Tune In with MPSCS: Network Communications Center (NCC)- Supporting First Responders

The NCC or Network Communications Center is available 24 hours a day to assist public safety members with issues regarding system problems and maintenance. They are a lifeline to dispatchers and agencies that rely on the system that supports first responders. Public safety members include state agencies, local, federal, tribal, county and private public safety first responders. What is the day like in the NCC and how did it start? We talk with Marty Gillis who has worked in the NCC since its origins to answer those questions. Transcript is available here: https://cms.michigan.gov/mpscs/-/media/Project/Websites/MPSCS/Social_Media/Transcripts/MPSCS-NCC-Podcast-Transcript-V4.pdf

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Welcome to our podcast, tune in with MPSCS. I am Judy Light, your host for the show. I work in the Field Resource Center or the FRC here at Michigan's Public Safety Communications System or the MPSCS. And today we have a special guest. He's been with the MPSDS since the very beginning, and he works in the NCC Network Communications Center. Please welcome Marty Gillis. Welcome to the show, Marty.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Thank you for having me here.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Well, been with state uh 31 years this past June. Um been a pretty good uh position to be in. Work with a lot of great, wonderful people, and uh enjoy doing the job I do.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

What did you do before coming to the MPSCS? What was your background there? I I believe you were a Navy man.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Yep, I worked in uh F-14s uh squadrons in the Navy. I was an aviation radio technician, integrated weapons team member.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

You were stationed where?

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Virginia Beach, Virginia, but I spent most of my time overseas in the Mediterranean.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Oh. And were you on a ship or on shore? How did that work?

SPEAKER_03 1:27

Uh two and a half years on board an aircraft carrier. The other half time we were either down in the Caribbean on an aircraft carrier or stationed at Virginia Beach, Virginia, NAS Oceana.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

I know it sounds um awful, but I'm kind of jealous about that right now. Um, what did you do in the NCC? What do you do in there?

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Uh I guess we monitor everything from the radios that all the local users use all the way up to the network servers and uh microwave radio systems that carry all the information to and from each user and site.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

So it's all the way from the top to the bottom.

SPEAKER_03 2:09

Yep, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Okay, the end user being the guy on the end of the radio every time, pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Yep. From the dog catcher all the way up to the undercover agents.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

When did you start with the MPSCS and what were you doing back then?

SPEAKER_03 2:24

Uh I started with MPSCS. Uh in the NCC, there was an original cast of four members that were recruited. Um Captain Steffel recruited them on kind of their known specialties. He had one gentleman that was a uh networking uh information person at the time, which was a fairly new field. That was Eric Van Camp. And then uh Rich Rai Bickey. Um he came from the city of Detroit. He was uh versed in the 800 trunking systems that Motorola had been producing, and that's what we were going to. And then um Mr. Jim Hepford came from the city of Lansing, and Jim was uh uh very well versed in uh microwave radios at the time.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

So a specialized team.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Now you were part of MSP back then, right? We weren't a standalone agency local.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

MSP at the beginning, it was MSP's uh radio system in the beginning, but uh the forefathers of it uh had the foresight to realize it would be a lot more than just MSP. Uh they originally realized that uh basically all state agencies would definitely be able to use the system. And uh as uh things went on, they realized they could probably get just about every law enforcement uh first responder user in the state on the system.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

And we've got everybody today from MSP, DNR, MDOT, corrections, Coast Guard, Attorney General's office, all on our system.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Secret Service, FBI, DEA, yep, uh tribal uh police.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Uh and you guys monitor that, so you're like the the man behind the curtain.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

Yep, we monitor everything. Uh like you said in the beginning, we are here 24-7. Uh, we used to kind of make the joke uh saying we are the people 911 calls when they need help, but uh but it's true. Well, but we're here uh do our best to support the system. It's uh ever changing and fastly uh growing, that's for sure.

unknown 4:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

What was it like back then? And and what kind of technology did you have? The the computers were using using abacus. How how did that work?

SPEAKER_03 4:45

Uh in the beginning it was all based on uh telecommunications network uh systems, mainly telephone systems and and the way they trunked information. Um everything was an analog system back then. Um the technology at the time was uh advancing very rapidly. Uh at the time computers were still basically proprietary to the manufacturer, uh they were not in wide use throughout uh even state um agencies at the time. Um so compared to what we use today, they would be considered a bone anchor, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Right. Um, were you here for when the system was built out?

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Yep, I was here from day one of the beginning, uh, all the way to the end.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

So what kind of stories do you have from back in the day? You know, the kind you can tell here. We'll talk about the others later.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

I think in the beginning it was pretty uh common that a lot of people doubted that it was actually going to first off work as well as uh we were told to, and then uh actually see it built out all the way to the end. Um, I myself originally thought it was a great way for Motorola to get a bunch of towers uh in the southeast Michigan area, because at the time cell phones were just becoming you know in wide use, and if the system failed, then Motorola would have all of these towers that at the time were very hard to get and frequencies very hard to get. But uh that was not the case. Uh uh they uh put it in, got it working, and I was very impressed the very first time I did a push to talk on a portable radio sitting in Lansing and was able to talk to a post-29 trooper down at uh downtown Detroit, Greyhound station.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Now, so it was the southeast side of the state that got the technology first. Yep, and the towers. So, how many towers did we start out with? Ballpark? A handful?

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Gosh, I can't remember the exact numbers, but uh I'd guess probably 40 or so would be the number in the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

So between Lansing, Detroit, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Lansing down to um Adrian Jackson over to Detroit.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

Up to I think Flint was part of it uh in the beginning, also.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

So a good chunk over there.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Um, do you have a favorite memory from back then working working with that original cast of guys that you mentioned earlier?

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Yeah, everybody was really going after it. Uh everybody dedicated to the cause, working together. Wasn't without a few hiccups and uh headbutting, but uh it was nice to work with a team uh that uh finally worked out all the rough spots and and got things going to a really smooth operation by the time the phase two came along.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

What is a normal day like at the NCC now?

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Uh it's a fireman's job, as they say. Uh you can go from one minute not having much to do to having some serious chaos uh because of equipment issue or natural effects, lightning storms, or what we really dread is the fade season where uh Mother Nature disrupts the microwave pass and causes our dispatch centers to uh become rather irritated because they're hearing funny noises that they don't like to hear.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Hmm. Um, I hear lightning strikes when I'm in there. What that directly hits a tower and then just fries everything or selectively, or how does this work?

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Well, it's actually uh pretty well taken care of now. It's uh the systems and sites were designed with uh pretty good grounding and effect. Again, in the beginning, we did lose uh we'd lose routers and channel banks uh because of the lightning. But uh again, the advancement in technology, um uh the lightning strikes, they can still take out a lot of stuff and do a lot of damage, but uh uh it's pretty much been mitigated uh with the latest remediation.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Now, when something like that happens, who fixes the the part on the business end there?

SPEAKER_03 8:59

Oh, you got uh tower crew gentlemen, site maintenance crew, Rod's group would do the tower work. Uh say if it's an antenna cables, uh microwave dishes that got struck, uh they would be the ones doing that. And then the equipment inside is the field staff, field radio techs that uh do it.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Um so it's a group effort on on that end.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Everybody's part, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Now, theoretically speaking, what would be a disastrous day on the job if if the world was on fire? These guys need to keep the systems up and running, our NCC people. But what would be a disastrous day on the job in there?

SPEAKER_03 9:41

Uh lightning strike taken out a master site. That would be pretty hectic for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

That would affect so many agencies.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Pretty much everybody, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Okay. Um, who generally are our customers here?

SPEAKER_03 9:55

Uh, I think we mentioned most of them before, but uh really like I say, uh, everybody from that's in the first responder role in the state of Michigan. Um, I know we have some school systems that use it. Um so meter maids, dog catchers, uh, secret service.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

So if somebody's driving down the road and they see an officer or a DNR conservation officer or an MDOT guy parked in the median and they're on the radio, we're making that happen.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

Yep. Yep. Uh we make that happen. One of the big things that I know the diverse group of agencies that we support really like is the ability to be able to interconnect with people rather quickly. Uh uh, we call them the event channels that we assign out. So um, perfect example, uh, one of the DEA offices in Detroit called the other day. They had been doing surveillance on a couple of people, and uh they needed to have them pulled over right away. So they were able to get in touch with the the local MSP post to supply a patrol car that would, you know, get the location, come over and pull the car over so they could do a search of the vehicle. And we were able to put them in communications, you know, in a matter of probably 30 seconds total from the beginning of the phone call to the end.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

So NCC has a direct role in what happens out there on the street like that.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Yep. Uh do a lot of things like that, uh missing children, uh, canine call outs, um events at large football games or sporting events, um races down at MIS. Uh yep, the U of M has a lot of them. There's some green and white team here that uh will be using them soon. Uh but yep, Central Michigan, um Grand Valley, uh even the local universities are uh use them.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

And we see those come through all the time here at the NCC. So people have no idea that you are even involved in that. They just see a radio and it's like a walkie-talkie, but that's not the case.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

Yep. Uh to uh be able to list all the things that we are actually responsible for and do uh would probably drive most people crazy.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Uh that explains the crew in there.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Um, what do you do for the upgrades that occur every couple of years? What what does that all entail?

SPEAKER_03 12:26

Uh again, and a lot of different things. The biggest thing that we do is we try to ensure that what Motorola is going to be upgrading and changing to, number one, will be a benefit to the system and to our users. And then during the time of the upgrades, um uh it's very important that we make sure that um the upgrade operations team understands that they can't take large sections of areas offline for a long period of time. We have to coordinate so the local users can continue to use the communication system that we provide for them.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Right. And I hear the the phone calls when that's going to be happened. You actually call the dispatch centers or the or the dispatch center supervisors and ask, first of all, if they're in the middle of a an emergency, because we need to take care of business to keep everything running, and then it's down for a little bit, and then you guys bring it back up, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:18

Yep, yeah. We want to make sure there's nothing happening, big bank robberies, tanker fires, you know, uh any officers or people in trouble before we take it off the air. So we want to make sure our end users are well taken care of.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Which is what we're here for. Um, what challenges or hurdles do you encounter in this line of business?

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Uh, the biggest thing is uh the turnover rate that a lot of the dispatch centers are really all the dispatch centers, it's a very stressful situation for dispatchers. Uh, I don't think a lot of people realize what it's like sitting in those chairs. Uh uh you have to hear a lot of things that uh really isn't good, so you have a very large turnover rate, and then um there is not a quote university that trains or teaches this type of skill set to anybody. And then on our side of the house, the technological advancements that have happened in the world, uh, mainly cell phones and wireless devices, to a radio communications uh talent is highly needed and sought after. And outside of government, it's you know, it's a great skill to have. Government, again, there isn't a place that teachers are trains. The best you can do is get typically military people, and uh, and and those are even coming far and few between because they are you know so well sought after.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Right. And I know we've got a a large showing of military personnel here, and it's it's a very safe place to work. I like it. Um, now in the NCC, you've got a hot seat position, and what all is that about? What does that person monitor?

SPEAKER_03 14:59

Well, you gotta have somebody who's like in control at one time so everybody knows if something goes wrong, who who you go to to coordinate with, and that person is responsible to keep everything going down the right path in the right direction. You don't need three or four people trying to make decisions and going off in different directions. You need one person going in one direction and capable of taking in all of the other people's information and and keeping it going down the right path to get things resolved.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

So the hot seat's kind of the quarterback that day and more like the president, I'd say. Okay, that works. Um we're going to take a little break and we will be right back.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Open calendar. What's my schedule looking like? Next Thursday, you will be caught in an emergency flood between parking and first tree.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Exactly. Making an emergency plan.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Um now, when the NCC first came in, we were actually part of MSP, right? And then we transitioned to DIT, then DTMB, so there's been a lot of transition. How was it under MSP? What was the world like?

SPEAKER_03 16:45

Big difference. MSP was a very close-knit uh group of people. Uh everybody knew everybody, even though uh we were still spread out like we are today, was a much smaller group of people and led by a very tight group of people here in Lansing. Uh, Dave Held, Harry Warner, Al Blankenship. Um, you know, they were the managers per se. And then you had the kind of technical staff like Pat Nummer and you know, Linda Villarillo. Um, and then we became DIT and things started kind of changing. Um uh we fell more under the DMB style of management, and and that's kind of continued uh obviously because that we have to be, but during that time we absorbed uh DNR. DNR technicians came on, and so did the MDOT technicians. Uh got guys like uh you know Jerry Otello came over, uh he's up in the UP, Chris May for the Tower Crew guys, uh Mike McCarty. Uh quite a few people came.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Is that where we got Chuck Thomas?

SPEAKER_03 17:53

I believe Chuck came from DNR. That's right. Yeah, Chuck is still here with us. Um a fine job in the RPU TDDU.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Um how did you end up falling into this? You did installs at one time?

SPEAKER_03 18:09

I got hired into the state because I had radio communications background from a service. Again, even back then, uh, very few people had the skill set, and they were looking for people to uh uh uh do radio install uh on uh state troopers' cars at the time. And so I started there, did that for several years, and then had the opportunity to become a technician for the state police and worked uh down at Northville for uh Mr. Bob Gabbard, uh real good supervisor. Um Bob was there for a very long time also. I can't remember how many years, but learned a lot from Bob. Uh good leader, smart man. Well, as well, most of the guys at the time were.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

We had a lot of good old school people.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

Yep, a lot of them.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

And they they were hands-on guys, they knew how to fix stuff and not just direct.

SPEAKER_03 19:00

Yeah, most of them, a lot of them actually worked their way. They were some of them were actually dispatchers for a while and then became radio technicians.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 19:08

Most of them were hams. Um, when I hired in, I think I was one of the few people who did not have a ham license. Uh it was actually part of the requirement in the beginning that you had to have ham uh FCC license, I'm sorry. But most of them were ham at the time.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Ham operators.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Huh. Um, now there was an old system that was still up and running while this new system came on. How did that work?

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Was it seamless or no again? You had a group of people that still had to support the old low band equipment because uh as the system uh was built out, you had to have people that could still support the areas of the state that were not uh up to the new standards of the 800. So um yeah, you had old low band equipment in different areas of the state, you had different uh technicians uh shops, uh kind of similar like we have today, but uh uh most of the old school two-way radio guys were hands-on, fix it. Uh, there wasn't a whole lot of pull and replace as we do today. You had to pull it, troubleshoot it, fix it, and put it back in type of a thing.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Okay. Um, now for this job that you do here in the NCC, do you take think that takes a certain kind of a a personality to sit in that room and just sit there and deal with all the systems?

SPEAKER_03 20:26

And yeah, you gotta have a uh pretty strong will and uh gotta have the ability to be able to go from uh a very quiet time to be able to handle a lot of chaos and and and angry, upset people. Uh dispatch centers, everybody has our number, and none of them are afraid to use it. So you gotta be able to deal with stress, gotta be able to multitask um tremendously. Uh it's not something all the time, but it's when it's needed, you have to be able to do it.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

Well, and the attention to detail in there is is amazing too. And I know you guys work like dogs quite a bit. There's only a what eight or nine of you working 24-7. And when somebody goes on vacation or calls and sick, I know I think the most I've heard of somebody working 25 days in a row, something like that.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

Oh boy, no. I think I can't remember it was Steve or Larry, one of them has uh, I think it was like 43 days straight. Um, but uh yeah, it's it's intense. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

So a strong will is a necessary.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Yes, it is. It's very necessary.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

Can you tell us about some of the enhanced training that your group goes through?

SPEAKER_03 21:43

Um, yeah, again, in the beginning we did get quite a bit of training. Uh it was all such new technology that uh uh you had to be uh get the training. Uh things are a little bit different for multiple reasons uh today. Nowadays, most of the training. Training you get uh is uh what I'd call collaborative training from other technicians, uh other engineers, uh and uh outside people like Motorola people. Uh you gotta ask the questions uh uh to get answers, and sometimes that's the only way you're gonna learn.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

Right, right. That and mistakes, but we prefer questioning first. Um it sitting in that room watching you guys work and listening in on everything, it to me sounds like it's a whole lot of IT work. And I I don't understand it all, but you know, you get an ear for it, and you guys work with different systems. Um talk about that.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Everything is pretty much IT. The way that the the system has progressed, uh, just like even telephones now are an IT-based system. Um our system, including the radios, are now IT-based systems. Uh you still need a very strong two-way radio communications understanding to work in there. Um, you got to be able to realize what a transmitter is supposed to be doing, what an antenna is supposed to be doing, what a receiver is supposed to be doing. Um there's a lot of different technologies that we are responsible for and have to be able to troubleshoot and work with that uh way beyond most IT staffing abilities.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

Right. And you guys deal with microwave systems and the 800 radio systems, and you don't you don't just sit there and reset passwords for people.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

No, no, that's uh not what we do, but we do do that. Uh we do a lot of system admin work, uh, we do a lot of system programming. Uh we work, you know, with every type of IT device that's out there because that's the way it is. Uh switches, routers, uh servers, database servers, uh logging recording systems, um the paging systems.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Um so and again on that side, that's what makes a dispatch center work. So if you're sitting there and and you've got three shootings going on and 16 fires, and all that communications is because you guys are monitoring everything to make sure that it's functioning. And if there is a hiccup, you guys get the call to fix it, correct?

SPEAKER_03 24:17

Yep, we uh that's again part of the job is being able to monitor and see what's going on through the alarm system, and then it's an alarm and control system, so we do our best to uh resolve any situation that we can remotely. A lot of it we can. Uh, there's a lot of um adaptability and uh uh redundant systems built in to also cover that type of uh situation or problems that may arise. But uh, we do our best and then call on the uh other team members if we can't get it done from the NCC.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Yep, but I know quite often you hear you guys speaking with the the engineering, and sometimes they straighten you out, sometimes you straighten them out, but it it's always everybody working together for the same goal in there.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

Yep, yep. Uh we work you know real closely with the engineering group, uh, our engineering group, uh with the Motorola's engineering group. Um work real close with uh Scott and the microwave side. I've learned a lot uh since I've come back today is working with Scott. Like to give him a hard time uh here and there, but uh he deserves it. Everybody works together pretty well, and uh we get the job done and keep going forward.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

What uh what's some advice you'd like to give somebody who wants maybe to pursue a career similar to yours?

SPEAKER_03 25:37

I don't know many people that want to take these types of position. That's kind of obvious by not being able to hire uh people or even attract the type of people, and I think that's again nationwide. It's just a very demanding field, and uh the skill set is not taught anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Um so I think you had a good idea talking off the air a little bit ago. This would be perfect for some of those veterans, maybe that maybe are having a a rough time, maybe disabled. This would be a good place to do that. They would be very comfortable working here.

SPEAKER_03 26:14

Yep, yes, they would be. Uh again, um, I think it'd be a good thing. Maybe somebody can set up sometime and uh get the you know VFW officers in and uh American Legion people and and show them what we got and get some training going because basically, like I said, it's collaborative training. There are a lot of people from the military that would understand the law enforcement first responder side of the house, and they had the would have that skill set already. They would understand the importance of the job that they're doing, and uh and I think you can teach just about anybody anything.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Um in time, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

So, what do you see happening for the future at the uh MPSCS and the NCC?

SPEAKER_03 26:57

I think they're both gonna keep uh excelling way beyond their capacities at some points. Um the leaders are doing a good job on keeping things uh fresh and up to date and uh embracing new technologies. Um we are bringing on many, many more uh users. We have a large group with Kent County, Oakland County, Ingham County, Muskegon County, uh maybe consumers. So uh obviously growth is a big thing, I would say, uh, as with the growth of uh the number of users and participants in the system, uh the NCC is probably gonna have to grow along with the other staff members to support the the large and ever increasing number of users.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

I would hope so. Um, that's all we've got for you today, and we hope you enjoyed the show. And I'd like to thank Marty for being here to tell us about himself a little bit and working in the NCC. Thank you. We hope you all enjoy the show, and we will be back soon.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

You have been listening to TuneIn with MPS DS. MPS D F and I'm MPSDL I do icons, M Google podcasts, the