Monmouth County Sheriff Joseph W. Oxley announced an upgrade in communications capabilities for both of the Sheriff’s Office Field Communications Mobile Command centers.
The new system, the ACU-1000 modular radio interoperability system, permits communication between agencies that have different radio bands and frequencies.
Oxley is taking the mobile command units to local emergency responders to demonstrate the new system.
“The importance of this system is that Monmouth County emergency responders now have the capability of direct communication with each other regardless of their existing radio bands or frequencies,” Oxley said in a press release.
The system “patches” different radio frequencies together and is adaptable for high- or low-band frequencies, land mobile radios and satellite communications systems, according to the press release. The system can even link the walkie-talkie function of a Nextel phone into the emergency responder communications system.
The process of training local responders on the new system began with visits to the Matawan, Howell and Manasquan police departments. Visits will be scheduled for each police department in the county as well as meetings with fire, first aid and other first responder organizations.