During 9/11 communication was lost between the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Metrotech headquarters in Brooklyn and its crews at the World Trade Center. Two factors that contributed to this loss of communication were the collapse of the twin towers, which took down a number of public safety radio transmission sites and damaged telephone landlines, and an overloaded cell phone network, due to too much traffic. Since 9/11, the FDNY has been looking for ways to prevent a communications breakdown from reoccurring. To correct this problem, the FDNY is testing a satellite videophone system.

By using satellite, the FDNY gets a signal path that isn't vulnerable to groundbased attack. Meanwhile, the two-way audio and video that the system supports allows the senior management of the FDNY not just to see and hear what's happening but to hold face-to-face meetings with commanders on the scene.

The test of the videophone system required that an FDNY vehicle (an SUV) be equipped with two global area network (GAN) antennas on its roof. Inside the SUV, two satellite transceivers feed the satellite antennas. In turn, they are connected to a "talking head" suitcase videophone. Inside the suitcase is a built-in camera, microphone, LCD video screen, and speaker along with the controls required to make the call and connect to the satellite. Since being deployed in April 2004, the FDNY satellite videophone has been tested in a number of locations. In general, it has performed well.

Source: Adapted from James Careless, "FDNY tests Satellite Videophones: Department Wants to Remedy 9/11," Government Video, March 1, 2005, p. 14.