Just as phones connect us to one another, wireless radio communications connect law enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics to emergencies.
The Williamson County Radio Communications System ensures every programmed wireless radio worn by a first responder or installed in an emergency vehicle communicates across the county.
An advisory board of representatives from the cities of Cedar Park, Georgetown, Hutto and Round Rock provides recommendations to the program manager/Williamson County on the system’s overall health, direction and operations.
Other board members include Wilco Commissioners, department officials and Chief Chris Connealy, senior director of Emergency Services.
Each subscriber pays $28.18 per radio per month for use of the system. The revenue-based fund from the more than 4,200 subscribers (total number of radios on the system) provides greater purchasing power, radio interoperability throughout the county, centralized command and control, and priority support for public health and safety.
Interoperability means the ability of emergency responders to communicate among
jurisdictions, disciplines and various levels of government, using a variety of radio frequency bands, like UHF for EMS paging, VHF for fire paging, 800 for radio transmitting and microwave for simulcasting. Also, certain radios are dual band–they use 800 and VHF.
The Round Rock school district’s new police force is the latest to join the system.