Microsoft DirectBand
A reliable communications solution for disaster management agencies
Microsoft DirectBand is a commercial wireless network that offers disaster management agencies a reliable communications technology to augment existing communications systems. The Microsoft DirectBand system played a major role in providing communication to participants in the Strong Angel III Disaster Management Exercise that was held in San Diego in August 2006.
Microsoft DirectBand utilizes FM radio transmissions to deliver data across communities in the United States and Canada. The commercial FM broadcast towers used by the Microsoft system have proven themselves robust in disasters and offer several key advantages including:
| • | A single FM radio tower can cover a very large metropolitan area and reach a large percentage of the population of a major city |
| • | The technology can be adapted for use in other areas of the radio frequency spectrum including tactical radio band(s) |
| • | FM towers use broadcast protocols (instead of point-to-point technology) that enable the technology to support an infinite number of endpoints in simultaneous use |
Microsoft DirectBand provides reliable communications at the Strong Angel III Disaster Management Exercise
Microsoft DirectBand played an integral part in the Strong Angel III exercise in San Diego where 100 participants were provided with water-resistant Smart Watches. The watches were configured to meet the specific needs of several distinct participant groups, including police, medical personnel, and the military.
Each group received messages relevant to their roles. For example, medical personnel received "Medical help needed for 12 people injured at location X," while the nearby police received "Riot at San Diego State University, assistance needed."
Messages were sent to participants in one of three ways:
| • | Short message service (SMS) text messages from a mobile phone or other mobile device |
| • | E-mail clients such as Microsoft Office Outlook |
| • | Specialized personal computer-based application |
To demonstrate the reliability of the systems, one of the DirectBand towers in San Diego was manually disabled to demonstrate that messages can still be sent when part of the network fails.
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Illustration: Depicts how messages are sent via DirectBand for the Strong Angel III demonstration.
Microsoft DirectBand integrates with the Microsoft Geospatial Management System (MGMS)
Microsoft DirectBand is offered as an integral component of the Microsoft Geospatial Management System (MGMS) that powers Microsoft's mapping and location services including Windows Live Local.
Collaborative services supported by the MGMS enable users to share relevant situational awareness (SA) views. A vital aspect to effective collaboration is the availability of a robust set of collaborative tools.
The collaboration tools supported by the MGMS extend an environment that encourages users to share and integrate information – enabling two or more distributed operational users to support Home Land Defense (HLD) and Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) missions. The collaboration tools link various C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence) systems together to share data, conduct collaborative planning, and cooperatively consult on information and data.
For more information about Microsoft DirectBand and the Microsoft Geospatial Management System, please e-mail the Microsoft Government team.
