Motorola Solutions Transforms Body-Worn Cameras for TETRA Users

Back in December the UK government decided on who and what will drive the new generation of emergency service communications. The ESN (Emergency Services Network) was the result of months of tendering and negotiations. So they decided that EE would manage the network and Motorola would provide the hardware. This article is about the first wave of communication devices that Motorola are planning to use with the ESN.

New innovative solution combines body-worn video camera, radio speaker and microphone with cloud-based data storage and management to create a complete digital evidence management system

At Critical Communications World 2016 (May 31 to June 2 in Amsterdam), Motorola Solutions announces a new combination of body-worn video camera, radio speaker and microphone, along with new, cloud-based, digital evidence management software, which is able to collaborate with TETRA digital two-way radios. The new “Smart Interface” (Si) Si500 Video Speaker Microphone (VSM) is reducing the number of devices that weigh down public safety officers in the field today, while CommandCentral Vault digital evidence management software is providing unparalleled efficiency that saves time and resources.



Public safety agencies today face an increasing demand to capture, store, properly manage and share video evidence. While use of body-worn cameras has widespread and growing acceptance with public safety agencies and the citizens they protect, the massive amounts of data cameras create needs to be managed and stored, oftentimes incurring significant costs. With its new solution, Motorola Solutions tackles all of these challenges and offers an end-to-end solution that can be used with existing TETRA radio equipment. Public safety agencies are provided with a seamless experience from video capture in the field to back office storage and content management that helps them simplify workflows and reduce administrative overheads.

“In Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), TETRA digital radio technology has become a standard for mission-critical communications,” said Steven Young, vice president TETRA devices at Motorola Solutions. “This is why we have developed a body-worn video solution that collaborates with TETRA radios. The Si500 is transforming digital evidence management by integrating our best microphone into a body-worn camera and combining it with a content management system that´s unmatched in its ease-of-use.”

Sight and Sound Simplified

Both body-worn camera and remote radio speaker microphone, the compact Si500 VSM is a unique interface that extends the mission-critical performance of Motorola Solutions TETRA digital two-way radios. The lightweight compact design includes innovative features to meet the needs of first responders:

• The Si500 VSM is equipped with a 210-degree range-of-motion camera lens that provides optimal field-of-view and flexible wearing positions. Users can wear the VSM with the display facing in or out.



• The Si500 VSM features a new adaptive audio engine that automatically adjusts audio settings based on the user’s wearing position and environment. With five integrated microphones and a loud 0.5-watt rated speaker, it provides the high audio quality of TETRA radios.
  
  Integrated Wi-Fi dramatically improves the speed of uploading multi-media. It also makes over-the-air feature updates via Radio Management quickly and seamlessly over Wi-Fi.



• The Si500 VSM offers a full-screen tempered-glass display with an intuitive user interface that presents only vital information within three panels. Users have the ability to control radio channels and talkgroups, view recorded video and photos, tag videos and listen to audio recordings.

Digital Evidence Management Revolutionized

The digital evidence management solution includes the cloud-based CommandCentral Vault software application to securely store, manage and share digital evidence. With an expansive base storage capacity and integration with computer aided dispatch and records management systems, CommandCentral Vault is designed to make digital evidence management easy and affordable. The digital evidence management software also:

• Ensures end-to-end security that reduces any challenge to chain of custody for agencies
  
  Pairs with the Si500 VSM and can also operate stand alone and accept evidence gathered from any device



• Offers a highly streamlined ability to search, review, annotate and perform other evidence management, reducing administrative time and expense



• Provides an industry-leading auto-redaction feature to help public safety agencies remove identities of individuals in videos seamlessly. Instead of having to painstakingly invest the time to review and possibly edit each video frame, technicians will be able to automatically mark objects such as faces, addresses or license plates and let the new technology blur them out automatically throughout the video, saving hours of administrative time.



• Creates greater engagement and transparency with communities. The system enables agencies to improve evidence sharing and more easily respond to content requests.