Incident Commanders’ Radio Interface (ICRI) Cited as Top Performer in Department of Defense Interoperability Trials

ICRI provides interoperability and information exchange between military,

homeland security, and civilian agencies  

Reston, Virginia – February 17, 2006 –  U.S. Joint Forces Command released its final recommendations from its annual interoperability trials, “CWID 2005” citing the  “Incident Commanders’ Radio InterfaceTM” (“ICRI”), as a “Top Performer” as recommended by the CWID Senior Management Group.  The report notes that the ICRI is ready for deployment for battlefield and homeland security operations by military and public safety agencies. The ICRI is a small, rapidly configurable “bridge” that links voice communications across incompatible radios and other communications equipment.   

The annual Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration is the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s annual proving ground for technologies that improve interoperability amongst U.S. war-fighters, anti-terrorism forces, and coalition partners.  Of the forty-eight interoperability trials participating, the ICRI was classified as an “outstanding trial” for warfighter/operator technology, being selected for Agency and limited Combatant Commander fielding (including fielding in support of Hurricane Katrina). 

The ICRI was designed and is manufactured by Communications-Applied Technology, a small, veteran-owned business. The ICRI is a US NORTHCOM-sponsored solution that successfully enabled disparate “legacy” radio signals to be transformed into single-site communication.  It was successfully deployed in support of hurricane Katrina relief efforts, and the Department of Homeland Security made it available to local public safety agencies via the Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program.

The ICRI received the following CWID 2005 assessments:

• Successfully provided a system that allowed first responders and responding agencies to communicate on a single system utilizing dissimilar radios and communication devices.
• Successfully demonstrated a collaborative information environment and received high reviews from users and visiting first responder agencies and counterparts. Cost-effective radio interoperability solution supporting both DoD and DHS.
• ICRI proved simple to deploy and required little training. It easily adapted to organizational changes at a first responder scene without technical support, operational at a first responder incident in less than ten minutes.

The final CWID 2005 report can be found at:

https://www.cwid.js.mil/public/START_HERE.html

The CWID 2005 trials were designed to focus on security within US borders and to defeat the Global War on Terrorism, with the goal of acquiring the successful technologies and making  them operational.  Two ICRIs have already been acquired by NORTHCOM HQ and six by NORTHCOM's Joint Task Force – Civil Support.

The ICRI creates tactical interoperability, providing voice communications by linking military and non-military radios, VoIP and telephone systems.    The ICRI’s functionality stands in contrast to previous software-based solutions that could not be rapidly deployed, preventing agencies and teams from establishing real-time radio interoperability.

About Communications-Applied Technology (C-AT):

C-AT is a veteran-owned, small business that designs and manufactures the ICRI, radios, and intercoms for military, public safety, and commercial organizations.  

For more information on the ICRI, please visit  www.radiointeroperability.com, or call 1-800-229-3925. 

Media Contact:

Joel Greenberg

DCPR

202-363-1065

202-669-3639

joel@dcpr.com

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