Navigating the Transition from Legacy Radios with Chris Kuhl, RPU/TDU Manager

Do you have legacy radios approaching end of life? Why is replacement necessary and how do you navigate that change? Where do you turn if you have questions and need answers? RPU/TDU – we’re bigger, better, and more efficient. Tune In to learn what our Radio Programming, Template Design, Console, and Fire Paging Unit do, and the big improvements we have made. Discover the Radio Management tool and how we are modernizing the MPSCS system and support infrastructure. For a full list of Radios Approved on the MPSCS System, please visit our Website at www.michigan.gov/mpscs and go to Radios, Consoles, Pagers and Sirens tab. RPU Hotline: 517-333-2720 RPU/TDU Email: MPSCS-RPU@michigan.gov Transcript: https://www.michigan.gov/mpscs/-/media/Project/Websites/MPSCS/Social_Media/Transcripts/RPU-TDU-Chris-Kuhl-Transcript-Final.pdf

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Hi, and welcome to our podcast, TuneIn with MPSCS. I am your host, Judy Light. Today we are featuring our Radio Programming and Template Design Unit, or RPU TDU, at Michigan's Public Safety Communications System. RPU and TDU support public safety interoperability and implement functionality for 800 megahertz mobile and portable radios, consoles, and fire pagers. They perform a wide range of support functions in areas, including onboarding and programming radios that support our first responders and interoperability, creating new communications templates, overseeing talk groups, encryption, console programming, fire paging, and other technical details. Our special guest today is Chris Cool, who is the RPU TDU manager. Welcome to the show, Chris.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

And could you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, your family, hobbies, that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, I have five kids married to my wife Christine, and we live down in Jackson County. Uh, hobby-wise, anything outdoors, uh like hiking, um, kayaking, cycling, those kind of things. Enjoy being out in the natural world.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

That sounds like summer stuff. What do you do in the winter?

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Hunker down and stay warm. Try to continue those habits into the winter weather.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Perfect. Um, when and why did you enter this type of work at MPSCS?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

I spent a little over 25 years in law enforcement. I was with the sheriff's office in Jackson County. In the latter stages of my career, um, I was in a command position, and part of that was overseeing a centralized 911 dispatch center. We performed all dispatching functions for the county. And we had a legacy conventional radio system that became end of life. And during that time frame, we had decided uh to move on to the MPSCS system, and that is where I became familiar with and and involved with the Michigan's public safety communication system and how I grew an interest. Uh, so I took that knowledge and experience that I learned when I had retired from there and uh decided to try to bring some of those skills here.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

So that was kind of a seamless fit for you.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

There's a lot more going on here than uh one way. That's correct. So, yes, there is a lot to learn, and it's still a very steep learning process. Uh, but there is a lot that was able to be carried over from that previous life to my role here.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Uh, could you tell us a little bit of what you do at MPSCS and how long have you been here?

SPEAKER_00 2:47

I've been here since 2020, and I manage the radio programming template design and council area. And it sounds like a lot, but we typically call it the RPU TDU. And basically we receive the programming request from outside agencies, uh, state customers that we provide specific work to.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Uh can you tell me uh the RPU differentiates from the TDU part?

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Yeah, so uh we have a lot of tasks between our two groups that kind of flow together, and that's kind of for the intention of overlap and you know, multiple levels of review or multiple levels of quality control. And we receive the programming request. It could be as simple as someone wanting to change the programming in their radios, or it could be they want to add some new radios or have some new radios programmed. And so within there, we'll take the programming that they desire, whether it be a change or an addition or anything of that nature. We'll check to make sure that all of the agreements are on file or are provided to us to use other agencies, talk groups that they're permitted to use. We'll make sure they have all of the required uh interoperability zones and and talk groups or channels if it's on the conventional side that they're required to within the radio, and then provide whatever changes, updates uh that they would like to that programming.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Okay. Um, but uh what are some of the specific RPU TDU functions within the section? Uh, that's a lot of moving parts that flow together.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Well, the most of the work that we do involves the radio templates and the programming of those. And like we had just talked about um customers wanting to change things because maybe there is an integration happening around them. Maybe someone wasn't previously on the system and now is, and they need to have those talk groups, or maybe there's some kind of new agreement like a fire department is now providing service to another community, um, like mutual aid, and they need some talk groups, or they need to be dispatched by a different dispatch center. So there's a lot of that uh talk group access and or changes. Um we provide some consultation to the customers about what talk groups they could or should need, but we do expect a lot of that to be driven by the conversation from the customer about what they're looking for or what they're hoping for. We do manage a lot of other things in the realm of talk groups and settings on talk groups, permissions on talk groups, encryption on talk groups. And that's where some of our area has what I'd call tentacles into other areas of MPSCS, whether it be engineering to look at a grade of service if someone wants expanded footprint for talk group access, or whether it would be um something encryption related, which would, you know, involve some other downstream impacts, and then of course the NCC to make some of those changes. So very much intertwined.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Okay. Uh the console programming unit, what does that consist of?

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Well, that is um Todd. He is the only person in that unit. So Todd is our what we would call our dispatch council subject matter expert. And Todd provides all of the integrations for what we might call network connected equipment. Um, other people would just know it as a Motorola dispatch council, but basically a council that is connected via the network, not via the radio system. And Todd would manage all of the changes on those. Uh, customers sometimes would want what we call resources, and those are basically taught groups that the dispatch center can use or select on their council. Sometimes they want the resource changes, uh, they would want them updated. Um, maybe a dispatch center is moving and he would have some responsibility of making sure that the equipment is set up at the new site and is connected correctly to the network. And a lot of those things, what I would call the maintenance points of managing and using those councils on a day-to-day basis. And a lot of his roles also involve training some of the dispatch center staff throughout the state, um, both at a local and a state level, to really leverage some of the options that are on those dispatch councils and make sure that the staff is fully aware how to access uh these different operations. For instance, maybe an emergency alert, how to acknowledge that, how to release that alert, uh, those types of things, how to look at that equip or those that information coming in. And so the other part of that that we kind of alluded to earlier is any troubleshooting that would relate to uh councils either not working correctly or having issues. And he interacts very heavily with the NCC trying to unpack some of those deeply technical issues related to councils or related to talk group or related to talk group performance on a council. So he does receive a lot of help and support and interaction from the Network Communications Center or the NCC on those efforts because it's kind of a multi-pronged approach.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

Okay. And RPU, we've got how many people in there at this time?

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Well, we have um uh within RPU, we have a few different what we call RCT or radio communication technicians. And we have uh Chuck Thomas, who has been with us and is a stalwart of the unit for a very long time. We have Phil Allen, uh Jerry Dubzak, Brian Vanderlee, and Michael O'Reilly. And those people are all the ones doing the day-to-day programming work and what I might call the master programming or the serialized programming. Like if we're going to give back a file for each radio the customer has, they're the ones doing those specific tasks.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

And then we've got some other gentlemen in the in the unit at this time.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Yeah, so over in the template design unit, uh, we we refer to those as analysts, and we have Jim Darbos, who spent a good deal of time in the radio programming unit before moving into that area. We have Jeff Kelly and Al Mellon, and all three of those employees are receiving the inbound requests. They're kind of the group that has the first eyes on a programming request coming in from an outside agency, a local or federal agency. And they're looking at that request. They're trying to unpack what the customer is asking, uh, looking at the radio management transaction that the customer would have submitted, documentation. And they're kind of the first point to reach out to the customer to say, uh, I think we have uh some things that are needed here. Maybe we need an MOU. We don't have an MOU on file. You're asking for this talk group, uh, but we need some documentation and then offer also offering some suggestions to those customers should they see that. And what they're doing is they're looking at the larger picture of that template, and the customers would probably know this as like the Excel spreadsheet that you fill out. What talk groups do you want, in what zones, what position on the radio? So they're the ones having the back and forth to the customer inquiring what the intention was or suggesting that maybe they might want to add this, move that, so on and so forth. And once that conversation or package of material is complete, they will approve that, put some other items on that request, and then it goes through the process here at MPSCS of going through the billing process to ensure there's no new charges. And if there are new charges, invoices are created and sent to the customer. And then eventually, kind of the last stop at the train station here is the programming work that goes over to the radio programming unit to do those serialized or very specific files that we talked about earlier. That will eventually be what uh goes out to the customer for them to program.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

So the customer doesn't have to know exactly everything before they contact us, but they need to know they need to have a good idea of what they need.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

We expect a certain amount of input from them and we can walk through a lot of that information that they're giving to us to try to understand or put it in technical terms that those within the group or or this world won't understand. But yes, we will have that conversation, we'll have that back and forth discussion, and we always encourage any of the customers if you're not sure what you're looking for or you're not sure what to ask for, just reach out and we will help you walk through either submitting the transaction and radio management, we will have the discussion about what you need uh or what you should be looking for, and then we can give you pointers on completing the worksheet or have a back and forth conversation about suggested changes that we see.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

And we're really pretty easy to work with, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Most days.

SPEAKER_03 11:57

Um, now what about fire paging?

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Fire paging is an area that does partially reside with us, and I and I say partially because there's some other aspects of it that involve the NCC and also involve engineering, kind of thinking at it from a perspective of greater service. But fire pagers, we do not program those in the sense that we don't send programming files. Uh, but Ale Mellon has kind of been the resident uh fire paging individual who has owned a lot of this, and so he's very helpful in setting up the pager, uh, understanding from past customers' experiences, both good and bad, um, what some of those say settings should be, suggested tips and tricks for programming. Uh Unication is the only pager that's that's permitted on our system right now. And so that comes with a programming suite of software that uh most people in our group and especially AlMail and have a pretty good feel for. So they can give a lot of suggestions and pointers uh what they've seen in the past, what works and doesn't work, and uh just helpful information to allow the customer to get the best use out of their device.

SPEAKER_03 13:12

Which is what we all want. Um that whole unit is impressive considering how many radios, consoles, and fire pagers are managed on the system. Could you tell us a little bit about some of the big projects at RPU and TDU that you've worked on and what sort of improvements have been made to the radio programming and template design?

SPEAKER_00 13:31

Yes, we have the luxury of being involved in most county integrations where somebody is coming on the system, or for instance, the project in Calhoun County right now where they're expanding their system, anything that involves new radios, or you might hear the term subscribers, anything that involves new radios, mobiles, portables, control stations, councils, anything like that, we're involved in those projects. And so there's always kind of a uh what I would call a three-way project between the manufacturer, between MPSCS, and then typically the customer being represented by a local shop. Obviously, by volume and sheer size, integrations like Oakland County, Ingham County, Kent County, you know, some of the largest metropolitan areas of the state have been very much a challenge just because of the number of radios and the number of complexities, both of public safety agencies that reside in those counties and are operating day-to-day in those counties, but also the very unique concerns of those counties where the majority of the population centers for the state of Michigan reside. So you have some very unique requirements and needs of, you know, both the capital city, Kent County, where Grand Rapids is, and of course Oakland County in the larger metro Detroit area. So we have good visibility into both those extremely large projects and the smaller projects, where maybe somebody is adding just fire paging or sites or a couple dispatch councils like in Menominee recently in the Upper Peninsula. So we have uh a flavor for both the large and the small, and we're involved in all those projects. We typically dedicate a staff member to those projects to be the what I would call customer representative to help that customer work through the programming templates, what kind of talk groups they're going to want, what kind of interoperability do they need with maybe their next door neighbors, things of that nature. And it'll really depend on how deep we get into this, because in some cases the customer is very familiar with our system. Maybe they already use our system and just are expanding uh the devices in their county, or maybe they're leveraging some kind of new functionality, or maybe they're brand new to our system and they need to be walked through, you know, front to back. What does an MOU look like? Why do I need approval from the neighboring agency to use their talk group? So we try to help with all of that. Going back to the prior part of your question, the radio programming unit has evolved considerably over the last probably five to eight years. And a lot of it is the direct result of the volume of radios that are on our system and the programming that we receive. And one of the probably biggest changes that we made recently is how we receive those programming requests with our customer-facing tool, radio management. Uh, this tool was designed over the last many years. And again, I understand that it's not perfect. We're working with customers to, you know, evolve this process and this customer-facing portal. But a lot of the customers or a lot of the agencies out there are probably not aware that many years ago, we used to just receive the programming request by email. And that was very complicated in a shared email inbox. Sometimes it wouldn't go to the right address. Sometimes they wouldn't have the necessary, you know, attachments or needs. Uh, perhaps one of the other employees responded and another employee didn't know. It was a very chaotic situation. And the point that I'm making is we had probably 30 to maybe 40% of our time being spent on administrative tasks like responding to email and not programming radios. Thus, the number of requests ballooned. The delivery time has, you know, expanded considerably. So this tool was an effort to give the customers insight into where's my programming request? Is it still with the template design unit? Is it in billing, you know, waiting to have the bill paid? And it's kind of meant to be a one point uh or one-stop shop, I should say, of where everything would go. Your request comes in, the attachments are on the request, the invoice is on the request, and then eventually when we complete the work, your files that you would need for your radios are placed upon the request. So it's kind of like one sole resource where you can go and find everything out about that request that you had or that you made and get any of the information that you need off of there. A, it helps us track everything. Um, a lot of the portions of this are automated, uh, especially when the request is received. So we're now not spending our time creating tickets in what I would call our master database within MPSCS, but this radio management system feeds right into there. It flows into billing, and you know it's it's restricted to only the accounts that you have access to. We are the ones that control the access for the usernames and allow them to have access to the accounts that they're given permission to submit requests for or retrieve work for, including vendors. Vendors oftentimes have access to multiple agencies. So it's been a great help. Uh, the system does require some training. We try to host all of those documents, all of the literature, YouTube videos about how to enter certain requests out there on our website. We're currently trying to evolve that and get uh more information out there. And then we frequently do what I would call training or first-time users of radio management. We help them walk through, whether it be with a screen share of the database and explain to them how you select radios that might exist, how you add radios that are new, because all of these things require certain information from the customer, such as a new radio requires very specific, very specific information as opposed to a radio that exists in our database already. We already have all that information. So, you know, that's a lot of the changes that we've made. And I would be remiss if I didn't say, as I talked about earlier, how the RPU TDU has evolved, that employee-wise, or the number of people we have is far larger now than it ever used to be. Uh, we've added, just in the time that I've been here, we've added uh two new programmers. We've added one new analyst. Uh so both the TDU and the RPU has grown. And just recently, uh, because of the volume of requests that we continue to see, we've added uh a contractor, um, Jimmy Bott, who many people out there, if you're familiar, would will probably know. He spent a good number of years at a local vendor shop and has retired from there and is providing us support as we need it to do some of the programming requests. So we're trying to modernize it through technological solutions, staffing. You know, again, some of these people have to be trained and and brought up to speed. A lot of the people that we've hired have knowledge and awareness of radio programming are kind of from within this realm, but it requires a lot of programming and the policies and processes of both MPSCS, DTMB, and the state of Michigan. And so there is kind of a slow uh ramp up, but we are getting there. We have the staff, and we'll start to cut down on the delivery time and completion of these programming requests, which is what I know the customers ultimately want.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

So it'll just get smoother over time.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

That is the hope.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

Okay. Um, we're going to take a little break right now, and we will be right back.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

We've got some things immediately when coming from the stuff. This is very important when coming.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

This is going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a look at the exactly working schedule.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

Welcome back to our podcast. Our guest is Chris Poole, Radio Programming and Template Design Unit, or RPU TDU Unit Manager. Welcome back. Thank you. At the September 2023 meeting, the Michigan Public Safety Communications Interoperability Board approved a plan to terminate legacy radio models that were approaching end of life. Could you talk about why that's necessary?

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Yes. We try to term this as a sunset, meaning we're trying to modernize the system. And we have a lot of radios out there that are very old radios. And so you're going to hear the term legacy radios or legacy models talked about frequently. And what we're really saying is these are very old radios, and there's lots of different reasons why we have been encouraging customers to modernize their fleet. And we understand that there's a cost that goes with that. But with these devices, they lack a lot of functionality. And it's not really one reason fits the bill for all of them. There's a lot of different reasons why we should start looking at moving these off our system. And I just want to be very clear that, you know, we tried to take an approach of as long as they were operating on the system, you could continue to use them. We just weren't going to offer new and updated programming for them because there are some difficulties from our end, both from a software side and also from a functionality side, that makes it very difficult. But we wanted to give customers a path to continue to use those. And since they aren't repairable, since they aren't something that you could send back to the manufacturer to have uh upgraded or fixed, should it be ran over by a fire truck or something like that. We felt like this was the proper avenue to take. And we gave the interoperability board plenty of advanced notice. We communicated this back in May and June to them, provided them the documentation, asked them to spend the summer reviewing it with a hope that we could uh have the approved action which did occur at the September board meeting. And we start talking about some of these legacy radios, and as I alluded to earlier, a lot of different reasons. And some of those things are uh a lot of these older radios, some of them were not capable of 700 megahertz operation. And I know that we're known as the state 800 system, but a good portion of our system operates in both the 700 megahertz megahertz spectrum. And there are some areas of the state, primarily the upper peninsula, that doesn't have very much uh 700 megahertz uh channels up there, but that will probably change as systems build out. So some of the manufacturers of these radios, I mean, you think about a computer, which is what these radios are, but these manufacturers stopped offering hardware and software support in some cases decades ago. So you think about that, and you know, you certainly wouldn't plug a computer that's running on Windows XP into some type of protected system. And that's really kind of the vantage point that we're looking at this from. Plus, with the manufacturers no longer supporting these, those devices are not capable of having upgrades to them, or they are not capable of having advanced functionality. And I would kind of define, I would define advanced functionality as anything like over-the-air Rikeen or OTAR or higher levels of encryption, um phase two operation, any of those kind of larger functionality packages that we would see as our system grows. And a lot of these radios, you know, not all, again, it's not one answer or one solution fits all of these, but a lot of those radios to upgrade those many, many years ago was an actual hardware function, meaning you had to replace something physically in the radio, versus a lot of the modern radios that are approved for use in our system have what I would call a software package of upgrades, meaning you want to change or enhance something on the radio. Typically, the manufacturer provides you some type of software package that allows that functionality to be leveraged within the radios. So considering those radios are not able to be altered, changed, or upgraded, um, they're just not capable of any of that functionality. And again, kind of talking about what I said earlier on the 700 megahertz vantage point, a lot of these very old radios, and I'm kind of looking at like the Motorola um XTS and XTLs that were like the Model 1s and 1.5s, a lot of those had very limited channel capacity. And as our system has grown and as our um required, you know, uh event talk group zones have grown to give the NCC and all the users out there capacity to have event talk groups assigned for their critical both planned and unplanned events, we had to expand that. And with that expansion and other required interoperability talk groups within radios, some of those radios couldn't even accept the full standard uh template, which would mean then the customer doesn't even have any room to put their own talk groups in there. So very much a diminished capacity radio. But again, you think about when these radios were manufactured decades ago, uh, the growth or size of our system was probably not anticipated. And I think anything that we've done has really been in step with what a lot of parallel systems across the United States that may be operating from either a large regional or a statewide footprint that would have a P25 public safety system have done. And we tried not to reinvent the wheel and took, you know, clues from some of these other statewide systems about what they're doing. Some are moving faster, meaning they required radios to be removed from the system at such and such date. We're not doing that. We're just really setting um some time frames to say these are when you can no longer add this radio. These are when the radios that are currently on our system will no longer be offered, you know, change programming or updated programming. And we can talk about that here in a little bit, some of those dates. But really the key around this is you know the lack of support from manufacturers, the lack of ability to take some of those older radios and put some kind of advanced functionality into them, whether it's encryption or whether it's some type of phase two or TDMA operation, multi-key, something like that. And then you couple that with the programming software that is often required to run on very older Windows versions, which are typically not allowed, um, certainly not allowed on our laptops here for the state of Michigan. And I would expect that most agencies would have a similar IT kind of policy that prevents that. Again, a lot of these radios maybe are still very useful, and and as long as they're functioning on the system, you know, we would encourage you to keep using them. We're just going to try to set some time frames in stone and say, this is the way that we need to move and this is why we're doing this.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

What are some of those more ancient radios that fall under that category?

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Well, a lot of them that people would be familiar with because they're the largest, I guess, grouping or models out there would be, you know, the XTSs and the XTLs. And, you know, we're looking at like the 2500s and the 5000s. But if you were to go out to our website and you were to go to the radios, councils, and pagers tab, you can see the full list on the website. And we've tried to go through and redesign the approved radio list so it's very clear about what radios are fully supported. If we've noted any limitations on those radios, we've tried to note that and provide some helpful tips to the customer. We've tried to clearly identify through the headings in those categories. You know, these are radios that are no longer permitted in any fashion on our system, or these are radios that are being sunsetted, which is kind of what we're currently talking about. So we try to be very clear about that and list some information out there to be helpful. You know, Jerry Dubzak uh was really primarily responsible for that, did a lot of work and put a lot of time into that, into modernizing it. And I think just by looking at that and going to the website now, it should make it very clear to the customer about what is supported, what's not supported, and any uh very important time frames that would be upcoming for them to keep in mind if they are in possession or using any of those older radios.

SPEAKER_03 30:51

Right. We won't be pulling the rug out from under anyone's feet then.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Yeah, no, we're trying not to. Let's let's keep uh communications working as best we can. Just be mindful of, you know, please look at developing a roadmap towards modernizing the fleet as we try to modernize the system, and then everybody can take advantage of all of the functionality on our system and and have you know the full suite or power of the system that's built here in Michigan.

SPEAKER_03 31:17

What are some of these important dates that people need to pay attention to?

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Well, the first one that's probably the most relevant was the January 1st of 2024. And what we've said there is any of these older devices again listed out on the website, any of these older devices, if they are not currently programmed or if a request is not currently submitted by 1124 to have these programmed, we're not going to allow any of these devices on through a programming request, meaning no new on-scene devices. And so with that, if the device currently exists on our system, meaning it's being used, it's got a radio ID, uh, all of that good stuff, we'll allow the customer, we will allow the customer to continue to request programming changes or updates as long as it's within the capability of the radio uh through January 1st of 2026. And at that point, the programming that you have in that device will be kind of locked in time, like we did with all of the older terminated radios that are also out on the website, is continue to use them. We're just not going to be in a position to offer change programming for those because of the limitations they possess.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

You know, one of the other things I want to point out too is there's a lot of times where a larger customer, uh, and I'll use the analogy of a law enforcement agency will modernize their fleet and they still have a number of these older radios that are working and they want to transfer or give them to some other agency. And as long as, like I said earlier, as long as the device was previously on our system, we will allow that transfer, assuming that the customer is going to doesn't need any of this advanced functionality like uh key level of encryption or phase two operation, um, OTAR, any of those kind of things that the radio is not going to be capable of. So the best scenario I can give you is a law enforcement agency wants to transfer these radios to a fire department or maybe a department of public works that doesn't have a need for some of that advanced functionality, we can allow that transfer and offer that programming up until that July, or I'm sorry, January 1st, 2026 date. And then at that point in time, those radios will be locked in programming and we won't change any of that or offer changes to it.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

Okay. And what is the recommended path for these agencies moving forward?

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Well, again, if you are in possession of these legacy radios or older radios and they're functioning on the system right now, I would make arrangements between, you know, now and preferably, you know, the middle part of 2025. We don't want to be bombarded with requests for change programming on December 31st of 2025. So if you're in possession of those, start thinking about what it is that you're going to do. Are you going to try to modernize the programming within the confines of the device and its functionality and run with it? Or do you have plans to modernize your fleet? And if that is the plan and you're going to put these devices off of your account or not use them anymore, you know, we would encourage that. You just have to be mindful that if you plan to give them to another customer, what those customers' needs are, because they may not fit the eligibility, as I'll call it, of being the recipient of these transfers. So start making that plan now. Think about what you're going to do. Um, you know, hopefully you have something in the roadmap of your agency as far as communications planning that includes hardware, i.e., new devices. And if that's the case, we can help, you know, offer you some of our what I would call best recommendations on functionality. And those are also listed on the on the website uh as far as different manufacturers and what the suggested functionality would be. So start looking at that roadmap and start uh, you know, making you and your end users aware that there is a life cycle cutoff coming for these legacy radios, that you will have a term-limited date and you'll no longer be able to submit for programming, but you have a window of opportunity now for the next couple years. And, you know, if you want to change the programming, we can probably provide that as long as it's before that date. But think about what you would like to do and where you would like to be eventually, because at some point these devices are just going to stop functioning. There's no repair options for them. So hopefully you're thinking about that.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

And that list of approved radios is on our website at www.michigan.gov slash mpsc-s. Now, if people have additional questions about this transition, who should they contact?

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Well, they can contact anybody in the radio programming unit. And I say it that way because a lot of our customers have very personal contacts because they're receiving programming from anybody in RPU, or sometimes they work closely with uh the TDU employees on creating templates and things of that nature. So if you have that personal contact, I'm certainly not saying that you shouldn't reach out to them. But you can also call the radio programming unit hotline and you can also email the radio programming unit. We have a shared email address. So really just reach out to any one of us uh through whatever means that you have available to you. If you have questions, we can walk you through what the suggested path would be, or we can help you identify uh what programming is capable within your device if you're one of these customers that possesses uh, you know, some of these legacy devices. And again, all those devices are specifically outlined on our website.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

Okay, and what advice would you give a student looking to get into radio programming or template design or consoles as a career or interested in supporting public safety?

SPEAKER_00 37:11

Well, anybody who has an interest in this communications realm and public safety communications realm, you know, certainly MPSCS is a great place to work. And we have a very large system that is not the norm throughout the United States. And I think if you were to talk to everybody within this group, a lot of them have some connection back to the military or back to public safety. And I believe on a day-to-day basis, they find it very satisfying to provide solutions to the public safety users and the critical infrastructure users that are out in the field delivering services every single day. I think in anybody's career, you need to look for uh, you know, a purpose, um, something that draws you to that career. And I think that that is what most anybody in this organization, and specifically in my group, would tell you is they have a connection to this because of those that they serve and they have a purpose and they have a mission and they know what that mission is, and their mission is to do their job and provide a communication solution as best as they possibly can to any of the end users out there. And I think that's what will really drive satisfaction, interest, and a dedication to your job.

SPEAKER_03 38:26

And we do that well here.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

We do very well.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

Uh that's all for today, and we want to thank Chris Cool for being here to tell us all about yourself and the RPU TDU unit at MPSDS.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 38:40

We hope you all enjoyed the show and we will be back soon. If you've been listening to Tune In with MPSDS, be sure to look us up at www.michigan.com slash mpsdf at YouTube soundcloud and on Twitter or at MPSDS. You can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or other podcast readers, so you never miss an episode. We'll see you the next time.