Samsung announces video call demonstration to aid first responders

A lab test in Korea was conducted via the Amazon Web Services cloud platform using Mission Critical Push-to Talk, Data, and Video, according to the company.

Samsung Electronics demonstrated a video call in a lab in Korea on Monday that it said could help first responders in the field “to accurately assess vital moments using voice, data and video calls.” The company said it was the world’s first video call on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform using Mission Critical Push-to Talk, Data, and Video.

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The demonstration was made on the Samsung Galaxy XCover FieldPro, a rugged, secure, first responder smartphone built for public safety users that was introduced last fall, according to a news release. The test featured the company’s MCPTX service platform, which delivers multimedia communications designed for first responders and public safety officials.

Derek Johnston, the head of network markets for Samsung Electronics America, said the commercial service test advanced mission critical services for the telecommunications industry. “It’s been a long time coming in terms of the migration of the technology from Land Mobile Radio systems,” he said.

MCPTX surpasses LMR technology, which provides traditional voice-based service, Samsung said, adding, “This technology will help improve situational awareness and information accuracy, especially in times when public safety plays a pivotal role against local disasters or urgent threats.”

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Samsung said MCPTX, also known as Mission Critical Communications, “opens a new horizon in advancing public safety, enabling first responders to be simultaneously connected with hundreds of fellow responders with easy exchange of videos, images, files, and more during an emergency.”

Johnston noted that emergency workers who are first on a scene could send a short video to multiple resources—ambulance, fire, police—across multiple devices. “It gives people eyes on the scene where previously they might not even be on the scene yet.”

The demonstration was based on 3GPP release 14 specifications, according to the news release. Samsung said its customers for MCPTX will have the option to deploy the solution on their on-premise servers or AWS cloud platform.

In the news release, Amir Rao, the head of the global solution portfolio and tech alliances for the telco industry at AWS, said the demonstration of Samsung’s MCPTX solution on Amazon’s cloud platform “brings the latest innovations to the public safety sector.” The companies will continue to collaborate on developing technologies, Rao added.

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AWS offers a cloud programming model through its public availability zones and AWS Outpost services, which can be deployed at the telco operators data centers or network edge locations, according to Rao.

Johnston said the key benefits of using public cloud networks included speed and ease of deployment, redundancy, and cost efficiencies. “The most important thing for first responders, it is robust, it is resilient.”