Protecting Puerto Rico

case Study
PUBLIC SAFETY
Telecommunications
Protecting Puerto Rico
Zetron Consoles Offer Interoperable
Communications and Increased Efficiency
SkyTec is an international telecommunications
company based in Cataño, Puerto Rico. The company
specializes in the design, manufacture, and installation
of compact and reliable systems to solve all kinds
of telecommunications needs. SkyTec is an active
integrator in communications AVL/GPS satellite
monitoring, wireless data transport, and other
customized mobile data solutions. The company also
owns an island-wide 900 MHz radio network and a
state-of-the-art facility which enables SkyTec to design
and test solutions in-house.
Preparing for disaster:
Recently, SkyTec was chosen to provide and install a
24-channel, four-position Zetron Integrator RD Radio
Dispatch system for the State Emergency and Disaster
Management Agency in San Juan, Puerto Rico. SkyTec
selected Zetron equipment because it fulfilled several
key requirements.
“They needed internal and external dispatch
communications to be able to handle emergency
situations in an effective manner,” explains Marinil
Astor, the Marketing and Public Relations Director
for SkyTec. “SkyTec’s previous experience supplying
Zetron consoles to other municipalities made our
company appear very attractive.”
Interoperability a must-have:
In all, SkyTec installed four positions of Zetron’s
Integrator RD Radio Dispatch Console at the central
headquarters of the State Emergency Management
Agency in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“The Zetron system now allows for direct
communication between us and all government
agencies, explains Nazario Lugo, Executive Director
of the State Emergency Management Agency. “The
Integrator RD’s built-in patching capability provides
interoperability by allowing dispatchers to patch one
agency with another.”
The system has been installed for
about six months: time enough for
all operators to become familiar with
the equipment and to be able to really
evaluate the effectiveness of the new
equipment.
“This has been a very important
project,” Nazario Lugo adds. “It’s been
more than 20 years since something
like this was done at our agency. We
were in great need to update our
communications technology. Our
advanced operators really like the touch
screen consoles. These were new to
many operators who came from using
just regular radios, and the system is
very user friendly. Also, our operators
can configure the screens in Spanish,
which helps. The screen design makes
it easy for operators to select which
frequency they will talk on and record
information, etc.”
Faster, quicker, easier:
The Integrator Radio Dispatch Consoles are not only easy
to use but also bring greater efficiencies to the dispatch
operation.
“We have considerably reduced our response time,”
Lugo adds. “I’d say by about 40 percent. Having all the
information at hand and organized allows us to work
faster. Before, when answering an emergency call we had
to rely on the telephone, fax or communication via regular
handheld radios. Now all these capabilities are integrated
into a single console which greatly facilitates the task
of dispatching emergency resources to where they are
needed.”
similar system so we can all have the best communications
in an emergency, reducing the minimum response time.
The Governor of Puerto Rico is very happy with the
system. He visited when we inaugurated the system last
year and made a formal presentation of the whole system
to the press and country. This is very important for Puerto
Rico. It’s a matter of saving lives.” n
Not surprisingly, SkyTec reports that the Zetron radio
console system is generating interest among other
agencies in Puerto Rico.
“Different agencies are amazed to see what we have now,”
Lugo says. “We have eleven offices or stations throughout
Puerto Rico, and our goal is to have them all integrated
through this system. Ideally, all agencies would have a
ZETRON USA
PO Box 97004
Redmond, WA
98073-9704
USA
TEL 425 820 6363
FAX 425 820 7031 
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Bramley TADLEY
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UK
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Stafford QLD 4053
Australia
TEL +61 7 3856 4888
FAX +61 7 3356 6877
[email protected]
[email protected]
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WWW.ZETRON.COM
Reprinted from Zetron’s
Advantage Newsletter
March/April 2006.
All trademarks are the property of
their respective owners.
005-7466A August, 2006