These public safety agencies previously relied solely on a third party provincial TETRA radio network for their communications, but the lack of maintenance on this TETRA network impacted on the operations due to frequent dead zones which compromised officer communication and public safety, Hytera said in a statement.

To address the coverage blackspots and limited functionality in the existing system, Hytera deployed its PTC680 multi-mode advanced radios, which integrate TETRA and LTE networks in a single device.  “This approach fits the trend in communication technology alongside more traditional radio technology so that officers can communicate in areas where there is no radio coverage. When an officer roams outside the area of coverage, the radio will automatically and seamlessly switch between networks without the user having to manually change anything,” said senior spokesperson for Hytera South Africa, Cedric Mark Rigney.

The solution was also designed with cost-efficiency in mind. Hytera augmented and improved what the agencies already had, with a 3G or LTE network as a fallback. Now, this hybrid approach allows police, fire and ambulance personnel to stay connected with their colleagues and the control room, he added, thereby protecting the investment into narrowband.

With LTE, officers can even stream video back to the police control room to enhance situational awareness and improve decision-making. Similarly, paramedics can stream footage of a patient to doctors and other medical professionals for expert advice.

This has been a big win from the project, explained Rigney. “If, for example, there’s a cash-in-transit heist that resulted in a vehicle accident, different teams need to respond in a coordinated manner. So, they might need to dispatch an ambulance or fire truck, in addition to traffic personnel to manage any traffic congestion caused by the incident.”

The devices are also GPS-enabled, allowing a dispatcher to see the location of everyone and send the closest personnel to the incident. Should a citizen call in an incident, the dispatcher can quickly assign the closest officer and then monitor how far away help is. Much like your Uber app allows you to ‘watch’ your order in real time, the dispatcher can now track the first responder’s progress and then feed that information back to the person who reported the incident. This enables commanders and supervisors to manage their resources more efficiently and coordinate a response to any incident or emergency more quickly.

For the JMPD and EMS, this data is invaluable to improve service delivery, said Rigney. “Being able to accurately track things like how long it took for a dispatcher to close an incident, or how long it took for the person to reach the scene, it’s possible to identify where we are falling short and come up with strategies to improve the level of service we deliver,” Rigney continued.

“Emergency service professionals should be focused on saving lives, not battling communication challenges,” said Rigney. “With this project, we are not only solving operational pain points — we are helping create a safer, more responsive city for everyone in Johannesburg.”

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Democratic Alliance (DA) National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Member of Parliament (MP) who sits on the NCOP Select Committee on Security and Justice (SCSJ) Nicholas Gotsell heard from Minister Pieter Groenewald that work to date has seen the DCS and the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) develop 10 prototype EMS bracelets.

The project, Gotsell was informed, is a research and development one. It will assess systems integration, software backend, location awareness and geographical fencing among others.

Importantly, full development after proof of concept will ensure South Africa owns the intellectual property (IP) rights and data derived from the system.

The need for further work was identified after a two and a half month test of the bracelets, termed “devices” in the Ministerial response, which adds “further development requirements are being explored”.

The Department conducted tests on the devices at its Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area from 13 November 2023 to 31 January 2024.

As always where taxpayer money is involved, Groenewald notes the EMS bracelets could monitor parolees and probationers “dependent on availability of funds to meet the requisite volumes”.

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