Comprehensive Communication Services, LLC

You never know who you are going to run into at a trade show. We are at the Fire Rescue International Conference in Dallas this week at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center and Robert Coker with his team from the City of Dallas OEM is out front providing security for the event with their recently upgraded mobile command center. A few weeks ago CCS worked with our friends at IP Access International and Dejero to install a new Kymeta LEO satellite with a 6 sim Dejero router for Robert and his team. The bandwidth it is pulling down to this unit is upwards of 250 mbps! This new technology is crazy in terms of what it can do for First Responders.

We have completed our 2nd MERC Command Center project for the US Department of Energy - both of these units being delivered within the past 60 days. For these first two projects the DOE was focused on small tactical communication trailers that could be quickly deployed and relocated to respond to wildfire events near any of their facilties and power plants. These small but powerful communication trailers will be equipped with Sat-Lite GEO satellites, Kymeta LEO satellites, Dejero LTE routers, land mobile radios and repeaters, 30 foot pneumatic towers, mobile generator power, and a climate controlled work space. There are more projects in the works for the DOE but we are happy to see our MERC command center trailers put to work for such an important agency. This was a joint project with Sat-Lite Technologies based out of White Oak, Texas.

The TDEM 2024 Texas Emergency Management Conference was once again held in Ft. Worth, TX at the Convention Center and just like last year - was very well attended by First Responders from all over the State of Texas. CCS has been attending this conference for 15+ years but I do not remember a year where the State has had so many weather events going on right before and during the Conference. The recent tornadoes and flooding in all parts of the State just emphasizes the importance of these events and the work that these brave men and women do to keep us all safe. CCS was there with our friends from IP Access, JPS, and Zumro Air Shelters to demonstrate some of the latest technology available to First Responders to help them perform their daily missions.

This year there was a big focus on the new LEO satellite network and hardware offers which have greatly increased the bandwidth and network connectivity available in both a mobile and fixed environment. CCS had Starlink sat hardware on display as well as One Web based products including the Kymeta and Intellian LEO satellite platforms. Part of our demonstration was how we are using the IP Access Gigaplan Service to bond this LEO satellite service with LTE/5g service through the use of a Dejero, Pepwave, or CradlePoint router. This LTE service is bundled in with the LEO satellite service to offer a very robust network package.

CCS also rolled out our newest product offering which is a joint venture with Zumro Air Shelters - a small portable inflatable tower (mast) system that allows our customers to quickly set up a 22 foot tower to deploy small satellites, antennas, cameras, etc.. The unit is made out of a very robust polyurethane which allows it to be flexible enough to be easily stored but rigid enough to be very firm when deployed. It is equipped with a simple trolley system to allow comm gear to be mounted to the mast head after the mast has been inflated and then raised and secured at the mast head. It also has multiple tie down points to secure the unit, internal LED lights on the mast head, a 12 volt battery system for deployment, an internal air pump, and a pressure guage that monitors the air pressure and automatically disperses more air when needed. When stored this unit can fit in the back of a truck or Tahoe type vehicle.

CCS and JPS also had our full line of PERC units on display equipped with a JPS interoperability server - one with a Z2 and one with a ACU-M. We like to refer to the PERC as a "mobile command center in a box" as it is equipped with an internal lithium battery bank, a 5G LTE/5g router, a 4 port POE switch, a USB charging port, battery meter - all installed in a small Pelican case allowing it to be carried or backpacked into any location. By adding the JPS servers, we give our customers the ability to also provide networked radio interoperability. Our customers have been packaging these PERC kits with their LEO satellites to increase their bandwidth and operate in areas with no cellular service.

Special thanks to TDEM for hosting this great event and for allowing CCS to host a training session to educate more customers on these new LEO satellite offers. The rumor is that the Conference will return to our home town of Ft. Worth in 2025 for the 3rd straight year.

Got to spend the day at Nellis Air Force Base with the Dept. of Energy delivering and training on their new MERC-LITE satcom trailer with a 40 foot Fireco and custom Zumro Air Shelter. We have some other projects under contract with them so there will be some more trips to Vegas. Appreciate their hospitality while we were there, just could not believe it was 99 degrees!

The Texas Emergency Management Conference is fast approaching - it runs from Tuesday May 28th through Thursday May 30th at the Fort Worth Convention Center. CCS will be displaying a recent MERC mobile command center build we provided Oncor Energy in Space 1426. We will also be presenting a breakout session on 5/31/2024 in room 204B to discuss the new LEO satellite network offers. Look forward to seeing you all there.

CCS is actively looking for welders, fabricators, and electricians to expand on our work force in Ft. Worth so if you know of anyone looking for this type of work please have them email us at [email protected] or just call our main number at 972-772-2721 and ask for me or Cliff Haynes.

CCS will be attending the 2024 Texas Emergency Management Conference in our home town of Ft. Worth, Texas at the downtown convention center on May 29 through the 31st. We will have a recent MERC mobile command center buildout we did for Oncor Energy (one of our local Dallas area customers) on display at floor space 1426. CCS will also be presenting at a breakout session in Room 204B on May 31st at 10:30 am CST to discuss some of the new LEO satellite offers like One Web and Starlink that are available to First Responders and how these robust satellite networks can be bonded or blended with the LTE/5g networks. We look forward to seeing you all there at this very informative event - https://cvent.me/R1KLm7?sms=7&cn=WSnCg_UHSGyJKM8N77gK1A .

Many of the forecasts for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season are coming out and right now they are predicting this season to be alarmingly active, with 23 named storms, possibly 11 hurricanes, 5 of which are expected to be major. The last two years in the Gulf have been fairly tame so it does feel like we are due for a bad season - sure hope I am wrong. It's good timing that the Texas Dept. of Emergency Management (TDEM) is hosting their 2024 Emergency Management Conference in Ft. Worth at the Convention Center the last week of May (https://web.cvent.com/event/561dab58-c2d8-42cd-aa14-307313848e6d/summary) . If you have not regsitered and are a First Responder, you should really try to attend. CCS will be there with our friends from IP Access, Zumro Air Shelters, Fireco Masts, Kymeta LEO Satellites, Pepwave 5g Routers, and Dejero.

Last day at the IWCE conference in Orlando. Very well attended show and enjoyed spending time with the JPS Team. The two PERC units we provide with JPS are basically a mobile hot spot that runs on lithium batteries that can operate on any LTE network or any satellite network with a portable sat dish like a Starlink or Kymeta and provide internet access and radio interoperability out of the same unit. Unit weighs less than 30 lbs and can be easily transported in any vehcile or can be backpacked in by foot. Basically a mobile command center in a portable box!

CCS had the pleasure of working with the City of Pasadena, TX OEM Team on a new buildout of a MERC 48 foot mobile command center trailer. Their team led by Azell Carter Jr the Emergency Management Coordinator for the City and Andrew Aleman the Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator have been working with the CCS Team led by Bryan Rudel our South Texas Sales Director for over a year on the design and buildout of this new resource for the City. Azell and Team picked up the unit yesterday from our Ft. Worth facility and took it to it's new home in Pasadena. This MERC unit is equipped with a 30KW EPS generator, 40 foot Fireco pneumatic mast, Nextivity cellular extension system, the new Kymeta LEO satellite with a Dejero cellular gateway with 6 sims, a Pepwave BR2 dual modem dual sim 5g router, video wall technology, four Telex Dispatch consoles, two Newline 65 inch Smart Boards, multiple HD TVs, off air HD antenna, kitchen with full size refrigerator, microwave, and coffee pot, a throw phone for any hostage negotiation situations, HVAC, LED interior and exterior lighting, and many more cool features. It was a pleasure working with this entire team and look forward to seeing this unit in action in the near future. CCS and Pasadena will have this new unit on display at the Texas Dept. of Emergency Management Conference in Ft. Worth in May.

CCS is attendng the State of Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management conference at the Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant, OK this week. The event is indoors in the main ballroom and because of space limitations we were not able to bring any of our MERC mobile command center vehicles. We were ablle to bring one of our PERC Mobile Go Kits, a Kymeta fly away satellite, and a Starlink. So many First Responders are still using the older GEO satellite terminals and service, but the new LEO satellite offers like One Web and Starlink are quickly taking off. The benefits far outweigh any costs - 10 times or more the bandwidth of the old GEO units, much smaller footprint, flat panel satellites with no moving parts or external modem and contoller, much lower latency, and even a lower network cost than typical GEO plans. Starlink is much better known because it really is a consumer product and gets so much exposure because of Elon Musk, but if you are not familar with One Web you should definitely take a look at this network as well. For First Responders it is a network that is not a consumer product and really is more geared more towards government accounts and big business. The One Web service can operate on multiple hardware platfroms and it offers pooled services plans for customers that have multiple sat units that they want to put n a shared plan. Through our partnership with IP Access we are able to offer a network package that bonds the sat network with LTE and 5g service for even greater throughputs. Come see us in Oklahoma!

One of our more recent customers is Montgomery County Sheriff's Office just north of Houston, TX in Conroe as we did a recent technology upgrade on their existing mobile command center. Ed West and his team at the Sheriff's Office have done a great job of maintaining this command center over the years, but they decided it was time to get some new technology installed to make sure their unit was as prepared as it can be to respond to any emergency response situation or to provide security at any local events.

One such event is going on today in the Woodlands just North of Houston: the Legacy Capital Woodlands Marathon which is a Boston Marathon Qualifier, the fastest course in Texas on average and one the top 25th fastest courses in the country . It qualifies close to 11% of its registered runners in the marathon for the Boston Marathon. The marathon, half marathon, 5k, 10K and 2k Fun Run traverse the streets of Town Center and the community on a pretty flat course, finishing on the scenic Woodlands Waterway.

Friends, family and spectators line the streets at various cheer zones in the Cheer Challenge to encourage athletes along the way, and participants have the opportunity to run for charities in the Charity Challenge. To date, over $1.2 Million has been raised for and donated to charities and volunteer organizations. Today's event will have over 9,000 runners.

One of the main things we did for Ed and his team was to replace their old Ku Band sat dish with a new Kymeta LEO unit runnning on One Web and installed both a Pepwave BR2 dual modem dual sim 5g router and a Dejero six sim router that are all bonded into a single network. They are easily getting a 200 mbps down pipe today at the event (actual speed test photo included). CCS technicians also installed new video surviellance cameras, a video matrix system, new LED HD 4K TVs, a video conferencing unit, a BARCO wireless HDMI system, new rack mount UPSs, a HF radio and antenna (just to make Joey Clements happy), new P25 radio repeater, and a new Cisco POE switch.

Really appreciate Ed sharing some pictures from today's event and want to thank he and his team and all law enforcement for the phenomanal job they do every day of keeping the rest of us safe!

CCS continues to work with First Responders to help them replace their old Ku band satellite equipment with the new LEO satellite service and hardware. Yesterday we completed the install for the City of Dallas OEM office of a new Kymeta LEO satellite with a Dejero LTE router that is providing our new GigaPlan service though our partnership with IP Access International. This new plan blends the One Web sat network connection with 6 cellular providers - 2 each from AT&T FirstNet, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The City of Dallas also opted to keep their Ku band service as a backup to LEO (extra level of redundency). Their network connection has now gone from a 20X3 mbps pipe to a 200x200 pipe! That provides the City so much more capability when responding to any type of disaster or security event.

Got to spend a good part of the week at Lake Brownwood State Park in Texas as part of a COMEX exercise hosted by TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality). The exercise was well attended by several state agencies including Texas DPS, Texas General Land Office, Texas Dept. of Emergency Management, and several more agencies. This was a great opportunity for these First Responders to get some training and practice on everything involved with a disaster response situation. CCS was there to assist with network connectivity with our Kymeta LEO satellite powered by the One Web network integrated into our PERC kits equipped with a Pepwave BR2 dual sim dual modem router using AT&T FirstNet and T-Mobile service. The weather could not have been any better for the event. This was a great location to drill because there was very limted cellular service so the sat network really saved the day.

CCS continues to expand our focus on the new LEO satellite offers:

CCS increases our focus on LEO satellite offers combined with our PERC Go kits Starlink was certainly first to market with their LEO satellite offers offering a low cost solution with very attractive bandwidth speeds that for the first time ever allowed even residential consumers to have broadband internet access anywhere in the world. The Starlink network works in a fixed env...

Always nice when a couple of your technology partners give you a nice write up in their company newsletter and website: https://www.peplink.com/case-studies/comprehensive-communication-services/. CCS has been blending LTE/5g networks with satellite networks for years, what has changed is the much better bandwidth speeds that we can now obtain with the new LEO network offers like One Web and StarLink. When you combine that with the Pepwave Speed Fusion bonding you can get an amazing network pipe down to a mobile command center or any emergency response vehicle. Special thanks to our friends at Peplink and Frontier Communications for the nice write up.

Comprehensive Communication Services - Peplink In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the founders of CCS recognized that the most important elements of disaster response are the ability to communicate and coordinate resources effectively. At that time, many existing mobile command centers lacked a communications package capable of providing tho...

Got to spend a few days last week with the LA State Fire Marshal at England Air Force Base in Alexandria, LA as they deployed their new CCS MERC Mobile Command Center for the first time for a live exercise were they simulated having a plane catch on fire on the runway. The LA State Police, local England Air Base crew, and several other local First Responders participated in the drill and the MERC was set up as the command post out on the runway. The weather could not have been any nicer and the exercise was great practice for when a real event might occur.

Spent most of the week in Oklahoma at the WinStar Casino and Resort participating in the 2023 Red River COMU Boot Camp along with about 150 other First Responders. The event was a combination of training and live exercises where we all worked together to simulate responding to several different types of man made and natural disasters. A lot of the focus was on the communication equipment and interaction between different platforms and users as well as learinng some of the best practices for these type of responses. These types of events are so criticial to ensure that we are all better prepared for when a real emergency occurs - practice does make perfect! There were several mobile command center units set up in the south parking lot of the WinStar and we received a great deal of rain during the event which was good because the rain was needed but it also reinforced that many times when you deploy it will not always be in ideal conditions. There were agencies there from Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri and we all enjoyed 3 full days of drilling.

CCS has been fortunate enough to have the State of Texas satellite contract through the Texas Dept. of Emergency Management (TDEM) for going on 8 years now. We currently have just over 100 mobile command centers here in the US and around the world that use our satellite service to help provide network connectivity down to their command centers. Typically the sat service is combined with a LTE router to give them multiple paths and redundancy for network connectivity. For the past 10+ years, 99% of the service we have been providing has been coming from the GEO sat network which orbit at 22,236 miles above the earth. Now we are able to offer satellite network plans off the LEO sat network which orbit the earth at between 257 and 3220 miles (much less latency). On the GEO network the network speeds have improved over the past few years where we now can offer a 20 mbps down X 5 mbps up package off a small iDirect sat modem. However, with our new LEO offers we can now offer plans that can provide 150 mbps down and 50 mbps up. We can also blend (bonding) that sat service with LTE service to offer speeds over 200 mbps down and 100 mbps up depending on the local LTE and 5g network. This truly is a game changer for our customers allowing them to have much more functionality and capabilities when they are out on a deployment.

A real life example of this technology is a deployment this weekend by one of our customers, Texas Dept. of Transportation (TXDOT). They are deployed in Junction, TX supporting an eclipse watching event for the State of Texas. They have a new Kymeta LEO satellite and Dejero LTE router set up with their mobile command center providing network connectivity for the First Responders assigned to their unit. They are consistently averaging 150-200 mbps down and 30 to 50 mbps up at their location. This connection is a blended service between satellite and LTE which allows them to have internet access, CAD access, stream their video camera feeds, do radio interoperability across the network and much more. There will be much more info on this technology in the coming months. For more info visit www.comprehensivecom.net .

CCS has been attending the AT&T FirstNet P***c Safety Summit this week in Las Vegas at the Southpoint Hotel and Casino Resort with our friends at JPS the leaders in radio interoperability. The show is for AT&T FirstNet customers and approved suppliers giving these clients a chance to see some of the newest technology and software available to them from AT&T and their partners. There are also several training classes provided allowing these customers to expand their knowledge base on certain technologies. CCS and JPS had our new PERC-ACUM and PERC-Z2 mobile go kits on display that utilize Pepwave 5g and FirstNet capable routers combined with a lithium battery bank, a hardened POE switch, a wheeled Pelican case, and the JPS server to provide a mobile hotspot that also provides radio interoperability. These units also support a satellite connection from any LEO based satellite system including Kymeta units and StarLinks. Very informative show and always enjoy getting to hang out with Roman (and even Joey Clements one of the instructors at the conference). I will even throw a plug in for the SouthPoint Hotel and Casino - one of the best deals in Vegas for a very nice hotel and casino. Our hotel room rate was only $60.00 for the event and I promise you the rooms were first rate, the food was very good, and the service was consistently outstanding.

Although there are several companies around the country that manufacture mobile command center trailers and vehicles, in the scheme of things there are not that many of us. That is why our website is so important, because when First Responders start searching for a new command center supplier many of them do what we all do and go online and do a search. Back in early 2021 I got a hit on our website from Chase Hawthorne with the Louisiana State Fire Marshal for that very reason - the Fire Marshal was just starting their search for a mobile command center for their Agency. Little did Chase and I know at that time that later that year on August 29, 2021 Hurricane Ida would make landfall at Port Fourchon, Louisiana as a high-end Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, the same day as the 16th anniversary of Katrina making landfall in the state. As Chase and I started the conversation and needs analysis of what their requirements were for this new command center, we soon learned that Ida was the "real deal" and it looked like they were going to take a direct hit. We were way too early in the process to even have a quote done yet so there was no way they were going to have a new command center ready in time to utilize for the Ida response. Fortunately, we did have some of our smaller MERC-Lite satcom trailers, PERC Go Kits, and Zumro Air Shelters in stock so we relocated all of this gear to their EOC in Baton Rouge a few days before the Hurricane hit. To help provide technical support, I was able to stay at the EOC and ride out the Hurricane with Chase and his team so after the Hurricane passed through, we were able to work with their team, FEMA, and several other agencies to get comms back up in their building. Through this whole process and since that Hurricane I got to spend a lot of time with Chase and the LA Fire Marshal Team and spend a lot more time in Louisiana. Great group of men and women that work their butt off to keep their State safe.

Fast forward to this week and we are about to finally deliver that new MERC mobile command center. It is a beast - 45 foot gooseneck with two 12 foot slides in a huge conference room with a 12 foot conference room table, 30 Kw diesel generator, 40 foot Fireco pneumatic mast, StarLink satellite, Pepwave BR2 5g LTE 5g dual sim dual modem router with WiFi, Motorola 700/800 radios, Direct TV HD sat dish and off air HD antenna and tuner, Mutualink IWS system, 8x8 video wall with tiling, video camera security system with PTZ on mast head, rack mount UPS, hosted VoIP phones, full kitchenette with microwave, refrigerator, coffee pot, and sink, bathroom with toilet and sink, and tons and tons of storage cabinets.

This unit will be delivered later this month and we look forward to seeing this MERC mobile command center deployed at all future State events. More to come on this project in coming months!

It is not very often that we provide a customer one of our PERC units and it gets put into action so quickly. I had just done a post on Pasadena, TX OEM taking delivery on one of our PERC kits this past Wednesday. A few days after they got back to Pasadena with the unit they had an apartment fire in the Houston area that they had to respond to and they used their drones to get live video of the fire for situational awareness. They used the network connectivity from their new PERC unit equipped with a Pepwave BR1 5g router using a FirstNet SIM to stream the live drone video back to their EOC. They said in the past they have had some jittery video using their cell phones to do this, but with the new PERC unit equipped with this Pepwave router they were able to stream a constant flow of high quality video. Appreciate them sharing the pictures and all the hard work this team does!!

Since our announcement a few months ago about our joint product development with JPS the industry leader in radio interoperability, we have received a lot of interest and orders for our new PERC Z2 units and PERC ACU-M units. The PERC stands for Portable Emergency Response Center and we have been manufacturing several different versions of these units for over 6 years now. I like to think of the PERC as basically a mobile command center in a box. The most standard basic PERC provides mobile network connectivity, WiFi, and internet access utlizing a Pepwave 5g router, a lithium battery bank, and a bank of antennas. A small hardened POE switch provides 4 data ports for hardwired connections and a digital battery meter provides continous visual feedback on the battery charge levels. For the times when LTE service may be down for a few days because of severe weather or a man-made disaster, a portable satellite can be connected to the PERC to provide network connectivity through a Ku or Ka band satellite network connection. This includes StarLink service or the new OneWeb network. For users that need radio interoperability, we can now provide a JPS Z2 or ACU-M interoperability server for multiple radio connections. We offer a Pepwave BR2 5g single modem router or a Pepwave BR2 5g dual modem router with these units that provide dual sim ports and a WAN port for a satellite connection or a land based network connection. With the Pepwave patented Speed Fusion software bonding these connections into a single pipe, these network speeds can be off the charts!!

This week we shipped out a good number of new PERC units including a PERC Z2 unit to the City of Pasadena, TX Office of Emergency Management. We are also in the process of building out a new 45 foot MERC mobile command center trailer for Pasadena so we had the pleasure of personally delivering their unit when they were in town for an inspection on their new trailer. Really appreciate Andrew Aleman, Clint Deviller, and Azell Carter with Pasadena OEM as they work with us on these very important projects for the City. Pasadena has had their share of hurricanes and flooding over the past 10+ years and these three men do a great job of making sure their City and surrounding area is as prepared as they can be to respond to any crisis.

A special thanks goes out to Ft Bend County, Pasadena Fire, Harris County, Texas DPS, Major League Fishing, Denton County OEM, and many more customers that have purchased these PERC units for their response teams. I have seen them in the trunks of police cars, strapped to the deck of a boat, loaded into a back pack, deployed with drones for streaming video, or simply just carried by hand - but once they are turned on they become a very important and robust mobile network connection much more power than a typical hot spot.

For more information, reach out to [email protected] and ask about the PERC!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July celebration! So many of our customers were working on the 4th providing security at the hundreds of 4th of July public celebrations and firework shows around the State of Texas. One of our local clients is the City of Irving Police Dept. and they were able to use some of their new CCS MERC-V video trailers to help keep a watchful eye on the City's big celebration. The City recently purhcased 5 of these MERC-V trailers from us and they are equipped with some of the latest surviellance equipment available to law enforcement. They are completely solar powered utilizing a Victron solar power system that allows them to remotely monitor their battery charge levels and power consumption. The great thing about Texas with all of our hot sunny summer days is that these units never really need to be charged overnight because they get so much power from the sun. A Nextvity LTE extension system and a Pepwave 5g dual sim router provide the secure network connection needed to remotely monitor the video feeds and control the cameras. Really appreciate all the hard work the Irving PD men and women do to keep their community safe!