The VA awarded VTS Group a contract to provide a state-of-the-art dispatch communication system solution providing new dispatch consoles and more radio coverage capacity. VA’s objective was to acquire a solution capable of interoperability with other public First Responders which VA had not had in the past.

VTS Group along with their partner engineering group Horizon Technology proposed a Public Safety grade P-25 trunking radio system in the UHF band. An important differentiator was making sure the radio solution was non-proprietary, allowing VA flexibility with the handheld radios used by officers and a significant reduction insustainment costs over the life of the project. The dispatch solution (Dispatch Consoles) was also non-proprietary, customizable and expandable to meet future requirements and provided robust interoperability with outside Public Safety agencies.

The Veterans Health Care System undertook a major expansion project establishing a new Outpatient Clinic requiring a full dispatch center and officers located at the facility.

The VA awarded VTS Group a contract to provide another Public Safety grade P-25 trunking radio system in the UHF band and put in new dispatch consoles at the Outpatient Clinic.  VTS Group provided an IP-based recording and storage system for all VA radio traffic and telephone calls that was not available before. VA can now capture after-action training opportunities to help improve services. The system has some very impressive forensic capabilities that allows VA to identify audio in the background noise in a recording and separate it, amplify it, and save isolated parts of a recording. The system is also certified as court-acceptable evidence. These features are advantageous to the VA with regard to liability of the officers, VA staff, and the veterans we serve.

The new system worked extremely well and the training and learning curve was minimal due to its ease of use. When VTS Group first started this project, we had a very good idea of what the VA wanted but felt there were challenges. VTS Group’s solution has been well received by VA, exceeding expectations. Finding the right vendor with the right expertise is critical and VA now knows VTS Group brings the right combination of product and services.