According to acting chief information officer, Murray Mitchell, the implementation of Cisco's Cisco IP Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS) version 4.5 reduced the time needed to access police radio channels from a few weeks down to minutes.

"We can now provide any radio channel to anywhere in New Zealand, whereas previously we were limited to where the 12 Ericsson radio control terminal (RCT) switches were deployed," he said.

"Deployment of the encrypted digital radio network to the Auckland, Wellington [North Island] and Canterbury [South Island] districts also allows our frontline officers and communications centres to communicate securely."

However, other police districts in New Zealand continue to operate on the existing analog radio network, which is provided by Ericsson. Mitchell did not say when the rest of the force would be upgraded to IPICS.

The implementation has also meant easier integration with other emergency services such as the NZ Fire Service, which also uses the IPICS communications system and separate analog radio network.