Communications

Featured Videos

Border Security Awards 2013: John Procacci, Business Development Manager, Integrated Microwave Technologies

John Procaccio, Business Development Manager of Integrated Microwave Technologies, reveals that the company is a designer and manufacturer of mission critical transmitters and receivers used in...

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Dubhe Beinhorn, VP Public Sector, AtHoc, Inc

Dubhe Beinhorn describes AtHoc, Inc, winner of GSN’s 2012 award for “Best Mass Notification Solutions,” as a company that operates in one sector only: critical communications for crisis management....

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Covia Labs, David Kahn, CEO

Covia Labs received the award for “Best Interoperable First Responder Communications” in the 2012 Awards Program for its “Alert & Respond” software platform and application that provides voice/...

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Drew Morin, Chief Technology Officer, TeleCommunication Systems

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), which entered its “Commercial Mobile Alerts System” in the 2012 Awards Program, was named a Finalist in the “Best Mass Notification Systems” category. Drew Morin, who...

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Detective Robert Shilling, Seattle Police Departmen

IACP Conference, 2012: Dr. Frank Trocki, Aspen University, Denver, CO

Categories: Education/Training, Law Enforcement, Military/Force Protection, State/Local Security, Federal Agencies, CommunicationsAspen University was founded in 1987 and is the oldest virtual...

IACP Conference, 2012: Stephen Meer, Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Intrado, Inc,

Stephen Meer, one of the founders of Intrado, Inc of Denver, Colorado, indicates that his company provides services and products to the 9-1-1 infrastructure, which he says is a very complicated...

IACP Conference 2012: Mike Bostic, Director of Customer Advocacy, Security and Transportation Service, Raytheon

Mike Bostic of Raytheon points out that he spent 34 years as an Assistant Chief in the LAPD, where he worked about a third of that time in technology and communications. And one thing he...

IACP Conference, 2012: Rob Wolf, VP Public Safety and Emergency Response, NC4

Rob Wolf tells GSN that NC4 products focus on situational awareness, and the company is at the IACP show to demonstrate its new NC4 SAFECOP product for state and local law enforcement. NC4 SAFECOP...

IACP Conference 2012: Dave Snyder, Spillman Technologies, Inc.

Spillman Technologies is a vendor of public safety software used by law enforcement, fire and emergency management agencies, according to Dave Snyder. The company provides an integrated solution and...

GSN 2011 Awards Dinner Winners and Sponsors: Cosmo Perrone, Principle, Cosmo Perrone & Associates and former Security Director, Port of Long Beach, CA:

The Port of Long Beach, CA, was named Winner of GSN’s 2011 award for “Most Notable Maritime/Port Security Program”. Cosmo Perrone, Director of Security for the Port from 2006 to 2011, tells GSN about...

GSN Awards Dinner 2011 - Winners and Sponsors Interviews: Howard Ryan, Founder, CEO Total Alert Systems

According to Howard Ryan, Total Alert Systems is a one-stop shopping mass notification portal used by government agencies, DOD, industrial and health care users. It is capable of sending alerts to...

GSN 2011 Awards Winners and Sponsor Interview: Travis Scott, VP of Agency Relations, Nixle, Inc

Rapidly growing Nixle, which has signed up 4500-plus municipal, county, state and federal agencies in all 50 states – mainly law enforcement and public safety agencies -- and developed an opt-in...

GSN 2011 Award Winners and Sponsor Interviews: James Norton, Director of Homeland Security and Federal Strategy, General Dynamics C4

James Norton, who served as a DHS official before joining GSN Awards Sponsor General Dynamics C4, describes the 8-year collaboration that took place between GDC4 and DHS in developing GDC4’s Rescue...

News

Complete list of winners of GSN’s 2012 homeland security awards

Fri, 2012-11-30 12:46 PM

Government Security News announced winners in 42 different homeland security categories, showering accolades on top achievements by IT and physical security companies, and by federal, state and local...

GSN 2012 Awards announced: White House deputy of homeland security recognized for leadership at annual gala

Fri, 2012-11-30 08:27 AM

GSN Awards 2012

Hundreds of the best of the homeland security community’s federal, state and municipal government officials, government contractors, systems integrators, IT vendors and physical security product and...

ICE, international partners, seize 132 Web sites on Cyber Monday

Mon, 2012-11-26 01:54 PM

In an operation timed to coincide with one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and law enforcement agencies from across Europe, and the European...

Some areas of Mexico still dangerous for travelers, says State Dept.

Fri, 2012-11-23 09:59 AM

Chihuahuan desert

In a detailed region-by-region update of its travel warning to Mexico, the U.S. State Department continued to urge caution for U.S. tourists in the country, but noted the most of the violence in the...

Alabama man indicted in ‘swatting’ case

Mon, 2012-11-19 02:20 PM

SWAT team

A 19-year-old Alabama man was indicted for sending an entire town’s police force on a wild goose chase to the home of an online gaming rival in Texas. Stephen Sherwin Stepho of Tuscaloosa, AL, was...

DHS says it is observing privacy rules in monitoring social media

Tue, 2012-11-13 10:11 AM

DHS’s efforts to monitor social media, like Twitter, Facebook and blogs for suspicious traffic strictly observes federal privacy rules, said a report issued by the departmnt on Nov. 8. The Nov. 8...

DARPA taps amateur astronomer community to help protect satellites

Mon, 2012-11-12 09:44 AM

Defense researchers unveiled a program on Nov. 10 that would enlist private, amateur astronomers’ help in warding off disasters in space. NASA estimates more than 500,000 pieces of hazardous space...

NTIA FirstNet efforts continue

Fri, 2012-11-09 12:31 PM

Harlin McEwen

Dozens of companies, state governments, vendors and public safety organizations filed comments with the National Telecommunications Information Administration voicing their views on how the national...

Finalists announced in GSN’s 2012 awards program

Thu, 2012-11-08 04:49 PM

In spite of unfortunate business interruptions caused by power outages, flooding, loss of Internet services and other damages inflicted on the Northeastern part of the country by Hurricane Sandy,...

Further comments invited on ‘conceptual presentations’ describing new public safety broadband network

Tue, 2012-11-06 11:11 AM

F. Craig Farrill laid out
concept for FirstNet

Despite the fact that more than 50 organizations, companies and individuals have already commented on the “conceptual presentations” for a nationwide interoperable public safety network that were...

U.S. Army Capabilities Integration Center chooses Desktop Alert’s mass notification system

Mon, 2012-11-05 09:58 AM

Desktop Alert announced last month that U.S. Army Capabilities and Integration Center has selected the company’s mass notification products and services. The Army Capabilities Integration...

Secret Service to procure Secure View 3 cell phone forensic tools

Tue, 2012-10-30 03:47 PM

Secure View 3's
Link View Graph

The U.S. Secret Service plans to purchase the Secure View 3 mobile phone forensic investigative tool which enables a user to both access and analyze data found within a suspect’s cell phone. The...

Company News

RELM wireless teams with ARINC on Lancaster County Emergency Radio System

RELM Wireless Corp. has teamed with ARINC Incorporated as a supplier of P25 digital two-way radio equipment for deployment on a planned new emergency radio system in Lancaster County, PA.

After a competitive bidding process, ARINC was recently selected to enter contract negotiations to provide the system, said the company on May 2.

General Dynamics awarded $176 million USCG contract to support Rescue 21

General Dynamics C4 Systems has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Coast Guard to provide ongoing sustainment services for the national Rescue 21 search and rescue system.

General Dynamics, the prime contractor for the system's design, development and deployment, said it will continue to provide field service personnel, technical support and maintenance of the system.

Year-long project shows mobile DTV EAS viable

The results of a year-long Mobile Emergency Alert System (M-EAS) broadcast pilot project clearly show broadcasters across the country will soon be able to capitalize on the powerful combination of mobile DTV and rich media emergency alerts, said a group of equipment vendors and broadcasters involved in the effort.

Samsung’s security guard robot systems minimize manpower requirements

Samsung Techwin America has begun showcasing its expertise in developing innovative hardware and artificial intelligence (AI) technology solutions for the physical security marketplace. The company’s line of intelligent security guard robot systems includes the SGR-1 and SGR-2 robot sentry devices and the STAR-1 and Mini STAR autonomous mobile sentry vehicles.

ComNet extends Wiegand transmission distances

ComNet, of Danbury, CT, also known as Communication Networks, a manufacturer of fiber optic transmission and networking equipment, has introduced a fiber optic distance extending interface which allows optical connectivity between one card reader and its associated door- or gate-locking hardware, and any Wiegand, Magstripe or F/2F-based control panel.

RELM named in DHS TacCom contract with worth billions

DHS has named RELM Wireless Corporation as a supplier under its Tactical Communications (TacCom) contract to supply P25 digital two-way radios and related equipment by all DHS agencies of the DHS.

VidSys and Bridgeborn partner on PSIM with advanced 3D visualization

VidSys, a provider of Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) software that allows organizations to resolve business and security situations in real time, announced on March 26 a new partnership with Bridgeborn, an IT, operations, policy and research company.

C4ISR provider Cornet signs with secure mobile app designer

Springfield, VA-based Cornet Technology, Inc. a provider of video, voice and data communications subsystems signed an agreement with a privately-held secure mobile communications company resell their entire product line to U.S. Defense and Intelligence agencies.

Commentary and Opinions

Using technology to manage lower-risk offenders

Our nation's continued budget woes are taking a toll at all levels of government, including local cities and counties that are struggling with higher costs, lower tax revenue collections and sometimes dwindling state and federal aid. The result is a need to look for lower-cost and less-labor-intensive ways to address a range of government security and law enforcement needs. When governments downsize, technology is a tool to help fill the gap.

How smartphone and tablet technologies enhance emergency mass notification systems

Internet-enabled mobile devices and smartphones account for more and more traffic in today’s connected environment. In fact, as the global population becomes increasingly Internet-enabled, it is expected that the number of smartphone-connected users will rise exponentially and exceed 50 percent of all Internet traffic by 2015.

Leveraging the latest mobile technologies of smartphones and tablets is a significant development for emergency mass notification systems (EMNS), bringing powerful mass alerting functionality to most popular devices.

The changing paradigm in mass notification: Unified Communications

Interruptions to day-to-day business operations for the average organization occur numerous times per year, resulting in thousands of hours of lost productivity and revenue -- potentially endangering public safety. Common causes of these interruptions include power outages, severe storms, floods, chemical spills, accidents, information system crashes, human error and more.

Managed intelligently, smartphones and LTE could greatly improve military and public safety communications

Existing public safety communications systems are pretty dumb. Not dumb, as in a stupid idea, but dumb as in only able to do the one thing for which they were built.

A Land Mobile Radio (LMR) can transmit only voice and only to compatible radios. Once the first units of a communications system have been distributed, it is a costly decision to add features which will make new equipment incompatible with the installed base. Therefore, we largely operate at the lowest common denominator.

Protecting the network from the threat in your pocket

The weak links in today’s network security environment are mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. They represent the “next big thing” in attack vectors, not just as a target of an attack, but a source as well.

A top concern of many IT professionals in government agencies is how to prevent the compromise of smart phones and tablets by a botnet or other malware. Once compromised, these mobile devices could suffer data losses or infect other systems, thereby facilitating a wider breach of systems within the perimeter.

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Recent Communications Videos

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Detective Robert Shilling, Seattle Police Departmen

Detective Bob Shilling describes the Seattle PD’s winning entry in the category of “Most Notable Municipal/County Security Program” for its “Common Operating Program (COP)” that took five different CAD programs and put them into one system that could be used by the Seattle Police and Fire Departments, Public Utilities, City Lights and Seattle Department of Transportation. The project was financed by an $800,000 Urban Area Grant, but after looking at various large vendors’ solutions, the Seattle PD decided to build the program on its own.

IACP Conference, 2012: Dr. Frank Trocki, Aspen University, Denver, CO

Categories: Education/Training, Law Enforcement, Military/Force Protection, State/Local Security, Federal Agencies, Communications

IACP Conference, 2012: Stephen Meer, Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Intrado, Inc,

Stephen Meer, one of the founders of Intrado, Inc of Denver, Colorado, indicates that his company provides services and products to the 9-1-1 infrastructure, which he says is a very complicated ecosystem with lots of different constituent groups. The 9-1-1 infrastructure is like an iceberg, he says, with a little piece that delivers services to the public that is above the water line, and a massive infrastructure under the water line that supports it in operating seamlessly, continuously, dealing with all the regulations and issues in the world of public safety communications.

IACP Conference 2012: Mike Bostic, Director of Customer Advocacy, Security and Transportation Service, Raytheon

Mike Bostic of Raytheon points out that he spent 34 years as an Assistant Chief in the LAPD, where he worked about a third of that time in technology and communications. And one thing he learned from his LAPD experience is that everything the military needs, so does public safety. But Raytheon is in the business of solving operational problems rather than selling boxes and devices, he says, and as a systems integrator the company sells solutions to specific sets of problems.

IACP Conference, 2012: Rob Wolf, VP Public Safety and Emergency Response, NC4

Rob Wolf tells GSN that NC4 products focus on situational awareness, and the company is at the IACP show to demonstrate its new NC4 SAFECOP product for state and local law enforcement. NC4 SAFECOP was developed in collaboration with the Tampa, FL police department and is a new crime fighting solution that changes the way officers police the streets by bringing them blogging capabilities which, combined with other police feeds and CAD data, display a graphic representation of crime almost immediately following an incident.

White Papers

Are Trade Shows Still Relevant?

There was a time when a trade show budget was never questioned. If your company had a product to launch,training to conduct, leads to generate or branding to imprint, the industry’s major trade show was the place to do it.

Please click the headline to read more.

Upcoming Events

Event Details	Dates of Event
SANS Austin 2013	May 19 - 24
DoD VA Healthcare Training Forum	May 20 - 23
Transport and Logistics of Hazardous Material	May 27 - 28
Southwest Microwave Seminar	May 28 - 28
Border Management Southwest Summit	May 29 - 31
Cyber Security Conference & Expo	May 30 - 30
Mobile Device Security Summit 2013	May 30 - Jun 6
Security Analytics Summit 2013	May 30 - Jun 6
Cyber Security Conference & Expo	May 30 - 30
Southwest Microwave Seminar	May 30 - 30
SANS Malaysia @ MCMC 2013	Jun 3 - 8
2013 SIA Government Summit	Jun 4 - 5
Southwest Microwave Seminar	Jun 4 - 4
NCT: CBRNe Israel, 4 - 6 June 2013, Tel Aviv	Jun 4 - 6
SEL Modern Solutions Power Systems Conference	Jun 5 - 7
Mission Command	Jun 10 - 12
Cyber Securty Brainstorm	Jun 11 - 11
EDGE Summit 2013	Jun 11 - 11
IPv6 Summit 2013	Jun 14 - 16
SANSFIRE 2013	Jun 15 - 22
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's 2nd Biosurveillance Symposium	Jun 17
Biodetection Technologies 2013	Jun 18 - 19
Southwest Microwave Seminar	Jun 18 - 18
Cyber Defense and Network Security Summit	Jun 24 - 26
Vanguard Security & Compliance 2013	Jun 24 - 27
SANS Canberra 2013	Jul 1 - 13
Border Management & Technologies Summit	Jul 2 - 5
SANS Rocky Mountain 2013	Jul 15 - 20
SANS Mumbai 2013	Jul 22 - 27
SANS San Francisco 2013	Jul 29 - Aug 3
SANS Boston 2013	Aug 5 - 10
Cyber Security for Government	Aug 12 - 14
SANS Thailand 2013	Aug 19 - 31
SANS Virginia Beach 2013	Aug 19 - 30
Maritime Security 2013 West	Aug 19 - 21
930gov: Strategic Buying at Year-End Showcase	Aug 21 - 21

New Products

Bluetooth-compatible CyberKey for mobile access authorization

Videx has announced CyberKey Blue, a rechargeable key that uses Bluetooth technology. The combination of CyberKey technology and Bluetooth technolo...

Introducing the ‘In Case of Emergency’ iPhone app

Legalzoom.com, an online legal service, and Donate Life America (DLA), a non-profit organization, have created and are offering ICE App, intended to help users input the compreh...

NIR, SWIR, and extended VNIR ranges targeted for airborne signal detection

Fitchburg, MA-based...

Mobile Active Defense launches GeoLocation-based firewall and content filtering for iPhones and smart phones

Mobile Active Defense, LLC (M.A.D.) has announced the release of its patent-pending mobile firewall and contents filtering mecha...

Maxxess launches eMobile Smartphone-based security service

An innovative 'next generation' smartphone service called eMobile has been introduced by Maxxess.

"eMobile provides a very ex...

More New Products