Voice and data recording has become a requirement for most industries today, for quality control, internal audit processes and security. The same applies to typical radio networks, such as those used by emergency services, airports, large security companies, police forces or protection services, fire departments and the military.
However, while recording voice interactions over radio networks is not a new concept, the relatively new addition of Short Data Service (SDS) — a technology similar to Short Message Service (SMS) offered by GSM operators which enables coded data messages to be transferred between radio devices — has posed a challenge for radio network users in terms of recording these interactions — until recently.
Jasco has enhanced its DataVoice Libra Capture platform solution for certain Tetra networks to include the recording of SDS communications, allowing providing users of Tetra devices with the ability to use DataVoice Libra Capture to record SDS messages and responses.
“This expansion has been trialled with select Tetra customers for the more than a year, now, and has met with remarkable success,” says Danie van Antwerpen, Channel Manager at Jasco Group, “The feature allows for users to record communications across multiple channels on their Tetra network, something that has been limited to voice in a radio solution.
“For example, an electric grid may make use of Tetra networks to automatically relay messages containing circuit information in order to activate or deactivate certain services at the substation. When disputes have arisen due to faults or failures, proving that these messages were properly relayed and received – and that the correct chain of events took place accordingly – has been difficult to accomplish. DataVoice Libra Capture’s enhancements mean that organisations can now prove that such messages were actually relayed and that they were acted on. For the organisation, this means they are protected. Customers receive peace of mind that their service is being provided, and organisations can also monitor internal processes and staff.”
The DataVoice Libra Capture addition also records distress signals sent and received across a Tetra network, enabling organisations to track when these were sent, who sent them and when or how they were responded to. Adds van Antwerpen, “For protective services, such as a police force, it may not always be safe to relay a voice communication, nor is there always time to tap out a message. Sending an automatic alert is often the answer in these situations and the Libra Capture platform is able to record these.
“Another unique feature of SDS recording is that the actual content is recorded and able to be extracted, and not just the fact that the communications was sent or received. Because these types of messages are sent in code, accessing and extrapolating the recorded data can be tricky. With DataVoice Libra Capture, this is done for the customer automatically.”
Van Antwerpen goes on to say that Jasco are currently working on several new developments for this product, highlighting key future enhancements such as geolocation recording and graphical reporting. “We are fully invested in bringing to market a product that completely supports functionality of Tetra devices, and will continue to make new expansions available in line with Tetra’s own development.”
