IWCE 2021: Re-connecting the Wireless Industry

It was great to be back in-person at this year’s International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) Conference for 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada! After what seemed like a never-ending hiatus, we were happy to experience the wireless events scene coming back. With fewer people this year due to safety precautions and some travel restrictions, we had the chance to personally catch up with partners and customers from all over. 

ADRF attends many shows, and it remains an important component of our business. We want to recognize the lengths IWCE went to honor our sponsorship through these unprecedented times. Even with ongoing pandemic complexities, this in person event safely united all the great leaders in public safety including our very own Director of Public Safety, Dennis Burns. 

During the annual Safer Buildings Coalition (SBC) dinner happening in parallel to IWCE, Dennis formally began his tenure as Vice President of the SBC’s Board of Directors. Through his new position, Dennis will help guide the SBC’s initiatives to improve in-building wireless communication for public safety. 

Many code-driven products were showcased this year and we saw a renewed commitment to building products to fit customers needs. We exhibited our PSR repeaters at the ADRF booth, and announced a long range annunciator that can be mounted up to 1,000 feet away from the BDA. We also had a demo of our recently-announced interoperability and partnership with Edwards including members from both teams. ADRF’s PSR-U connects to Edwards’ EST4 Fire Alarm Control Panel. When connected, the Edwards system will alert users if they lose AC primary power when connected to ADRF’s products. 

At public safety conferences, it can be challenging to find some “sizzle,” but Verizon brought that this year by driving up their Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response (THOR) vehicle right inside the conference hall. The gigantic truck, as large as an RV, is used to provide wireless signal after disasters, like hurricanes. It’s amazing to see how technology has significantly progressed over the decade in comparison to when we helped support carriers during Hurricane Katrina over 15 years ago when communications went down. 

We are grateful to those that came by our booth and caught up with us this year! You can check out our IWCE wrap-up video below and we look forward to connecting again at IWCE 2022 in March.