TCCA urges standards compliance for mission-critical apps

A recent white paper from TCCA suggests that a standards-compliant approach is vital for ensuring that broadband applications used by critical communications users meet mission-critical quality.

The research, based on a comprehensive survey within the sector, stresses the significance of testing and certifying applications designed for mission-critical purposes. Although many broadband applications are currently employed by critical communications users, most are implemented over commercial networks with best-effort Quality of Service (QoS), which may not suffice in mission-critical scenarios.

Tim Clark, TCCA Board Member and leader of the task force behind the survey and white paper, stated, "The deployment and use of mission-critical broadband applications will greatly increase the effectiveness of first responders and the efficiency of mobile worker. The findings from our market survey provide valuable insights into the requirements of Public Safety, and other critical communications users, regarding their current requirements and future expectations."

TCCA advocates for a standards-compliant methodology to guarantee interoperability and promote vendor variety. They encourage critical communications users to insist on applications adhering to 3GPP specifications. A diverse array of applications was deemed mission-critical by survey participants, indicating the potential need for expansions to the 3GPP specifications beyond the current Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT), MCData, and MCVideo definitions.

Kevin Graham, TCCA CEO, remarked, "Adhering to MCX standards and certification will be crucial for ongoing multi-vendor innovation of applications and most importantly interoperability intra and inter agency, and where required, across borders. Harmonising the approach will ultimately lower the risks and efforts by all stakeholders and deliver richer operational capability into the hands of critical industry end-users."

The survey underscores the necessity for broadband application developers to grasp mission-critical requirements and tailor applications for different devices. It identified MCPTT as the foremost capability for critical users, with MC video capabilities becoming increasingly significant in public safety contexts.

Key prerequisites for mission-critical users were outlined as service coverage, application reliability, and security, with application management cited as a significant challenge.

The survey targeted TCCA members and other critical communications sector associations, gathering responses from a diverse spectrum of organisations worldwide. Emphasis was on public safety first responders such as police, fire, and ambulance services, though contributions also came from border guards, utilities, rescue, transport, coastguards, and defence sectors, ensuring a holistic perspective in the survey results.

On behalf of its members, TCCA supports all standard mobile critical communications technologies and complementary applications. TCCA's members are drawn from end users, operators and industry across the globe. The organisation drives the development of common global mobile standards for critical broadband and maintain and enhance the TETRA Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) standard.