Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) is the 800 MHz trunked

Trunked radio system

A trunked radio system is a complex type of computer-controlled radio system. Trunked systems use a few channels , and can have virtually unlimited talkgroups. The control channel computer sends packets of data to enable one talkgroup to talk together, regardless of frequency...

 public safety radio System used in the State of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. The system was developed to improve communication amongst emergency services during natural

Natural disaster

A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...

 and man made disasters.

The state wide proposal was developed by the Public Safety Radio System Planning Committee (established by the 2002 Minnesota legislature) after a 2001 trial in the Twin Cities

Twin cities

Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...

area. The original proposal scheduled completion of the network by 2011 but as of April 19, 2010 the expected completion date is 2013.

Criticism

The network came under criticism in 2008 by Ronald Vegemast, one of the original engineers working on the proposal. Vegemast raised concerns about the cost of the project and that the technology was already out of date. A spokesman for the Division of Emergency Communication Networks defended ARMER saying, "Will there be something better 10 years from now, there may very well be, but state and local officials will derive the benefits until there is something better."