Keeping a strong digital connection in coastal and island communities comes with its own set of challenges. As the Vineyard Gazette reports, plans to upgrade communications from analog to digital delivery have uncovered problems in the Dukes County, MA EMS system. Reports of missed calls and dead zones have been rolling in since the changeover began last June.
“That level of connectivity had never occurred before,” said Edgartown police chief Bruce McNamee. “But without proper infrastructure, according to people familiar with the digital technology, the gains the systems make in clarity can come at the expense of comprehensive coverage. While an analog system will pick up weak or garbled transmissions, the digital system seeks to maintain a higher level of audio quality, leaving officers unable to hear some calls that were previously fuzzy, but audible, with the old system.”
Removing two water tower antenna sites in Edgartown and Tisbury in favor of more distant towers in Chappaquiddick and Oak Bluffs plays into the system deficiencies. Officers have said that the calls they receive now are easier to hear, but that not all calls come through. “We’ve had officers miss calls, or not hear them,” confirmed Chief McNamee. “Because we have a variety of officers in a variety of locations, the calls themselves are not entirely missed, we’re getting it. It’s just there are times when we need to use some other mode of technology to make sure everybody gets it.”
So far, the upgrade has cost at least $6.4 million, with additional expenses budgeted for ongoing system maintenance. However, it has been suggested that the system may also need to install signal boosters known as microsites to help carry signals over dead spots.
“There’s not a day that goes by that we’re not trying to make improvements to [the communication arrangement] or solve issues with it,” Sheriff Bob Ogden told the Gazette. “No system is perfect. It requires us to continually do the best we can, to provide the best product. That’s what we’re doing.”
“There are aspects of the system that are light years ahead of where we were a few years ago,” agreed Chief McNamee. “But in its present form, it is still not meeting the needs of the Edgartown police.”
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