“The system will enhance the portable coverage of our radio equipment,” said Fire Chief and Marshal Charles Herrschaft.

Portable coverage means the ability of personnel with hand-held equipment, usually located off-site, to talk back to dispatch without interruption.

The lone bid submitted by Tactical Communications, a Guilford company, was approved for $230,157.

President and founder of Tactical Communications Dave Moffat said that the true measure of the quality and efficiency of public safety radio equipment is in the most challenging of circumstances, such as the propane tank rollover emergency that occurred last Nov. on Soundview Road.

“It was a multi-agency response where activities were taking place on multiple radio channels,” he said. “At no point did anyone ever overlap.”

Moffat said that Guilford's system performed flawlessly during the large-scale emergency response in which the town's police and fire departments, as well as Branford and Clinton's fire departments, and the Department of Environmental Protection all responded.

Previously, Tactical Communications upgraded the fire department's equipment in 2004 from low band to UHF.

The money for this bid was part of a package totaling $725,000 for public safety equipment approved by voters at an April 11, 2006 referendum. Other items in the package included a fire-pumping engine for the fire department and a new phone system for the Parks and Recreation Department and the public works department.

At the meeting, Selectman Joseph Mazza brought up the fact that the bid was lower than the $325,000 originally budgeted for the work.

The upgrading will include the addition of radio frequency receivers to four locations in town. The supplemental receivers will allow firefighters and police officers to avoid the “dead spots” often associated with loss of radio transmission.

“The concept is enhancing the ability of someone on a portable radio to keep in communication with dispatch,” said Moffat, who acknowledged that Guilford's hilly topography can make it difficult to get coverage in certain spots.

Similar to dead spots encountered with using a cellular phone, the police and firefighters must contend with the same situation, albeit on a limited basis, but in an emergency situation.

Terribile said that emergency personnel are familiar with the areas in town that present communication challenges and act accordingly. The additional receivers will help tremendously, but a few spots will always be present, he said.

“Unless you want to start chopping down some hills in town,” said Terribile.