purchase new digital two-way radios. First off, digital systems differ


from analog in that they are IP based, so adding remote sites brings down infrastructure costs, said Alex Hinerfeld, a sales representative with Secomm Wireless, an authorized Kenwood dealer. Te result, he said, has been reduced “dead spots.” “Some of the biggest sales points or things (districts) have discovered is the increased range they get,” he noted. “Everybody said that when they went to narrowband they were going to lose range, and we’re finding when they’re going digital they are covering places they never covered before.” In Lake Worth’s case, Dodd said the district made a decision to go with the newer technology because of concerns down the road that the systems would become more difficult over time to maintain and to replace. “Even though analog may never go


away, with the (necessary) parts and repair, if one of those analog radios went out we’d have to replace with a digital radio,” she said. Analog systems continue to work,


however, with the new narrowband 12.5 kHz frequency, which is half of the previous 25 kHz spectrum that went into effect Jan. 1. And, as Cros- by pointed out, manufacturers will continue producing and supporting analog systems for "a long time to come." But digital radios do offer marked advancements over their analog cousins. Tink of today’s cellular phone


technology and how far personal communications have come. While a flip phone, for example, continues to serve the basic needs of mobile conversations and, with some, text messaging, smartphones bring the “wow” factor that scintillates buyers with packaged tools like still and video photography, GPS mapping, turn-by-turn directions, countless possibilities for apps of the entertain- ing and useful nature, voice-recogni- tion software, and instant Cloud data storage, to name a few. So, too, do digital radios offer


tech-savvy student transporters the ability to use their communication systems for so much more than driv- er-dispatch chatter.


“I hear that all the time, ‘We have


to go digital,’” said Hinerfeld. “You don’t have to do anything. Ninety percent of your fleet can probably be reprogrammed to narrowband. But if you’re in the market to buy new equipment, you might want go digital for the advancements it brings you down the road.” While Dodd said Lake Worth


ISD will likely not utilize digital radios beyond the regular driv- er-dispatch communications, many transporters nationwide are turning to digital for the bells and whistles. Seemingly every function in today’s modern school bus is driven, record- ed or transmitted via GPS. Te same applies to digital radios, which utilize GPS as the computer to send and receive a host of data solutions such as vehicle location, surveillance video, text messaging, vehicle safety and performance monitoring. In addition to the clearer com-


munications and enhanced security provided by digital systems, Kim Corso, MOTORTRBO business development manager for Motorola Solutions, said an added benefit is that GPS is imbedded. Tis means no additional infrastructure is need- ed, and districts can add a host of applications or solutions. Last summer at the STN EXPO


Conference in Reno, Nev., Crosby told attendees during a keynote address that emerging technology brings all those capabilities plus student location and employee-time tracking, all at a transmission speed faster than ever before. “Tere are no technology limits, just spectrum limits,” he said.


BEYOND GPS GPS is just the tip of the iceberg,


said Scott Bennett, southeast regional solution sales manager for Sprint/ Nextel. While GPS can provide data such as when the stop arm is extend- ed, when the camera starts recording an illegal passby or other vehicle data, he added that districts can choose to tap AVL functions that give historical and real-time data to prove the time of arrival and drop-off of students. Tis data, in turn, can be easily shared with parents by text message, the Web or to smartphones or tablets


www.stnonline.com 47


through iOS and Android apps. Kenwood dealer Hinerfeld said


geofencing can set different condi- tions, or statuses, to transmit based upon the physical location of the bus. “Te (GPS) modem knows I’m in


route, out of route, at a school, off-du- ty, etc.,” he said. “Radios have logic inputs wired to the doors, the stop arms. When the driver does a child check and opens the rear emergency door, another status comes back to the dispatch center to alert them that the driver has completed his route.” Digital systems are also tools to help districts reduce costs. Bennett said the exact time on route spent by drivers could be measured in addition to route efficiency. Ten there are po- tential tie-ins to real-time RFID or biometric data for student tracking. Hinerfeld said radio systems have


long been a conduit to responding to emergencies, but digital radios now allow remote monitoring by trans- portation staff, though state privacy rules can come into play in these instances. Digital also allows drivers to press a panic button on the radio that alerts authorities. A solution districts are also increas- ingly interested in is payroll control.


Carla Dodd, transportation supervisor at Lake Worth ISD near Dallas, oversaw the installation of new digital radios last year.


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