Linn County gets new Internet-based radio system

A new Internet-based communications system will connect emergency responders throughout Linn County to each other, no matter what radio networks they operate.

Jim Houser, Linn County supervisor and chairman of E911 Services Board, announced today that Linn County is the first county in the state to implement an internet protocol based interoperability system. The system will allow first responders from police, fire, EMS and emergency management to directly talk with each other without each agency changing their radio systems.

Houser said the E911 Services Board applied for a $324,837 federal grant to the state and a match from the services board paid for the system.

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said before this system, which was implemented about a month ago, police officers would have to go through dispatchers to connect with an officer from a different agency. The new system will save time and likely prevent miscommunication.

Linn County Sheriff's Capt. Dave Knott said during the snowstorm this week, the system helped Cedar Rapids police stay in direct contact with the Iowa State Patrol when cars had to be towed out of the median or from the side of the highway along Interstate 380 on Wednesday and Thursday.

Houser, a proponent of the interoperability concept, said the radio users in the county are all on different networks, and the new system will allow them to connect to each other without having to purchase new radios. The control consoles for the computer-based system have been installed at the sheriff's office, emergency management and the Cedar Rapids and Marion police departments.

Gardner said the new system is the first step in developing inter-departmental emergency communications, but radio equipment will have to be upgraded in three to four years as a result of the changes in Federal Communication Commission requirements.

Johnson County will be installing something similar to this system in the spring, and Linn County will be able to tie into those agencies, Knott said.