Mission-critical communications over broadband networks promise to deliver what first responders really need — the ability to share real-time vital audio-visual and informational data in a secure, reliable manner, and in high quality – directly from the scene, for the purpose of saving lives. But the challenge for the technology industry is to implement such systems with no margin for error.

Over the past decade, demand for new telecom services and the multimedia clients to run them has grown enormously, and they play a key part of our professional and personal lives. Advanced communication clients help us to see, hear, understand and respond in real-time, and are forecast to find their way into ever more aspects of our existence. But developing a communication client is no simple task.