Communications

The role of communications officer (also known as comm officer) was a specialized occupation held by crewmembers aboard Starfleet vessels, installations and bases. Found across multiple divisions, the individuals holding the position were held responsible for managing all incoming and outgoing transmissions, whether they be visual, audio or text communications. During the 22nd and 23rd centuries, comm officers were often separately held positions on a starship's bridge while the mid-to-late-24th century frequently saw tactical and operations officers doubling as a communications officer.

### Responsibilities

Th Communications department, under the direction of the Comms officer, is responsible for the coordination, operations, and upkeep of the ship's external and internal communications systems. The primary areas of expertese are:

* Intraship Communication
* Ship to Ground Communications
* Ship to Ship Communications
* Subspace Communications Network

### STARBASE CONTACTS

Communications with starbases are handled in a similar manner. Depending on the action level and distance from the starship, voice contact with a starbase can be routed through numerous Starfleet Command tiers. As face-to-face exchanges take place, information is constantly moving along hundreds of other high-speed subspace channels. Starship logs are downloaded along with volumes of collected information, including vehicle hardware and crew performance, sensor scans, strategic and tactical analyses, experiment results, and many other areas.

Uploads to the starship include new additions to the galactic condition database, Starfleet clock synchronization values, compilations of other starship downloads, flight advisories, mission orders, and other information necessary to the smooth running of a starship. While docked at a major starbase, voice and data are normally transferred by the ODN.

### NON STARFLEET CONTACTS

Most of the key interstellar-capable cultures in the Milky Way have come to use subspace frequencies in the interest of rapid communication. To echo an old saying, it's the only game in town. As such, even those that have had dealings with the Federation but are not members usually have gone some way toward adopting some common protocols, if only to interact with Starfleet vessels. Those who do not use standard voice and data translation routines, especially newly encountered races, can nevertheless be dealt with if the Solstice main computers can perform adequate signal analyses and produce viable algorithms for use with the universal translator.

In many cases, however, dedicated survey and contact ships will precede starships as large as a Galaxy class, performing pathfinder missions, making cultural contacts, and compiling the required communication information. The possibility always exists, however, that a certain percentage of true first contacts will be made by the Solstice, activating a series of events designed to insure adherence to the Prime Directive by all concerned departments. Pending Federation policy determinations on the specific contact, Starfleet's traditionally conservative interpretation of the Prime Directive's noninterference requirements may result in subspace channels being closed down or set to higher encryption, if it has been determined that a new contact is using subspace radio.