Mobile device manufacturer Crosscall will be providing the French National Gendarmerie and the French National Police with over 200 000 mobile phone devices. The French outdoor mobile technology specialist partnered with telecommunications company Orange Business Services to bid on the public tender.

The tender was awarded to Crosscall’s CORE-X4 Neo smartphones and CORE-T4 NEO tablets as a result of their rugged, robust and resilient quality. Crosscall, which has specialised in developing durable products without compromising any of the latest enhancements, has developed significant expertise around the manufacture of high quality mobile devices for outdoor usage.

Its mobile handsets, which receive frequent praise for their long battery life and the fact that they are waterproof, met the intense usage requirements of the French National Gendarmerie and the National Police. This is the largest contract the 100% French-owned mobile manufacturer has won to date.

Orange Business Services will be responsible for supplying secure connectivity and managing the roll-out of the project. The use of Orange SIM cards means that the French security forces benefit from real-time access to business applications in mobile situations.

The Crosscall devices will be delivered with a ‘Google Android Open Source Project’ operating system without any manufacturer or operator overlay. This means the Ministry of the Interior will be able to install their own security layer developed by the operator of classified inter-ministerial information systems with the aim of encrypting the communications and securing the mobile applications on the terminal.

Not only will police officers and gendarmes have all the tools they need on the tablets and smartphones but they will also have access to more than 60 business applications so that they can, for example, check an identity or the validity of a driving license in real time. In addition they will be able to draw up an official report and access administrative and judicial databases. Furthermore, a new ‘mobile office’ solution will be tested to allow field officers to work on a mobile with a passive screen via their devices without using a computer.

The close collaboration of Crosscall and Orange Business Services is part of a national economic intelligence initiative. Combining their respective expertise has allowed the two companies to provide a sovereign solution which combines equipment, connectivity and a high level of technological performance at the cutting edge of innovation. These synergies are allowing Crosscall and Orange Business Services to support the French security forces in their digital transformation while at the same time ensuring they can transmit their communications via a reliable and secure connection even if there is heavy traffic on the mobile network.  

The devices are compatible with professional mobile networks (PMR), independent, high-availability radio networks traditionally used for ‘walkie-talkie’ type group communications by security and emergency services or companies in the industry, transport and energy sector, and the PC STORM solution which the French security forces have developed in co-operation with Orange Business Services.

Lieutenant General Bruno Poirier-Coutansais, head of the Homeland Security Technologies and Information Systems Department commented that Crosscall and Orange Business Services understood both the operational needs and the constraints, including all the critical elements required of a device which supports the technical specifications of public safety networks. “We are confident we are ready to meet the future challenges of the forces involved in day-to-day security, both in exceptional situations and during major events such as the 2024 Olympic Games,” he concluded.