Motorola Solutions - Experts & Thought Leaders

U.K. fire and rescue services (FRSs) Hereford and Worcester FRS, Shropshire FRS,  Cleveland Fire Brigade, and Country Durham & Darlington FRS have selected Motorola Solutions to deploy a new Control Room Solution (CRS) utilizing a shared control room platform to allow the four control rooms to work independently as well as a collaborative services hub. The new solution integrates workflows from initial call-taking to dispatch, into an intuitive and unified response system. It will standardize data and processes and provide control room staff with the ability to more quickly respond to incidents and to scale operations and capabilities in times of high demand. New multi-agency hub “Our control room is an essential function and the first point of contact to our communities in any emergency," said Jon Pryce, Chief Fire Officer, Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service. “By creating this new multi-agency hub, our four fire services can manage incidents together when they need to, such as in spate conditions, when a control room may need to cover a large amount of incoming 999 calls. The new Control Room Solution will help  us to maximize the capabilities of our control room staff and use the latest technology to mobilize and coordinate front-line staff." Standardization “By adopting this innovative approach, fire and rescue services can enhance capabilities, improve service delivery, and minimize costs by sharing the same underlying infrastructure,” said Fergus Mayne, U.K. and Ireland country manager at Motorola Solutions. “By choosing a hub solution, emergency services foster standardization for seamless information exchange during joint operations and increase scalability to accommodate varying demand levels especially leading to faster response times.” integrated communication control system The four Fire & Rescue Services working together operate 77 fire stations, covering a population of 2.5 million people. As part of the deployment, the shared platform encompasses an integrated communication control system (ICCS) for call-taking, computer-aided dispatch (CAD), and data recording to help each FRS increase the effectiveness and resilience of incident response.

A majority of American retail workers (57%) report feeling unsafe going into the peak holiday shopping season, according to Motorola Solutions’ second annual U.S. Retail Worker Safety Report. This is understandable, as many of the 1,000+ retail managers and staff surveyed said they have experienced increases in various forms of crime in 2023, and more than half reported concerns about hostile customer interactions and store theft. safety and workplace security The independent market research firm - Researchscape conducted the U.S. survey in September 2024 to gauge retail workers’ perspectives about safety and workplace security measures. Results show that security technologies - systems that can detect weapons - make people feel safer at work The results show that security technologies - systems that can detect weapons, lock doors, and allow store security officers to view real-time video of unfolding incidents - make people feel safer at work. Similar independent surveys were conducted in the U.K. and in Australia and New Zealand, countries also dealing with high retail crime rates. role of technology “As we approach peak shopping season, it's clear that the retail industry continues to grapple with theft and, at times, even more violent crimes,” said Sharon Hong, Vice President of Ecosystem Solutions at Motorola Solutions. Sharon Hong adds, “Retail workers and managers surveyed believe technology can play a role in helping to curb the issue, from deterring theft to de-escalating hostile customer interactions. Technology can also simultaneously notify everyone, including 9-1-1, of an emergency, quickly and efficiently connecting those in need with those that can help.” Key findings in the U.S. report Retail crime is on the rise: Many retail managers and staff surveyed said they have experienced increases in various forms of crime in their stores in the past year. The most common incidents reported were petty theft (66%), grab and runs (48%), and hostile customer interactions (46%). One in ten also said they have experienced physical attacks from customers. Holiday understaffing is causing safety concerns: Over 65% of retail workers said they expect to be understaffed this holiday season and this impacts how safe they feel going into peak shopping. Two out of three respondents (68%) who expect their stores to be understaffed said they don’t feel safe and 50% said they are concerned for the safety of their shoppers. Retailers are making more calls to first responders: More than 20% of those surveyed said public safety personnel, such as police, EMS, and fire are being called to their stores at least once per week, an increase of 16% over 2023. Emergency personnel are called to stores 2-3 times per month for 17% of respondents. Technology solutions can boost feelings of safety: Respondents pointed to access control systems (35%), license plate readers (32%), panic buttons (32%), and body cameras (20%) as measures that make them feel safer. Few retail workers reported having those security measures in place. Of those surveyed, 12% said they have access control systems, 9% have panic buttons, 7% have license plate readers and 6% are using body cameras. Body cameras are an emerging retail safety tool: Almost half of respondents said body cameras would help them feel safer, and a majority said the technology can help stores better understand incidents (66%) and support investigations (66%). Additionally, 42% said body cameras can be a deterrent to aggressive or criminal behavior in stores.  Violence, a key concern “Several industry studies have shown that retail crime is evolving, it has become more organized, coordinated and, importantly, more violent,” said Cory Lowe, Ph.D., Director of Research at the Loss Prevention Research Council. Cory Lowe adds, “Violence is a key concern among nearly every loss prevention pioneer we work with, and the changing nature of retail crime is driving them to search for innovative solutions that can help keep people safe. Safety is the most fundamental thing any business must provide their employees and customers – if they can’t keep people safe, they can’t keep them coming back to work or shop.”

Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service (FRS) has selected Motorola Solutions’ command center technology, including Control Room Solution (CRS), to strengthen the service’s call handling and emergency dispatch. The solution will help to increase the speed, effectiveness, and resilience of Leicestershire FRS’s incident response to support frontline and community safety. Ongoing software maintenance will help ensure the critical system remains current. Leicestershire FRS Serving a population of over one million people across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland, Leicestershire FRS manages around 15,000 calls and attends 8,000 emergency incidents on average per year. The service responds to a wide range of emergencies, from fires to road traffic collisions and search and rescue missions, while also providing community safety and fire prevention services. point of contact in emergencies They need to be able to gather vital information from emergency calls and quickly relay the details to response teams" “Our control room is integral to our emergency response capabilities. It is the first point of contact in any emergency and acts as the ‘eyes and ears’ for our teams," said Callum Faint, chief fire and rescue officer, of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. “Emergency call handlers operate in fast-moving and uncertain environments. They need to be able to gather vital information from emergency calls and quickly relay the details to response teams to help ensure the safety of frontline personnel as they work to protect communities.”  accelerating response times Motorola Solutions’ CRS integrates the control room’s communications into a single intuitive system, accelerating response times and improving operational efficiency. The hosted solution enables the control room to build a clear picture of events from multiple data sources, including real-time data from devices in the field and provides secure bulk storage for media assets. It supports collaboration and mutual aid between fire services during spate conditions, where a large number of calls are received simultaneously across multiple locations.   simplifying workflows “We have developed a solution that enhances the tools available to the control room while simplifying workflows,” said Fergus Mayne, U.K. and Ireland country manager, Motorola Solutions. “Our objective is always to enable control room operators to focus on the call at hand, allowing them to dispatch the appropriate resource as efficiently as possible.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had ramifications for almost every industry, some more than others. With the pandemic stretching well into a second year, the non-medical consequences continue, and many are wondering about which of the required changes might become permanent. As regards the fire sector, we asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: What impact has COVID-19 had on the fire industry?