MCX Enabler Softil Issues 2023 Outlook for the Transitioning Industry

Dual-mode radios (TETRA/MCX) for first responders, FRMCS for train operators to CAD in blue light communities, silver bullet UI … ten evolutionary MCX trends likely to emerge in 2023
 

It’s that time of year again. Softil’s crystal ball is out, dusted off, and been intently looked into trying to see what the next year might bring to the transitioning world of Mission-Critical Communications (MCX). 

You know how moody and capricious these virtual crystal balls can be, refusing to show you a clear picture. If there is anything which seems to be clear to us at Softil, it is the trend of evolution. We can expect that the quantity of MCX devices available today will become better and many of the predictions which were already made will start to materialize during the next two-three years, and the new, important technologies will “magically” appear in a quiet, almost unnoticeable fashion. But make no mistake – this is still a quiet revolution. 

If we are willing to look, it is easy to see that this “quiet revolution” just appears in our daily life without being recognized as such. Take a look at automatic translation, for example. Of course, Google translation had been around for a while. But translating a whole website was never simple. And this year, we already have the Softil website available literally in any language you want – French, German, Japanese, Korean – take your pick. The technology quietly arrived and is in use – all matter-of-factly.

Take a look at another example – satellite communications. Again, satellite communications has been around a very long time – who doesn’t have a mental image of the large phone with even bigger antenna? No special phone – no satellite communications. And yet satellite communications is now all of a sudden available to tens of millions of people – anyone with an iPhone 14 now holds the power of satellite communications in their hand. Yes, you can only send an emergency text message via satellite, you can’t yet have a conversation at will – but think about the revolutionary significance of what is now here.

Now that we have illustrated our main point – more often than not, revolutions take the form of a quiet evolution – let’s get to our main subject … mission-critical communications. 

1. Dual-mode radios are entering the main fray 

Every technologist’s dream is to see new technology being deployed overnight. But this never happens in reality as “old” technology never becomes “old” in a matter of a day. Old and new has first to coexist.

Public safety professionals are accustomed to rely up...