Attendees at the Tetra World Congress in Frankfurt were briefed this afternoon on the positive user reaction to the Police Voice Portal.

John Blakeman, Head of Airwave Business Benefits for West Midlands Police, updated delegates on the progress of the trial of this exciting product. The Police Voice Portal solution, created by Cobalt in partnership with Civica and Vivista, enables patrolling officers to make verbal enquiries about vehicle registration numbers held centrally on the Police National Computer (PNC) whilst continuing surveillance or carrying out other duties on the ground.

West Midlands Police, the second largest force in the country, has been the first to trial this significant product. Inspector Blakeman explained that the technology has been subject to some harsh but realistic operational tests over the last few months. Pleasingly, he also reported that the user reaction amoungst all the triallists has been very encouragingly positive.

A separate trial, being undertaken with the support of Sussex Police in the South of England, begins on 7th December. Significantly, this trial is taking place in a geographically and culturally different area, and users will be using a different model of handset. PITO, the government agency tasked with overseeing the provision of information technology and communication systems to the police service and criminal justice organisations in the UK is taking an active interest in the progress of the trial.

Notes to Editors

The TETRA World Conference is an annual event taking place in Frankfurt. The congress has become the defacto meeting place for the international TETRA community. TETRA is a secure professional mobile radio (PMR) standard that is becoming widely adopted globally by police, fire, marine, military and medical service organisations.