Introduction

In these series of posts, I plan on going through the background of Unified Communications, where it came from and how the industry and technology developed into what it is today. I’ll be doing this by breaking things down into key areas that I feel were definitive in nature and process.  The intent is to keep things on a high level and business focused; this is not intended to be a deep dive, but rather a paper from an independent source on why this important to you as a City Manager, member of a County Board of Supervisors or Rural Electric Executive.

The structure I’m planning is as follows:

• History – You can’t know where things are going if you don’t know where some of the technology and business drivers came from.
• The light turns on – When manufacturers came to realize where the real work and value was in the product(s) and where the values to their customers are.
• Standards – Standards are a integral part of technology, but standards are open to interpretation and can effect decisions long after a choice has been made.
• The Meat of the matter – How and what they’ve really unified, and how the applications play into a homogenous communications system.
• The last posts will be about applications specific that I see where Municipal Governments and Rural Cooperatives could see lower costs, increased productivity and better customer service metrics.
• Finally, a summary of the key points over what I’ve talked about.

I’m not intending to make you an expert. I just want you to feel comfortable when you have to sit in a meeting with a vendor and listen to some of the buzz words and techie talk. Of course, you could always hire a consultant.

The grand plan is to publish the final version as a white paper and make it available as a download.

This is a blog environment. I encourage comments and suggestions on these topics.

I saw something today that I’ve seen so many times before that I really just don’t understand.  I walked into a tower site ran by a local Public Safety organization. The site itself was, from an external standpoint fairly nice. The tower, building and guys were well fenced, and access was excellent.  However, when we entered the small transmitter building, what we found was not quite what one would expect.  Expecting nice, albeit small equipment racks with equipment neatly stacked and arranged in such a manner as to display a professional and well thought out system, we found instead, 2 AC powered console base stations, and one 12 volt powered base station.  The console base stations were in cabinets and locked, a plus in my book, the other transmitter since it was substantially newer and 12 volt powered was sitting on a plywood shelf with the cheesy metal shelf brackets screwed into the wall.


Now don’t get me wrong.  I understand that sometimes economy trumps everything else. Especially when working with public dollars.  There always seems to be too much project at the end of the budget. The console base stations however, were not bolted to the floor. The grounding, coax and other infrastructure was neatly and professionally done. The 12 volt transmitter, even though on the shelf that it is, was neatly installed. Unfortunately, the location of this site is in a known earthquake zone.  One good shake, and as the rhyme goes, they all go tumbling down.


No, what really crumbles my cookies was what these AC base stations were plugged into. One would expect, at a minimum, a properly grounded commercial line interactive UPS, complete with alarming.  A quick note; I am NOT a DC power snob. While I do like DC power in certain applications, I do realize that AC power backup in the right situation(s) is appropriate, cost effective and reliable. But, when I walk into a Public Safety radio system site, I do not expect to see critical communications gear plugged into $150 UPS’s that someone picked up from the local office supply chain. The servers here at Praecom World Headquarters have better UPS on them than these radios.


I know the folks that installed and maintained the radios.  Again, they are fine competent radio people. But radio people are not power people. Public safety people are not radio OR power people. Radio dealers are in the business to sell radios, and in today’s competitive world, anywhere they can cut costs they will.


I’m not disparaging the UPS manufacturer either. These are fine units for an office environment or supporting a small single server.  I utilize a model very similar on the telephone system here in the office. The point I’m getting to is that it was the wrong application for the design.


You see, you have several dynamics all coming together that, if the moon and the stars are in proper alignment, something is going to go wrong. The site did have generator power, so hold time generally would not be a problem. The issue truly is that there lacks any visibility into the system. If the UPS were to fail, for any reason, AND the generator failed to start, all the poor dispatcher would know is that they were off the air. And these UPS’s do fail. Regularly, and when you least expect it.


As a comparison, also in this building is where the local RBOC has brought in a SONET terminal to drop out the circuits for the radios. The SONET terminal was in a small 19” rack, bolted to the floor. In a tray in the bottom of the rack was 4 nice 25 AH gel cell batteries and a float charger. The RBOC does have deeper pockets, but they also understand reliability and power. They have learned their lessons over 100 years of needing to provide service.


So the final advice is, whether you’re spending $250,000, $50,000 or $10,000 on a site take a little extra and design the power appropriately. A small commercial UPS and generator transfer panel is, in the grand scheme of things a small cost. And I guarantee you’ll sleep better at night. At a minimum, make sure you know what you’re asking for, and in the end, what you’re getting.

An excellent paper written by our Consultant Emeritus – Jay Underdown on Narrow Band implementation for Electric Cooperatives.

Sequachee Valley Electric Goes Digital

The Country’s First Digital Narrow-Band Radio Communications System in an Electric Co-op

Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative is a 28,000-member co-op at the foothills of the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. Its main office is in South Pittsburg, about 25 miles west of Chattanooga, close to the Alabama border.  With an average of 11 members per mile and 2,400 miles of power lines, and only 72 employees to cover its 4-county territory, responding to power outages is a real challenge.


Meeting this challenge demands a coordinated effort between members, the office, and the service technicians.  Because the Co-op must respond quickly to restoring and maintaining safe power services, a reliable radio communications system is crucial.  In the early 1990s the Co-op found that their low-band simplex radio system just wasn’t reliable anymore, and so the Co-op turned to an outside consultant for help in upgrading their communications systems.


In early 1993, the Co-op contracted with Spectrum Resources, Inc. (SRI), a communications consulting firm located in St. Charles, Missouri.  Jay Underdown, President of SRI, met with the managers at the Co-op to evaluate their communications needs.  Managers from all four offices of the Co-op – the main office in South Pittsburg, plus the district offices in Pikeville, Dunlap, and Tracy City – were involved in the meetings to assess their current needs and plan for future ones.  In June 1993 SRI prepared  an integrated telecommunications plan that includes SCADA, telephone upgrades, and fixed and mobile data communications.  The first phase of this plan was the implementation of a very-high-frequency (VHF) digital radio system.

Why choose a digital radio system?

Implementing a digital radio system was a bold undertaking for this medium-sized electric co-op.  No other co-op had done something this cutting-edge, so it was very much uncharted territory.  They couldn’t raise members’ rates, and thus had to contain costs carefully.  They also needed to move fairly quickly because the old equipment was not reliable, nor were replacement parts easily available.  In selecting a radio communications system, they were impressed with the many advantages of a digital radio system.


System design
SRI suggested a digital system based on impending changes at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  The FCC’s Refarming Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (PR Docket # 92-235) was published in June 1995.  One of the purposes of the Refarming Report was to make more channels available in the VHF range.  The FCC did this by making the VHF channels half as wide as those that were in use (and thus doubling the availability); this is called narrow band operations.  The way in which the digital system modulates a signal is a definite advantage in narrow band operations, and thus digital radio systems are expected to become the standard in the next few years.


The new radio system makes more frequencies available to the Co-op.  With the old low-band simplex system, all four districts operated on the same frequency.  “If a storm came through and all four districts had a power outage at once, then all four district managers would be on the same frequency, talking to at least four different mobile units, trying to manage the situation.  It was difficult to make sure the right person got the right message,” notes Danny Kirkendoll, Director of Engineering at the Co-op.  Now, the South Pittsburg and the Tracy City district offices each have a dedicated repeater.  The Dunlap and Pikeville offices share a repeater.  However, all mobile units can access any repeater when necessary.  “This has helped us tremendously in managing situations better with less stress,” says Kirkendoll.  “We can communicate more clearly with the service technicians, which helps us reduce the time our members are without electricity.  This, of course, makes it safer not only for our technicians, but also for our members.”


Furthermore, moving to a VHF radio system meant that the Co-op could improve their coverage area. The low-band frequency they had been using is very susceptible to man-made forms of noise, such as vehicle ignition systems, power lines, and noise generated from electric motors and neon signs.  The new repeaters (see below), combined with the greater transmission capability of the VHF repeater signal, means that now they can communicate where they couldn’t do so before.   “We’re very pleased with the coverage we’re getting now,”  reports Bob Pickering, General Manager of the Co-op.


Privacy
Many people in this rural area have radio scanners to listen into police, ambulance, and other radio communications.  However, these scanners cannot receive the Co-op’s digital signal, and thus other people cannot listen in to Co-op radio communications.  “This is a great security feature,” says Kirkendoll, smiling.  “It gives our technicians more privacy in carrying out the repairs.  Plus, sometimes we have to communicate information about the members in order to make the repair.  With our digital system, other people can’t listen in, which also gives our members greater security.”


Quality of communications
“With digital radio, either the signal is picked up completely, or it’s not picked up at all,” explains Underdown.  “The only distortion happens when the signal isn’t strong enough; in this case you hear a ‘warble’ just as the signal fades, then the receiver squelches.”  Given the size and the rocky terrain of the territory they cover, the Co-op’s service technicians were used to hearing static when they were out of range of the old stations.  “With the digital system, there’s no static whatsoever,” says Kirkendoll.  In fact, this has been one of the biggest changes that the service technicians have noticed.


“We don’t have to strain to make out words in a message,” notes Kirkendoll.  “Now if a technician is not picking up the signal, he or she will move to a location where the signal is obviously clear.”  And their new equipment and repeater locations have significantly expanded the coverage area, so that there are now fewer areas where signals cannot be received.  Again, the ability to communicate clearly increases safety not only for the service technicians, but also for the members.


Voice and data transmissions
A digital system enables its users to mix voice and data.  This capability has many advantages for future upgrades.  For example, putting mobile data computers in the service trucks would give the technicians remote access to the main database.  This would enable technicians to double-check addresses, quickly retrieve information about past problems at a customer’s site, check pertinent customer data, and other advantages.  One of the Co-op’s goals is to build upon the recommendations of SRI and ultimately create a SCADA system.  “We wanted a good foundation for our future plans,” explains Tim Sallee, District Manager of the South Pittsburg office.  “The digital backbone will give us more flexibility in implementing other improvements.”


Another welcome aspect of the digital system is that, anytime a mobile or a base unit keys up, that unit number is displayed on everyone else’s units for quick identification.  And if a technician isn’t nearby the service vehicle when an emergency call comes in, then the office can signal the mobile units to turn on a hazard light or even honk the vehicle’s horn to get attention.  Furthermore, each district has portable radio units that can also be signaled to beep by the base units.  These portables are used by contractors, by employees walking the right-of-way, and by on-call supervisors, who can take the hand-held unit home and monitor situations in the evening.   “This type of signaling is not a unique feature of digital radio,” notes Underdown, “but it is a feature that is built into the digital system, and therefore it doesn’t cost anything extra.”

Equipment and training needs for the digital system

SRI’s plan called for three new digital VHF repeaters.  A new 240-foot tower at Suck Creek primarily serves the Marion County District.  This tower can ultimately be expanded to 380 feet for mounting microwave dishes.   A second, new 220-foot tower is located at Hobbs Hill, and primarily covers the area around Tracy City.  The Co-op also leases space on a commercial 280-foot tower northwest of Pikeville; this third repeater covers primarily the Pikeville and Dunlap areas.


All four district offices have a base control station, remote control consoles in the offices, mobile units in service vehicles, and a few portable radios.  Additionally, there is a second control base at the South Pittsburg office that gives general supervisory access to all three repeater stations.  The remotes look like telephones, and the voice analog signal is converted to a digital signal through a control panel bridge to the radio control base.


The radio equipment was selected from Motorola’s Astro product line, and the towers were manufactured by Pi-Rod.  The buildings at the antenna sites were manufactured by Fiber-Bond per SRI’s specifications to suit the Co-op’s needs (places to store materials and so forth).


The new state-of-the-art equipment is music to an engineer’s ears.  “So far with the new equipment I haven’t had any problems,” says Kirkendoll.  “With the old equipment, I was having problems every week.”  In particular, one of the old low-band stations was a magnet for lightning, being struck 2 or 3 times a year.  “SRI built in a tremendous amount of lightning protection at the towers,” notes Kirkendoll.  “I don’t think we’ll have any more problems with lightning now.”


Training has not been a problem either.  “The system is very easy to use,” says Sallee.  “We only spent an afternoon on training, and we all quickly learned what we need to know to operate the system.  The most difficult thing we’ve had to do is get used to the digital quality of the signal.  The voice quality takes some getting used to.”


The upgrade in the communications system, and ultimately in service to the members, has not cost the members anything.  “We haven’t had to raise the rates,” says Kirkendoll, “because Bob Pickering has very carefully managed our monies.”  The Co-op’s digital system went on the air in November 1996, and its implementation and functioning have been very satisfactory. Based on the Co-op’s experiences, their boldness in implementing the country’s first narrow-band radio systems in an electric co-op is indeed a sound investment for the future.


Motorola and Astro are trademarks of Motorola, Inc.

Pi-Rod is a trademark of Pi-Rod Corp.

Fiber-Bond is a trademark of Fiber-Bond Corp.

ã  1997 SPECTRUM RESOURCES, INC.

I follow several feeds on Twitter, including some of the posts from this year’s Voicecon conference.  Here is a quick article about all the UC buzz at Voicecon this year.  For those who don’t know what CEBP stands for: Communications Enabled Business Process.

I think it’s interesting to see some of the solutions, including video and tying back into social networking.  All the big players seem to have some niche in the market.  For my customers, I would recommend going to the Voicecon website: there is a number of free resources there.  I will post them later as I have a chance to go through them.

For Municipal/Governmentals this can be a lot of buzz.  Let’s face it, sometimes it’s all you can do to get dial tone to some people. I recently had to call a county highway department for a customer project. When no one picked up, the line was answered by what sounded like a $20 answering machine from Wal-Mart.

What this does is gives you another route of communications to remote field or highly mobile people. An enlightened municipality could take something like this and automate permits and inspections or dynamically assign people to tasks (i.e. Park Ranger to check in a group at a pavilion) with out any other human involvement. Depending on  your sophistication internally this may be an opportunity to show value to your constituents and lower costs. This would also drive a conversation into an external web scheduling application, but that’s a topic for another time.

On the other hand, this can be a very effective mechanism for cooperatives.  There are a lot of things that can be tied back into business processes. The business model is substantially better for capitol investment in this type of technology, and REC’s typically have a large number of highly mobile people.  A lot of managers, inspectors and engineers, while mobile, do not need a radio like a line crew would. However they are out, and catching them can be troublesome. They are also tied to email as well as to a phone call to their office. Here, Unified Communications and ultimately CEBP can be a boon to productivity to these people.

Look for more in this forum on this subject.  I’ve lots of ideas on how local governmental and REC customers can leverage this technology!

Many posts to come!!!