Ongoing Training Is Crucial for Firefighters, but Until Now, It Required Taking Personnel

Ongoing Training Is Crucial for Firefighters, but Until Now, It Required Taking Personnel

Ongoing training is crucial for firefighters, but until now, it required taking personnel out of their stations to attend off-site sessions," said Fred Hoegler, Palatine's deputy fire chief. "With this videoconferencing system, firefighters can stay up-to-date, while remaining in their houses and ready to respond to any situation at a moment's notice," Hoegler added.
According to the deputy chief, finding ways to streamline training has become critical in recent years for the 95 firefighters serving the city's 69,000 residents. A Palatine firefighter spends about 20 hours each month attending classes relating to fire fighting and safety alone.
The training sessions are also recorded, so firefighters can make up any training that they might have missed because of scheduling conflicts or due to responses to emergency calls that occurred during the original training session.
To implement this new training system, Palatine IT director Lee Plate worked closely with Computer Sports, an Itasca, Ill.-based Sony value-added reseller, to select the proper equipment to make this concept a reality.
The PCS-1 and PCS-G70 units' dual ISDN and IP connectivity, as well as support for a wide range of standards including MPEG-4 and H.264, enable easy integration and interoperability. High-level imaging capabilities are achieved through the efficient use of bandwidth - up to 2 Mbps over IP networks and up to 768 Kbps over an ISDN network.
"Responding effectively to emergencies requires an intensely collaborative effort among people and technology," he said. "This initial phase of our training system is the first step in the creation of a network that will stretch across the entire region."
While the system's ISDN capabilities provide backward compatibility, Bill Bryk, vice president of sales for Computer Sports, said that the focus of the Palatine system is on IP-based capabilities to connect over wireless networks.
"Palatine appreciates the potential of videoconferencing and what it means to be able to make that truck, that squad car, that emergency vehicle all network-capable," Bryk said. "What they're doing is a perfect example of combining technology with personnel resources, to create a solution that can ultimately save lives."

Our team members are busy and have very hectic schedules," said Ron Urano, product manager for the IPELA visual communications group. "It's often difficult to find the time to attend a training session in person. Now that our training is moving to an online model, users can take advantage of the Internet's 'anytime, anywhere' access and complete their training at a time that works best for them."
The training modules offered cover five topics: PCS-TL30, PCS-TL50, PCS-G70, PCS-1, as well as the version of Sony's PCS-TL50 system that supports Cisco's SCCP protocol. Users log-in with a username and a password.
Each module begins with a "how to navigate" tutorial, an outline of the steps each module includes, and an estimate of how a specific session will take to complete. Each training modules includes six steps and requires about two to three hours to complete.
Users are also provided with an overview section that describes the particular technology covered, and information is included on preparation, operations, programming and troubleshooting for each specific technology.

Sony's IPELA integrated business platform for Visual Communications continues to show very promising growth trends. Our ongoing commitment to reinforcing and building this brand has never been stronger. A broad range of new applications spawned by industry demand and technology advancements will continue to positively influence both IPELA business units as well as the total brand.
Given the dynamic changes in the VC category there has never been a better time to aggressively invest in the future of the IPELA Visual Communications business. That means an investment in channel expansion, an investment in business development and, most important, continued investment in the IPELA Visual Communication's team.
A key component of the IPELA Visual communications growth strategy is our commitment to new products and there is no better example of this than Sony's focus on the high-definition space. The launch of our HD Visual Communications solution (PCS-HG90) will have an important and lasting effect on the entire industry.

Our focuses on channel expansion and business development are closely linked. The IPELA Visual Communications product portfolio is extremely well suited to address a broad range of solutions through every vertical market in which we currently do business.
Without question, our most important investment is the one that we make in the IPELA Visual Communications team; in other words, in our people. We have strengthened the senior management team and enhanced the dedicated sales, marketing and engineering staffs. I have great confidence in this team's unified focus and their ability to effectively build the business for the long term.
On behalf of Sony Electronics, I want to clearly state that IPELA Visual Communications is extremely important to the company's near term and the longer term business goals. As such, my commitment to supporting the successful development of this business and the team will be an ongoing priority.
I want to thank you all for your continued support in making the IPELA Visual Communications a great success.
Best Regards,
John A. Scarcella
President
Broadcast & Business Solutions Company
Sony Electronics Inc.