1. Can I get more detail on the STACS 200?  

yes, click here

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2. What are the features of new system? 

The STACS 200 is a simple to use technology the enables communication for all types of voice, data, radio, sensor, and video devices, without the need for infrastructure. The STACS 200IH (Integration Hub) is an interchangeable, core device that can be used for unlimited applications as a portable, vehicle, marine, site system worldwide. A web based client provides the ability to bridge both Android telco PTT and Radio handsets regardless of frequency or modulation. The system is secure and is supported by a hybrid cloud as a communication gateway. STACS provides internal power for 20 hours, does not require a technician, is operational in less than 5 minutes, and can be configured to accept a preferred chosen cell and satellite service. STACS optimizer reduces bandwidth consumption by 75% on calls and can also operate as a LAN within a 2 mile radius with no available provider with the use of qualified inexpensive devices manufactured by Ubiquiti.

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3. Is there a video explaining the service functions and capabilities?

Please see videos here

 

The STACS 200 has substantially more administrative options, a far more efficient power management system, and a new to the industry VOIP and ROIP engine as part of the field device. The hybrid cloud relationship to the STACS 200IH, the core interchangeable device in all packages, has a far greater role in backup, updates, monitoring, and updating the field device(s). All field systems can be meshed and have certain load sharing capabilities.

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4. What is the time to have the system in production and to be sold? 

All manufacturing resources are in place and there are no supply chain issues.

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5. Are there any leaflets highlighting the system?   

Please see the STACS Series 200 brochure

 

6. What are some marketing highlights? 

The system can be used for emergency management & disaster relief, border patrol & law enforcement, military & special-forces, critical infrastructure such as oil & gas, remote areas, marine, or any application where reliable stand-alone communication is required. The system can link most old and new communications assets and to any 911 system and was designed to be operational for 10 years. In summary, the Technology solves the problem of interoperability across the user spectrum and the product is well designed to be used an unlimited number of applications. Systems can be purchased outright and or financed based on a monthly service charge. The monthly service is the STACS ON DEMAND program. The STACS 24/7 Cloud is provided for the first year in a purchase and included as part of the monthly charge as part of the STACS ON DEMAND service program. An annual service charge per field system in year two is required with purchase. We are also willing to provide a customer our STACS server to provide a customer managed STACS Cloud, if preferred.

 

7. Does it connect with other operators?

There are no issues connecting with preferred satellite or cell service suppliers. A phone device would access the STACS network by downloading an APP to make a call on the STACS network. Satellite service requires no special consideration or interface. STACS has a full PBX and records and tracks all usage. If attempting to provide communication for a fee purchasing bulk airtime coupled with STACS Optimizer can support a practical pay for call model. The standard configuration does not account for a large number of users, but can be updated to support high call traffic.

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8. Is there a spec?  Maximum latency?  Bandwidth?  Through-put?

Different devices have different characteristics.  The low end systems are 100Mbps and can switch and route at wire speed. The vehicle/site system is 1000Mbps and can also switch and route at wire speed. All devices have an internal switch/routing latency of less than 1ms, externally the software protocols are designed to accommodate up to 2s of latency (all backhaul overhead).

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9. Is the application stack complete?  Is it built on IaaS or higher-order (PaaS) services.  Why IBM?

We currently run on bare metal servers under Linux for the head-ends.  All head-end software is .Net Core (written in C#, running on Linux).  We are IaaS as currently deployed, but are compatible with PaaS hosting (e.g. Azure). We are relatively agnostic about cloud providers, we currently use bare metal servers from Cari.net and IBM Bluemix.  We have trialed running under Azure and could port to Amazon .Net hosting (with DynamoDb) quickly.

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10. Is it written for Windows? .NET? Linux?

Our software stack is currently written in a combination of C++ and C#.  Our C# code is targeted at the .Net Core Framework and runs under both Linux and Windows unmodified (server/device side). The full management application and ROIP/VOIP client are written in C# and run under the standard .Net run-time framework under Windows. We are currently porting some components to Rust and may port all software except the Windows GUI applications to Rust.

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11. What encryption is used?

RSA-4096 for key exchange, AES-256 for traffic encryption. Encryption is plug-able and we have tested elliptic curve cryptography should anyone prefer it to RSA/AES.

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12. How many 9s of availability? 

We have been running cloud server infrastructure for seven years now with (3) server downtime incidents. In all cases, all device traffic was handled by fail-over servers and we have had a true 100% availability for the 7 year period. We use staged updates across the servers to maintain system availability during server upgrades.