Remote Public Safety & Military Ops: Behind the scenes with Brian at APSCON 2024 & USINDOPACOM

Attending a number of high profile exhibitions and trade shows around the world, it’s been a busy year for the Videosoft Global Team. Working closely with key industry players and experts, this has strengthened our understanding around the challenges being faced to firmly position ourselves as leaders in this field.

With more key events planned in the coming months, we thought it a good opportunity to look back at some of the efforts we’ve been undertaking in the US public safety and defense industry with Brian Heatherman, VP of Sales – North America – at Videosoft.

APSCON 2024 | Houston, TX | 29-30 July 2024

Held annually by the Airborne Public Safety Association (APSA), APSCON is a week-long educational and networking event for public safety aviation professionals. Formerly known as the Public Safety Drone Expo, APSCON Unmanned runs at the same time for public safety UAS operations.

Encouraging the safe and efficient use of aircraft in public safety arenas, participating in this key event presented multiple networking opportunities to share our cutting-edge video streaming technology engineered for mission critical aerial operations. The event also allowed us to catch up with our partners to discuss potential new collaboration opportunities.

So, What Is the Future of Aviation Safety?

Emergency medical services, search and rescue, firefighting and air patrols are all much safer supported by real-time video. However, keeping critical visual communication flowing is often tough in remote environments, as well as busy locations and congested airspace.

As technology advances, emergency helicopter and unmanned EVLOS and BVLOS drone communications must become more intuitive to remain fit for purpose. Afterall, being let down by unobtainable visuals or delays in camera feeds of just a few seconds behind real-time could be the difference between life and death.

From natural disasters to terror threats, network slowdowns, frozen images, image degradation, disconnections and outages are all symptoms of contested and degraded network conditions. Adapting to fluctuating bandwidths with legacy military video architectures can also lead to poor video quality in low bandwidth terrains. Designed to address these issues head-on, our real-time video streaming solutions provide actionable, uninterrupted live streaming from the field back to headquarters, 24/7.

With this in mind, amongst the numerous discussions Brian engaged in, it was interesting to learn how LTE and 5G cellular networks are increasingly being accepted as a credible public safety communications platform over traditional microwave networks. Faster, cheaper and more reliable, it’s exciting to see how the role of cellular network communication for public safety operations is evolving.

USINDOPACOM Multinational Communications Interoperability Program Exercise | Portland, Oregon | 12-23 August 2024

August also presented a great opportunity to engage and exchange ideas with senior communicators from our partner nations within The United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR). USINDOPACOM is responsible for serving and protecting all nations and islands around the Pacific and Indian Oceans, including those bordering Asian and African nations and Indian Ocean territories.

Senior Communications Officers from over 20 countries gathered in Oregon to work together to respond to a Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief Scenario. Situated in the ‘Arc of Instability’, from earthquakes and wildfires to armed conflict and refugee crises, scenarios such as these affect the majority of these countries on an annual basis – making these exercises essential for strengthening collective abilities to effectively respond to disasters.

Buying Back the Risk: Real-time Situational Awareness for Effective Disaster Management

Killing over 50,000 people every year, when a natural disaster strikes it often causes severe damage to communication networks within the affected area. Network shutdowns, blackouts and disruptions are also commonplace in war-torn regions. Therefore, a versatile real-time solution that operates on multiple pathways is the key to keep critical communications flowing, no matter how damaged or degraded the networks are.

Consequently, strictly by invitation only, Videosoft was selected to attend this esteemed closed-door event and present a demonstration detailing our market-leading software capabilities.

Following Brian’s presentation, a Brigadier General commented:

“The Videosoft platform offers significant advantages in addressing the difficulties encountered in the real-time coordination of complex responses to both natural and man-made disasters and combatant commands. ”

“The Total-Recall™ Image enhancement feature is particularly impressive, providing real-time information with post-processing detail even in bandwidth-compromised environments.”

In War, Truth Is the First Casualty

As the fight against misinformation and fake news continues, countering false and misleading information in complex military information operations (IO) has never been more essential.

Used to amplify an artificial fog of war, military deception (MILDEC) tactics via visual deception methods are evolving at an alarming rate. Often part of a wider deception plan, from camouflaging military objects to obscure enemy observations to using mock vehicles to throw the enemy off, disinformation in armed conflict puts both civilians and personnel in danger.

Be the First With the Truth

Without a doubt, real-time video streaming plays a vital role in facilitating military intelligence and information operations worldwide. Over the last 20 years, remote military operations have had to make do with inadequate live visual connectivity. Thankfully, with Videosoft Global, the days of unreliable, low quality visuals in challenged environments are long gone.

Developed to enhance situational awareness at every level, our sophisticated compression and transmission techniques are being used to optimize live visual communication from the field to headquarters, regardless of narrow network environments or poor bandwidth.

Military Grade Damage Control in Real-Time

Total-Recall™ Image Enhancement Feature

Providing many standout features tailored to complex covert operations, our Total Recall™ software is proving a game changer amongst public safety professionals and armed forces around the world.

This unique tool allows personnel to recall and download high resolution images and video footage from the remote site even if the encoded live stream doesn’t provide the detail required. For example, navigating humanitarian assistance or assessing damage to repair mission critical vehicles in the field.

Delivering clearer visuals, what sets the Total Recall™ function apart is the insight it provides. From observer surveillance missions to hostile conflict operations to delicate peacetime operations, Total Recall™ provides comprehensive visual evidence as the events unfold. In mission-critical operations such as these, accuracy and precision is paramount. The Total Recall™ tool guarantees faster reactions and smarter command and control decisions in real-time no matter what.

Defense Grade Real-Time Surveillance Solutions

Extending the range and reliability of advanced military operations, empowering both combat and humanitarian missions conducted on land, at sea and in the air, Videosoft delivers the market’s lowest latency video streaming solution available. Providing actionable real-time video streaming from as little as 1kbps over tactical wireless networks including Satellite, Cellular, Mesh and Microwave, this ensures any potential network disruptions are quickly resolved without impacting the transmission of critical data.

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