Verizon Business today announced a new managed service, aimed at the public safety market, that enables public agencies to bridge disparate radio systems over an IP connection. Verizon is partnering with Cisco Systems and using its IPICS Media Convergence Server to create an Interoperability Solution for federal, state and local police, fire and medical agencies.

“This will help meet a need for the first-responder community,” said Chuck Vick, manager of emergency communications for Verizon Business. “There are a lot of different agencies, and they use a lot of different devices to communicate.” Those devices use different frequencies and protocols, many of which are specific to a manufacturer, Vick added. When disasters hit, particularly large-scale events such as hurricanes or terrorist attacks, responding agencies’ ability to work together may be limited by their inability to communicate.

The Verizon Business Interoperability Solution is a managed service that uses Cisco’s IPICS, a private IP network as well as servers, software, other hardware and professional services to deliver interoperability among differing devices, networks and messaging formats, Vick said.

What’s significant here is Verizon’s entry into this market, said Donny Jackson, senior writer for Urgent Communications magazine. “The core Cisco platform has been around for quite a while,” Jackson noted. “The fact that Cisco is partnering with Verizon, and Verizon is marketing this service, is certainly notable.”

“At times of crisis, first responders need increased control and situational awareness, and what better way to get situational awareness than from feet on the street?” Vick said. “Those on the scene will have the best information that can be had as to what is going on there. If you have police and fire, and both are responding, but their two [radio] systems don’t interoperate, the fire department may not be getting information that police on scene already have that would be crucial to providing quick response.”