communications are controlled through the RIOS Graphical User Interface. All dispatch stations have equal rights. Users can listen to radios from any or all of the 15 sites, with permission. A user also can make and break intra- and intersite patches between the radios at either his site or between radios at different sites (multi-site patching). All sites control all of their own assets; in order to make a patch between two or more sites, the user must first gain permission, which is requested via chat/text message in the user interface.

In addition, the interface displays GPS-equipped devices, such as radios and phones (blue-force tracking). Text messages sent to 911 centers will have the location of the cell tower and, in some instances, the GPS location of the phone.

RIOS is a software-based switch. As such, input channels can be configured for any type of radio or communications device. For example, channel 16 could include a radio, telephone, Nextel push-to-talk device, satellite phone, and more. The RIOS also will record audio (instant recall and permanent recordings), which are time-stamped and tamper-proof. These recordings have been used in court proceedings and have been certified by numerous law-enforcement agencies.

Expansion Plans

Green County was fortunate to be part of the regional interoperability project. Even though Greene County's inclusion (COMLINC) seems almost coincidental, it really has roots in the Virginia Interoperability Plan. Virginia has a well-managed plan developed over the years and managed by Constance McGeorge and her staff in the Virginia Office of Interoperability. The plan always is consulted when considering interoperable programs and has had a positive effect on this and other programs in the state.

In addition to the 34 original COMLINC sites, plans are in place to add 16 more sites along the I-95 corridor from Fairfax County to the North Carolina border, and 12 regional hospital and Virginia Department of Transportation sites along the I-84. There are plans to add sites along the I-81 corridor. Four counties in Northern Virginia have been using the RIOS solution for several years and will be added to the COMLINC system, as will the Virginia National Guard. By mid 2010, the Virginia COMLINC will have more than 65 communications centers.

The COMLINC solution will benefit local, county, state and federal law-enforcement agencies; universities; fire departments; schools; public works; and rescue squads. Each entity is a team member responsible for a segment of service that can be delivered effectively and efficiently only through well-established partnerships.

Bill Purcell has more than 36 years of fire service experience. Currently he is the fire marshal for the Ruckersville (Va.) Fire Company. He is retired from the Charlottesville Fire Department, where he was special operations chief. Purcell also has experience as a sheriff's deputy (reserve) for Albermarle County. He has served as the deputy emergency manager for the city of Charlottesville, in association with the county of Albemarle and the University of Virginia. Purcell is a peer assessor for the Center for Public Safety Excellence and was the accreditation manager for Charlottesville.

COMLINC Sites
Augusta County	Franklin
Greene Countya	Montgomery
Buckingham	Roanoke
Farmville	Roanoke City
Nelson County	Salem
Prince Edward	Vinton City
Staunton	Patrick
Waynesboro	Charlottesville (includes Albemarle County and the University of Virginia)
Amherst
Appomattox
Bedford	Henry
Campbell	Mecklenburg
Charlotte	Halifax
Cumberland	VSP Headquarters
Liberty University	VSP Division 3
Lynchburg	VSP Division 6
Botetourt	Fluvanna
Craig	Virginia Tech