XTL functionality

[Jay911]

Greetings all,

I'm involved in spec'ing radio hardware for a piece of fire apparatus. The truck will be used in a region that currently has a Smartzone 800MHz analog/digital mixed trunk; most fire/EMS users currently have MCS2000s, but Fire is exploring digital and has a couple of digital talkgroups at present. In a few years, the province will be establishing a P25 700MHz system as well, which will likely either merge with the Smartzone system or replace it.

I am thinking the XTL5000 is probably the one I should recommend as the truck's mobile. Is there a different model XTL that I should consider? As in, if the XTL5000 is comparable to the XTS5000, is there an XTL3000 that compares with the XTS3000? (Hope that makes sense.) Is the price difference significant enough to matter on a single radio?

The last concern is that the use of "one touch signaling" on the existing MCS2000s is a priority. Fire uses this feature as "status heads" to allow crews to mark themselves en route, arrived, available, etc., in vehicles without Mobile Data Terminals (as this new truck might likely be for at least the first year or so). Does the XTL series offer one-touch and if so is it limited to any specific model in the line?

Thanks in advance!