Motorola SmartZone 4.1 Migration to 7.x P25

[radtech]

Hi,

a couple of questions ..

* for those with 4.1 systems, have you been given a deadline to move to 7.x by /\/\ ? That is, are you being "pushed".
[we have been told here in Sydney Australia by /\/\ that they will support 4.1 only for a certain time]

* for anyone who has migrated to 7.x, have you had only problems? Are there some improvements management software / applications?

* Any comments in general?


We will be going 7.x within 18 months.

Thanks

[RFguy]

No analog. Sucks for fire depts.

[xmo]

If your Motorola sales people can convince you to jump straight from 4.1 to 7X, so much the better for them - big forklift upgrade = big log $$$.

Smartzone 3.0 support end of life comes up in a couple of years, 4.1 is beyond that. There are a LOT of big customers with these 3600 baud systems so Motorola is getting pressured to offer a less costly upgrade migration.

One solution is a sort of 'protocol converter'. This is a device that will sit between a 7X master site and 3600 baud RF and subscriber equipment. This concept will allow you to replace the old unsupported network management parts of the system, i.e. zone controller, user & database servers, etc. with current generation technology and retain the balance of the system for a transition period.

Little solid information is available at this time. Look for late 2009 availability. It will be supported on SZ 7.7 and up. Product name something like: "Smart-X"

[CAPTLPOL]

Doesn't the 7.xx system allow for other competitive products to utilze the system?

[Jason]

As in competetor's subscribers? Yes it sure does. (to a lesser degree if you are using some of /\/\ only features)

[wmerrill]

Kennedy Space Center is in the position described. Our 3600 baud control channel system is "new" by the standards of our communications equipment, but Motorola's ending support is a problem. SmartX has been described to use. Assuming that we could tolerate being in site trunking or failsoft for a few months (and using radios to dispatch), why wouldn't we just keep "whistling through the graveyard" with our old infrastructure, knowing that we could buy a SmartX infrastructure, keep our XTS3000s, and recover from a big failure that way?
Thanks!
William Merrill