Smart City Networks has received final approval for a public-safety distributed antenna system (DAS) it installed last year at Phoenix Convention Center. Smart City Networks partnered with system integration firm Connectivity Wireless Solutions (CWS) to design, install, manage and commission the customized, turnkey system that ensures first responders can maintain communication with each other in case of an emergency.
“Bringing together large numbers of sports fans or conventioneers creates critical public safety concerns,” Smart City Networks President Mark Haley noted. “First responders must be able to communicate when responding to fires, medical emergencies and other extreme conditions.”
Strict fire codes and other safety regulations make these types of emergency communications systems uncommon in convention centers. The public safety DAS system meets all National Fire Protection Association 2015 standards, including circuit survivability, two-hour fire-rated housing and cabling and system monitoring.
Smart City and Phoenix Convention Center officials recently were presented with the fire marshal’s “green tag,” symbolizing the project’s completion and fire inspection approval.
Smart City and CWS initiated the public safety DAS at the same time they installed and began managing the convention center’s cellular DAS last year. The cellular DAS project came online in time for the convention center to serve as media headquarters for the 2015 Super Bowl in Phoenix.
DAS employs a network of mini antennas to boost signal strength, eliminate dead zones and remove interference from phone and radio frequency signals. It is especially helpful in exhibit halls and other locations where concrete structures, steel reinforcements and intricate architecture can block signals and lines-of-sight. Weak and interrupted radio signals can literally become a life and death situation when firefighters, medical professionals and other first-responders lose communication with dispatchers and each other in emergency situations.
“Smart City’s and CWS’s technical knowledge, experience in digital infrastructure and commitment to problem solving positioned us to recognize, analyze and provide a custom solution for special challenges presented by the Phoenix Convention Center’s unique venue design, building materials, and public safety requirements,” said Haley.
