Public Safety Communications Network Modernization (PSCN Modernization)

The San Mateo County Public Safety Communications (PSC) Department is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to gather market research and better understand the range of modern technologies available to support the future modernization of the County’s Public Safety Communications Network (PSCN). As the central 911 and emergency communications hub for Fire, EMS, and several Law Enforcement agencies, PSC depends on secure, resilient, and interoperable network infrastructure to ensure effective multi-agency response. The current PSCN, while foundational, faces increasing limitations related to scalability, cybersecurity, cloud integration, and support for next-generation public-safety tools.

This RFI seeks information from qualified suppliers regarding modern architectures, service models, and technical solutions that may address existing gaps and enable a secure, highly available, and future-focused public-safety network. Vendor input will support the County’s assessment of potential approaches to enhancing inter-agency data sharing, CJIS-compliant access, digital evidence workflows, real-time situational awareness, and integration with emerging technologies such as IoT sensors, drones, and mobile platforms.

No contract will be awarded as part of this Request for Information (RFI). This solicitation is being issued solely for market research to obtain general information from suppliers about their products, services, and capabilities, and to assist the County in the development of a potential future Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Public Safety Communications Department. Proposers may be requested to perform product demonstrations to help the County better understand solution capabilities.

The San Mateo County Public Safety Communications (PSC) Department serves as the County’s central 911 and emergency dispatch hub, providing mission-critical communications and technology services to Fire, EMS, and multiple Law Enforcement agencies across the region. PSC relies on the Public Safety Communications Network (PSCN) to deliver secure connectivity, access to essential applications, inter-agency information exchange, and coordinated operational response. As public-safety operations continue to evolve, this infrastructure plays an increasingly critical role in ensuring rapid, reliable, and coordinated emergency services for nearly 800,000 residents across 20 diverse communities.

The County’s existing PSCN was built around legacy systems and architectures that no longer fully support the demands of today’s operational environment. Agencies now depend on secure cloud integrations, high-bandwidth applications, mobile data access, digital evidence exchange, real-time situational awareness tools, and next-generation technologies such as IoT sensors, drones, robotics, and advanced analytics. At the same time, cybersecurity risks and CJIS compliance requirements have grown significantly, requiring stronger segmentation, access controls, network monitoring, and end-to-end encryption. The current network infrastructure presents challenges related to scalability, resilience, modernization, and the ability to integrate emerging technologies without disruption.

This modernization effort is critical to ensuring that public-safety agencies maintain reliable access to mission-critical systems, can securely share information across jurisdictions, and are equipped to meet evolving community expectations. A “best-in-class” solution would deliver a highly available and secure core-and-branch network architecture, Zero Trust principles, multi-agency segmentation, and seamless integration with cloud and on-prem environments. Ideally, it would also enhance operational capabilities such as situational awareness, data interoperability, digital evidence workflows, and support for future innovations that the County is preparing to adopt. The County is seeking perspectives from industry partners on how to achieve this vision through modernized, efficient, and resilient network solutions that strengthen public-safety collaboration for the next decade and beyond.