Cisco Brings IP Networking to World of Two-Way Radios

October 24, 2005

Cisco Systems is helping two-way radios join the Internet Age.

Two-way radios, also called push-to-talk radios, represent a multi-billion dollar global communications market. Public agencies, emergency operations, and businesses around the world depend on these ubiquitous devices to keep their field and mobile workforces in touch.

Until now, however, two-way radios have been islands unto themselves. Based on proprietary technologies, push-to-talk radios have been unable to connect outside their own networks. Such lack of interoperability has greatly limited the usefulness of these crucial communications tools, creating logistical challenges and operational inefficiencies.

But Cisco is changing all that. This month Cisco unveiled the Internet Protocol Interoperability and Communications System, or Cisco IPICS. Cisco IPICS is an Internet protocol (IP) network collaboration platform that brings two-way radios into the realm of IP networking, offering all the benefits of this widely embraced, standards-based technology and extending the reach of two-way radios to other voice, video and data networks.

Cisco IPICS is a prime example of the Cisco "network of networks" concept, which uses standards-based IP technologies to join various proprietary communications systems into one, cohesive infrastructure. Cisco fueled the Internet Age by converting legacy data computer systems into IP networks, and it has been revolutionizing telephone and video communications by creating the technologies for merging them with the multimedia capabilities of the World Wide Web. Now it is doing the same for two-way radios, the last major communications technology to join the IP fold.

News@Cisco spoke with Charlie Giancarlo, Cisco's senior vice president and chief development officer, about Cisco IPICS and its potential to revolutionize two-way radio communications and mobile workforce management.

What is Cisco IPICS and what can it do?

Charlie Giancarlo: Cisco IPICS is an IP network-based collaboration platform developed by Cisco's engineers that allows users of two-way radios, often called push-to-talk radios, and other voice devices, such as cell phones and regular telephones, to directly communicate and collaborate. Cisco IPICS takes two-way radio signals and converts them into Internet protocol data packets that can then travel over any IP network and interact with software applications just like other data packets. The key Cisco IPICS components are the Cisco IP server software and hardware, the Cisco IPICS Push-to-Talk Management Center software application, and the Cisco IPICS IP phones.

Though two-way radios offer an excellent way for mobile workers within a limited geographic area to communicate, most two-way radio systems, unfortunately, cannot interact with any other communications system since they use proprietary technologies. In other instances, radios signals cannot reach certain areas because of interference or physical barriers, cutting off radio users from the rest of the team or organization. Cisco IPICS creates a way to connect two-way radios to other networks using IP technology standards, helping extend their reach and bringing these radio systems into a much more dynamic, real-time, and information-rich collaboration environment.

What makes Cisco IPICS so unique?

Charlie Giancarlo: Cisco IPICS marks the first time we have applied our industry-leading IP technologies to the integration challenges facing companies and organizations that must manage highly mobile workforces with two-way radios. Two-way radios have been around for 50 years, and that's a testament to the technology. They are now a staple of many industries and public service agencies. But over that entire time two-way radios have been closed systems unable to interact with other communications networks. Cisco however, is changing all that by eliminating the boundaries between radio and non-radio networks. Once radio integration occurs using IP technologies, all other types of voice devices can be combined into the workflow or the operations. This is what we call "comprehensive voice interoperability" and "push-to-talk everywhere." People can use any voice device or application and yet communicate and collaborate with people who are using two-way radios.

Cisco IPICS does not require organizations to replace any of their existing radio or communications equipment or in any way change the way they use their two-way radios. Many, many organizations have invested significant money, time and resources into their two-way radios and Cisco does not want to disrupt those investments. But for organizations that want to add greater coordination and communications capabilities to their radios, Cisco IPICS is for them. There are plenty of two-way radio manufacturers and other companies creating ways to expand two-way radio capabilities so they can tie into bigger communications systems, but most of these options require new radios, new hardware and expensive "forklift" upgrades. Cisco IPICS doesn't require organizations to throw out or change a thing.

Why is it important to integrate radios with IP networks? Can't these radios use other kinds of collaboration platforms?

Charlie Giancarlo: Virtually every business and organization in the developed world uses IP networks. Since Cisco designed Cisco IPICS from Internet technology standards, organizations can have confidence in the value of their Cisco IPICS investment. An IP network provides the broadest and most stable technology foundation for creating applications and other technologies to complement Cisco IPICS.

There are some other technical reasons why IP networks are so important to integrating radios and other voice communications systems. First, the network offers all the necessary support, such as managing voice quality, maintaining security, and controlling the flow of communications among the different resources. It's our 'network of networks' concept where Internet protocol provides the broad, standards-based infrastructure for uniting disparate proprietary communications systems. Second, our approach provides customers the ability to easily integrate any new radio system, helping protect their technology investments while offering maximum flexibility for future integration needs.

Why did Cisco create Cisco IPICS?

Charlie Giancarlo: Well, as with all of our products, inspiration for Cisco IPICS came from our customers. From dozens of interviews with executives in public services, transportation, and other industries, we found out that the two-way radio market was ripe for standards-based, Internet technologies. The market is so painfully fractured by proprietary systems that two-way radios are very limited in their use. In just one city, the police might have one radio system, the fire department another, and the ambulance service a third. And none of these systems can talk to the others. So communications coordination has been the biggest limiting factor to logistical flexibility. When we talked to the people who use two-way radios day in and day out, the message was clear: help us cost-effectively integrate our radios with our other communications systems.

What is the target market for Cisco IPICS?

Charlie Giancarlo: We are particularly excited about Cisco IPICS because it is applicable to such a wide range of industries. We specifically designed it to be an interoperability platform rather than a point solution for a particular situation. With Cisco IPICS, organizations have the flexibility to select any type of voice device or application for their operations, as well as interoperating with any type of push-to-talk radio network.

There are millions of two-way radios in use around the world, and the total two-way radio market adds up to several billion dollars, according to industry figures. Europe's 10th largest airport, Schiphol in Holland, for example, uses 14,000 walkie-talkies. So that's just one average operation in one of many industries that rely on push-to-talk radio communications. While the most obvious market for Cisco IPICS is in public services, such as fire and police departments, two-way radios are widely used in the transportation, utilities, health care, and retail industries. A transportation company, for example, could use Cisco IPICS to gather weather information via the Internet and send alerts to truckers over their two-way radio. You could even possibly combine that with GPS information on the trucks, so Cisco IPICS would know which trucks are headed towards bad weather. Or a retail business could use Cisco IPICS to integrate sales support, inventory management, and shipping to improve logistics and operational efficiencies. Also, a hospital could use Cisco IPICS to integrate ambulances with emergency rooms to provide more detailed, streamlined notification for doctors and nurses. These are just three examples out of hundreds of applications for organizations in dozens of industries. This is why we are so excited about Cisco IPICS. Since Cisco IPICS is an Internet standards technology platform, it has the flexibility and scalability to support an impressive array of information and communications integration options.

What is the plan for Cisco IPICS technology development?

Charlie Giancarlo: With the foundation in place that creates the basic connectivity and management between IP networks, various voice communications systems, and two-way radio networks, we will be focusing on integrating other resources into the Cisco IPICS collaboration environment, such as standard telephones, cell phones, video feeds, remote sensors, and GPS devices. Other services will be tailored to specific industries, such as creating the most appropriate applications for warehouse management or software for coordinating fire response. This will likely also involve third-party software development partners.

Our next phase, for example, will provide technologies to integrate cell phones and standard phones into the Cisco IPICS collaboration environment, basically turning these devices into push-to-talk phones that can readily interact with two-way radios. The next phase will also focus on providing "policy engines" that will allow organizations to automate communications among various devices, such as sending out regular maintenance alerts to utility workers or automatically contacting the appropriate personnel when there is a fire in a building. Future developments will likely include the integration of sensor devices, GPS systems, and video surveillance systems into the Cisco IPICS platform. If a particular sensor, for example, has an unusual reading, Cisco IPICS can automatically notify the appropriate personnel via two-way radios, cell phones, email, PDA, or pagers. Cisco IPICS is a modular system, so any of these new capabilities will be easy for customers to add without disrupting their existing Cisco IPICS operations.

How will Cisco market and support Cisco IPICS?

Charlie Giancarlo: We have categorized Cisco IPICS as an "emerging technology." An emerging technology is a market where we have identified an opportunity, but where it is too early to determine long-term customer response and industry reception. With each emerging technology, we will take the necessary time to understand the dynamics of the new market before making the decision to categorize it as a more formal part of our product line, or what we call an "advanced technology." As such, the development of Cisco IPICS will be based on a continual assessment of the market and feedback from customers.

We are entering a market that is not a traditional IP networking space. The users and managers of two-way radio networks are not necessarily familiar with Cisco and our products. So one of first steps we've already taken is to build awareness of our entry into this space and educate potential customers about how Cisco IPICS and IP networks can address many of the limitations of existing radio systems. Cisco executives have been introducing the concept of IP networking to the two-way radio market for the past few years. Also, we've already done several deployments with customers. As we learn more about the market needs and as Cisco IPICS matures, we will bring on various channel partners to support sales and support of Cisco IPICS.