Naomi Cooper
A new survey from Verizon‘s frontline support unit revealed that first responders across the U.S. believe that there is a need for coordination and interoperability among public safety agencies to improve emergency response.
About 83 percent of the 3,000 active first responders surveyed nationwide shared it is critical that agencies have the ability to communicate to respond to a crisis and over a third believe that a reliable network would improve the use of public safety communications technology in the future, Verizon said.
The respondents believe that 5G broadband connection technology has the ability to enhance public safety communications because of faster speeds, low latency and the ability to connect to more devices and send larger files.
The survey, conducted by Texas-based consulting services provider Lexipol, also found that smartphones have outpaced land mobile radio systems as the main communication tool used by first responders.
Smartphone usage among first responders is expected to increase over the next five years as internet-connected devices continue to see significant growth.
