Motorola Solutions news round-up: 2Q results, ESN, new P25 handsets, new CommandCentral Aware features

The past few days have seen a lot of Motorola Solutions-related news, including its 2Q 2018 results, some fresh commentary on Airwave and ESN, the launch of two new versions of its APX 8000 all-band P25 radio and an agreement with HERE Technologies for venue mapping.

Motorola Solutions saw its sales growth for 2Q 2018 grow by 18 per cent ($263 million) on year to $1.8 billion, while also seeing six per cent organic revenue growth. Operating cash flow was $425 million for the quarter compared to the $173 million generated in 2Q 2017. The company ended the quarter with a backlog of $9.4 billion, up $919 million from the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share on a GAAP base rose 35 per cent from $0.78 to $1.05.

Turning to the UK, in a Seeking Alpha conference call transcript, Motorola Solutions’ CEO Greg Brown said the following with regard to its negotiations with the UK Home Office over a possible extension of the working life of the Airwave TETRA network, “We continue to make good progress. We still anticipate agreement by the end of the quarter. It's worth noting that we're now negotiating both Airwave and ESN agreements in tandem. And while term and conditions are still fluid, our view and my view is unchanged. I think Airwave will stay – be in place [for] many, many years beyond 2020. And ESN is now looking to be more like a standards-based Kodiak solution.

“Both those developments are good for us. And at the end of the day, the UK Home Office solution between those two [Airwave and ESN] will look more and more like FirstNet here in the States…”

The company has launched two new hazardous location (hazloc) versions of its APX 8000 all-band P25 radio, both certified to the Class 1 Div 1 standard by Underwriters' Laboratory (UL). The APX 8000H is built for law enforcement, military and federal agencies, while the APX 8000HXE is designed for firefighters and disaster management teams. Both models feature a water-tight seal, a drop-resistant dual battery latch, a pressure-tested tempered glass display and a shock-absorbing aluminium alloy endoskeleton.

HERE Technologies, a mapping and location platform provider has announced that its venue maps have been integrated into Motorola Solutions’ CommandCentral Aware software to enhance situational awareness through allowing first responders to be easily guided to the right locations during incidents.

Before entering a building, police, fire and EMS personnel can automatically access the latest authorised venue map of the building to know the best entrance and fastest route to someone in need. Venue maps also include the locations of fire extinguishers, defibrillators, and medical kits on premise for quick access.

Motorola Solutions CommandCentral Aware aggregates and integrates streaming video, geospatial data, real-time alerts, resource tracking, analytics, voice, computer-aided dispatch and records information so public safety command centre staff can communicate actionable intelligence to field responders.

Motorola Solutions is also integrating Avigilon Control Center (ACC) video management software into CommandCentral Aware.

“We have completed the first major step of this integration which brings Avigilon video feeds into CommandCentral Aware. Analysts now have the ability to see ACC video in this one central source,” said Andrew Sinclair, general manager and corporate vice president, Software Enterprise, Motorola Solutions. “We are also integrating ACC’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based analytics. This will transform video surveillance from reactive monitoring to automated proactive alerts when a person, object or vehicle of interest is detected.”

With ACC’s AI-based analytics, the company says that intelligence analysts using CommandCentral Aware will be automatically alerted when unusual activities are detected and that this will result in less time being spent monitoring video, freeing up time to help first responders in the field.

Motorola Solutions acquired Avigilon in March 2018. Avigilon designs, develops and manufactures advanced security surveillance solutions, including video analytics, network video management software and hardware, surveillance cameras, and access control solutions.