Cisco and EFJohnson Collaborate to Provide Interoperability Solution for Emergency First Responders and State and Local Governments

Project 25 communications teams with IP networking for public safety

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Cisco® today announced that it is collaborating with EFJ, Inc.’s EFJohnson subsidiary to combine Cisco’s IP Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS) with EFJohnson’s robust portfolio of advanced Land Mobile Radio (LMR) communications solutions. The combination provides state and local governments and emergency first responders with a complete communications interoperability solution as they look for new ways to improve response times and protect citizens. The solution is available today.

The joint Cisco and EFJ solution offers customers a fast, flexible, and cost-effective radio migration toward trunked Project 25 (P25) systems and one of the most advanced, interoperable public safety communications solutions available. Features include robust interoperability between mixed analog and digital wide-area talk groups, IP telephony, cellular and public safety broadband communications (WiMax, 4.9Ghz, 700Mhz) as well as seamless roaming, mobility management, and spectral efficiency. It gives customers greater choice as they look to solve problems requiring a combination of radio communications and other communications systems.

“With this combined solution, public safety and homeland security agencies can achieve tremendous interoperability and increased capabilities across disparate communication networks while protecting their investment,” said Mark Weidick, vice president and general manager of Cisco’s safety and security systems business unit.

Cisco IPICS has licensed EFJ’s powerful radio control protocol, which is unique in supporting a breadth of radio system technologies, ranging from the most widely installed, traditional analog technologies, to the newest, most advanced P25 digital standards. Customers can now easily create a multi-jurisdictional system of radio systems while also communicating beyond radio to cellular phones, IP phones, and personal computers in order to streamline operations and rapidly respond to incidents and emergencies.

“The relationship helps enable a close integration of Cisco IPICS and EFJohnson’s analog and digital radio system solutions,” said Michael E. Jalbert, chairman and chief executive officer of EFJ, Inc. “This will benefit first-responder users of legacy analog radio systems as they interoperate with and migrate to newer technologies, including Project 25 digital radio systems.”