Batboard

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

No analog. Sucks for fire depts.

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"

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

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

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