FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, November 6, 2017 — Merced County, California has selected Federal Engineering, Inc. (FE) to provide consulting and planning services relative to the County’s short and long-term radio interoperability communications needs. The purpose of the study is to determine the most economical, efficient, reliable, and state-of-the-art method for improving the reliability of the County’s current radio system.

Mr. Ronald F. Bosco, FE’s President and CEO, provided an overview of the project: “Federal Engineering will conduct a comprehensive review of the County’s current infrastructure that will include functionality and capabilities as well as performing a needs analysis of participating agencies. The current interoperability infrastructure includes:

– Two-way radio systems and equipment (base, mobile, portable, and fixed receivers) for all agencies utilizing the Merced Operational Area Regional Interoperable Communications System (MOA-RICS).
– Communications infrastructure backbone (microwave, fiber, and other).
– New and/or upgrades to existing towers, supporting buildings, and the MOA-RICS.
– Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs).

We will also analyze the coverage of the current infrastructure and alternative new infrastructures to provide county-wide coverage of the MOA-RICS. FE will then present the infrastructure alternatives to Merced for the purposes of narrowing the alternatives down to a recommended solution that will serve as the basis for improvements to the system. The alternatives presented will include advantages, disadvantages, issues and considerations specific to the needs of Merced County’s MOA-RICS system.

FE will generate a report documenting the performance of current system, identifying vendor neutral recommendations suitable for the procurement of equipment and services, and incorporating an implementation plan for the recommended alternative.”

Ms. Kim Nausin, Purchasing Manager for Merced, indicated: “The County conducted a comprehensive competitive bidding process. Our request for proposal required the consultants to provide details regarding the qualifications of their firm and staff, prior experience, client references, project approach, project schedule, project work plan, and costs. Our Evaluation Committee considered all responsive proposals and selected Federal Engineering based upon their proposal.”

Federal Engineering is a leading, nationwide firm providing analysis, design, procurement, and implementation support for NG911, PSAPs, ECCs, and EOCs. These services complement FE’s wide range of consulting services in public safety and public service communications involving LTE as well as traditional VHF, UHF, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, and 4.9GHz mobile radio systems. FE also supports FirstNet planning in anticipation of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network. Since 1983, FE has completed thousands of communications projects for 46 state governments, as well as numerous local and federal government clients.

In addition to its public sector work, Federal Engineering provides design and implementation support services for voice, data, and video networks used in the transportation, utilities, aerospace, finance, education, publishing, and computer services industries. FE’s certified independence ensures that clients receive objective, unbiased consulting services that are not influenced by any particular technology, product, vendor, or approach.