What's a Rosetta™?
For centuries, unlocking the information of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics defied all who tried. This information carefully gathered and preserved so long ago was undecipherable. It had become lost, unable to bridge the distance of time until 1799, when a black, basaltic stone tablet bearing an inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Greek and Demotic characters was discovered. This stone tablet was the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics and at last, information could be passed between the ancient and modern worlds. This stone became known throughout the world as the Rosetta Stone, a name now synonymous with the decoding of information.

21st Century Communications Problems
Although we live in the 21st Century "information age", we still have some of the same problems that were present 300 years ago - communicating information over time and space. As miraculous as our modern high tech communications are, it oftentimes fails to deliver the fast, reliable communications and information transmission we expect. This is particularly true in the world of wireless communications where many factors routinely disrupt even the best of our technologies. Whereas wireless cellular communications is clearly the "next wave" and may be preferable to UHF and VHF radio in certain circumstances, its true reliability, just as with all other communications means, must be carefully taken into consideration. For cellular based communications systems, dead spots, cell-site hand-offs, channel availability, and dropouts are the everyday "facts of life". When EMS personnel rely upon cellular to convey critical medical information, these considerations become even more important.

Digital vs. Analog Communications Technologies
Whereas digital technology (ones and zeros) promises loss-less data transmissions with varying degrees of robustness, older FM analog systems offer higher degrees of robustness, but lack the assurance of loss-less transmission. This means that when digital systems work they are great. The problem is when they do not work, the result is oftentimes "a zero" in terms of getting the information or excessively long transmission times. Analog systems, with the possibility of less-than-perfect data integrity, are inherently more robust. Depending on the application, one must ask, "is it better to receive all of the information some of the time or most of the information all of the time?" Much like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, digital data, once corrupted, may be undecipherable and totally lost.

The Rosetta™ Family - The Key to Reliable Communications
The "ROSETTA™" family of communications products presently under development at General Devices will solve the dilemma of EMS being locked into imperfect communications mediums, be it cellular, UHF/VHF Radio or landline telephone. With Rosetta™ you can utilize the best communications means available for each situation. When the need is critical, count on ROSETTA™ to get the information through!

The initial General Devices ROSETTA™ product is the Model 7100 Rosetta-Lt™ Modulator and 12-Lead Translator. Watch for new additions to the family. Always feel free to call if you have questions or suggestions.