MARCS Provides Public Safety and Service Providers the Ability to Communicate Properly From Anywhere Anytime

Our society lives in a hectic world in which information plays a key role in the transporting data from point A to B in the communication process. How and when this communications delivery takes place could be life threatening depending upon the circumstances. In the tragic events which occurred on September 11 communications were vital, yet unavailable. The primary emergency response units quickly found out their communications tools would not interface with each other, thereby creating a serious barrier for relaying information. This problem was identified as one of the most important. Based on this problem and many others surrounding the safety of our country there was an initiative created termed Homeland Security. This initiative is geared at protecting the United States from foreign and domestic terrorists. This article will focus on the wireless technology services the State of Ohio offers state, county, local governments for homeland security.

The State of Ohio realized back in 1990 there were serious problems with the communications systems utilized by their public safety and service agencies. This was evident after the Shadyside flood disaster in 1990. First responders were unable to communicate with each other even though they had portable and mobile radios. The inability to communicate between responders created serious issues when attempting to rescue and evacuate people on either side of the raging river. The State of Ohio conducted in-depth studies of the lack of statewide interoperability communications, resulting in the development of a statewide voice and data communications system providing the bridge between the communications gap. The state's initiative was coined MARCS or Multi-Agency Radio Communications System. MARCS would provide the State of Ohio with the ability to have first responders communicate with other public safety or service providers statewide.

Even though this is a state initiative it is setup to run in a rotary capacity, which simply means that the subscriber base covers the operating expenses without generating a profit. Therefore, as the customer base grows the price for the service decreases enabling customers to buy more services and spend less on each device. MARCS deployed in 2002 and currently only costs $19 per month to subscribe to the voice service. This means an agency may buy a portable radio or a mobile radio for their vehicles and then pay for the service, providing taxpayers with a substantial return on their investment.

It was a common fact; 10 years ago many public safety agencies built and managed independent radio systems for control and technological constraints. These systems were very costly and contributed to the need for a statewide commonly shared communications system. MARCS provides the ability for interoperability at a reduction in individual operational costs. MARCS enables public safety and service providers to concentrate on providing their core services. An example would be a small police agency in rural Ohio possessing a need for mobile data communications that would facilitate checking for criminals. If they were to spend all their money on the infrastructure then the necessary money for developing software may not be available.

In summary, our society's public leaders must continually strive to glean the most value from their expenditures. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to build islands of communications equipment. The MARCS system continues to strive for interoperable communications for public safety responders to communicate properly within Ohio cost effectively, from anywhere anytime.

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