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Digital Tone Signaling Over AWIN – Series, Part 1
AWIN often hears questions from our public safety agency users, especially fire departments, about using two-tone signaling for alerts on AWIN: Does it work on AWIN talkgroups? Do separate alerts require separate talkgroups? What are the pros and cons? We will address these questions and more over a series of short articles in this newsletter, so keep reading.
For input, we reached out to Bobby King, COMU Working Group Member, COML, AEMA President, and Deputy Emergency Manager of Garland County, which utilizes a Digital Toning System to alert their multiple fire departments separately. (Note: Any errors in this article are the fault of this writer, not Bobby King.)
How it works on AWIN:
Digital tone signaling involves special programming at the console and in the radio units. In the absence of a full console, using only a desktop consolette, external equipment may be required. Dispatch sends the tone out across an AWIN talkgroup to alert users to an incident, which is followed by an audio message with details. For counties with multiple fire ground or incident talkgroups available, the dispatch message will direct users to the specific talkgroup to which the incident is assigned.
Can tone signals alert specific fire departments separately?
Yes. A talkgroup and set of tones must be selected for the alert, which can be heard by all who are listening to that talkgroup. Multiple sets of tones can be utilized on a specific talkgroup, but in order to alert one particular fire department separately, you may want to have a separate talkgroup for that fire department that can be selected. In the case of Garland County, each county fire department has its own talkgroup; this enables the dispatcher to choose which fire department to alert.
Can individual users be alerted separately?
Not exactly. Alerts are specific to the talkgroup and department, not to the radio unit. However, both portable and mobile radios can be programmed to function much like pagers, set to remain silent until a specific alert goes off. This requires a setting in the radio to block out all other sounds except for alerts to that department, on that talkgroup, at which time the user will need to manually switch back to regular talkgroup settings to hear the ongoing voice traffic related to that call.
In the next AWIN Monthly Newsletter: More questions answered and some of Bobby’s thoughts on the system in Garland County. Stay tuned!
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