Valor Systems provides GNSS-based public safety and security software applications that help guide first responders to emergency scenes. The company counts local, state and federal authorities, public institutions, the military and corporations among its users.
Valor’s recently announced partnership with NextNav means the company can now provide z-axis, vertical location capabilities to its clients, using NextNav’s Pinnacle network, which is capable of delivering precise, ‘storey-level’ vertical positioning with any geolocation application. Leveraging the barometric sensors already available in phones, tablets, and many other devices, Pinnacle delivers location data exceeding the FCC mandate of plus or minus 3 meters accuracy relative to the measuring device.
When seconds can make or break
In an emergency, speed in getting help on site is of primary importance, and knowing the precise location of victims can mean the difference between life and death. GNSS-based positioning technologies have made that difference in countless cases, getting first responders to the right locations where they can do their work. Complications, however, can arise in urban settings, where multi-storey buildings mean 2D location is only partially helpful when victims may need to be located in the vertical dimension.
Valor Systems, based in Michigan, has customers in North America, Europe and Asia, offering computer-aided dispatch (CAD), records management system (RMS), mobile and citizen reporting applications that can work independently or collectively under a common platform. Systems can be installed locally on a customer’s computer network or accessed as a ‘software as a service’ (SaaS), hosted on a CJIS-compliant, secured cloud network.
In a release, Valor Systems CEO Bill Rendina said that with the new NextNav partnership in place, Valor’s clients can now get an operational view of hazards and threats, as well as resources, above or below ground level. The service is secure and encrypted, empowering emergency responders to make real-time command decisions based on 3D location intelligence.
NextNav VP of Business Development Dan Hight said public safety is a core tenet for NextNav, stressing the importance of multi-agency, multi-discipline mobilization and cooperation in emergency response, where vertical-dimension localization is often required and where and real-time threat modeling is now routinely undertaken.
NextNav is a known leader in urban and indoor positioning. Its Pinnacle network already delivers precise vertical location in 4,400 cities and towns, covering 90% of buildings greater than three stories in the United States. Earlier this year, a ‘top wireless carrier’ selected NextNav Pinnacle to bring z-axis capabilities to its wireless 911 phone calls, to enhance caller geolocation.
