With a view to continuous updating of the technologies underlying the solutions for increasingly effective management of security communications, the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps is migrating its radio systems to Motorola Solutions’ Capacity Max, the multi-site system integrated with WAVE PTX implemented by LATEL-COM to allow greater scalability and increasingly reliable functionality and connections.
Il Corps of the Vatican Gendarmerieinformally Gendarmerie Vaticana, is the Police Corps of the Vatican City State, in charge of guaranteeing public order, as well as carrying out the functions of intelligence, judicial police and control of road traffic in the territory of the Vatican City State and in its numerous extraterritorial appurtenances, such as the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
Along with the Swiss Guards, the force is also responsible for safeguarding the Vatican and protecting the Holy Father.
After the previous transitions from the IP Site Connect analogue radio system to MOTOTRBO and Capacity Plus, the Vatican Gendarmerie is preparing to further increase operational efficiency and safety by reducing maintenance and system management activities thanks to the complete migration to Capacity Max, a multi-system -site integrated with WAVE PTX which allows to reach 40 conversation groups.
The project is the result of a close 3-way collaboration between LATEL COM, the distributor Aikom Technology and Motorola Solutions itself.
The integration, based on the study of the movements of the Pope and his collaborators, will allow additional functions such as the constant reception of emergency calls even if the system is loaded and greater end-to-end encryption of the calls themselves.
The current configuration includes 11 sites covered by the current systems and connected 24 hours a day with the operations room of the Vatican City via fiber optics, 39 repeaters, 1,100 fully equipped portable radios, various mobile radios and the popular MOTOTRBO Radio Management software that allows radios to be controlled, managed and deactivated centrally. Also supplied to the agents are TLK 100 WAVE PTX portable radios equipped with MOTOTRBO WAVE PTX Radio Gateway interface to be completely connected to the Capacity Max system.
Il sistema Capacity Max allows for greater scalability and flexibility and having multiple sites, talkgroups and users on the same system will increase operational efficiency and security, as well as reduce system maintenance and management The introduction of WAVE PTX will also allow Vatican Gendarmerie to remain reliably connected during papal visits or other Vatican activities, outside Vatican City and its extraterritorial sites
“We have been working with Motorola Solutions and LATEL-COM for over 30 years and our radio systems have evolved together over that time from the original analogue system to MOTOTRBO: from IP Site Connect, to Capacity Plus to Capacity Max multi-site system . We are now migrating the Capacity Plus System to the Capacity Max, integrating it with WAVE PTX, to further improve system and operational efficiency. It ensures that we are always up to date with new technologies from Motorola Solutions, so it will be interesting to see how our security solutions develop over the next few years.” he has declared Joseph Sbei, Inspector, Vatican Gendarmerie Corps.
Points out Raffaele Bianchi, commercial and marketing director of Aikom Technology: “In this project it is evident how important it is to pool knowledge and skills in the relationship between manufacturer, distributor and partner, in order to be able to bring value to the customer and to the overall solution, in terms of innovation and improvement of services. Building a cohesive, competent and enthusiastic channel is what distinguishes Aikom’s approach to every single project.”
Massimo DeLuciakey account manager of LATEL-COM, summarizes: “We are honored to have worked closely with the Vatican, especially the Vatican Gendarmerie, for so many years. We have helped and watched their systems grow and develop. We are also pleased to see how open they are to new technology solutions from Motorola Solutions.”
Technical data of the solution
Currently 3 radio systems coexist, but the Capacty Plus system will soon be integrated into the MOTOTRBO Capacity Max system:
• A MOTOTRBO IP Site Connect System with 10 SLR5500 bidirectional repeaters and approximately 350 DP3441e portable radios for the exclusive use of the Vatican Gendarmerie – separate channels
• A single site MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus System with 3 SLR5500 bi-directional repeaters and 200 DP3441e portable radios for the exclusive use of the Vatican Museums – 3 radio points, 6 slots, 6 channels
• A MOTOTRBO Capacity Max System with 11 sites, 26 SLR5500 two-way repeaters, and approximately 600 portable and mobile radios (DP3441e, DP3661e, DP4801e, DP4801 Ex, DM4600e) used by all government services (eg, Health Services, Electricians, Firefighters, Fire, transport) on all the territories of the Vatican City State
• Accessories, including multiple chargers, spare batteries, and earphones with acoustic tubes
• MOTOTRBO Radio Management software
• TRBOnet PLUS control room solution
• Radio WAVE PTX TLK 100
• Radio portatili MOTOTRBO R7
• MOTOTRBO ION Smart Radio
• Evolve LTE mobile devices