Harris-Tait and Avtec to win Radio System Upgrade in St. Croix County, Wisconsin
St. Croix County, Wisconsin, has selected and awarded a contract to RACOM Corporation for improvements to the County's public safety radio communications system. The County's Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued in August 2016.
The County received five proposals from four vendors in response to its RFP. County Emergency Support Services staff and the County's consulting team, PSC Alliance, determined that the RACOM proposal (which included a Harris-Tait distributed simulcast radio system upgrade and nine Avtec radio control console positions) was the most cost-effective and offered the best value to the County. The contract award was in the amount of US$2,015,750, which the County said also represented the lowest cost proposal. Avtec is a Tait Communications' Endorsed Technology Partner.
St Croix's Emergency Support Services Director, Stephen J. T'Kach, said that RACOM's proposal offered the County the needed easy control of the new radio communications system from both primary and backup dispatch locations. He further said that RACOM's VHF radio solution, based upon the Harris-Tait TB9400 base stations, allowed the County to deploy a mixed analog and P25 (national digital standard) voice radio network providing redundant voting and master simulcast control.
Mr T'Kach also said that the RACOM proposal met the County's criteria for a graceful, cost-effective transition to P25 operation as local agencies dispatched by the County upgraded their mobile and portable radios with digital capabilities in the near future. T'Kach reported that he expected the new systems to be deployed and tested during the second quarter of 2017.
The RACOM award follows previously awarded County contracts for construction of new communication tower site facilities and a microwave backbone upgrade earlier in 2016. The county is in the midst of the first substantial overhaul and upgrade of its emergency communications system in nearly 40 years.
