Device for providing interoperability between communications systems

An information transfer system (ITS) (10) is capable of providing interoperability among a large number of external communications systems that each use different signal formats. The ITS (10) includes a group of interface units having a plurality of wireless interface units (12a-12n) for converting between a plurality of wireless signal formats and a common signal format and a plurality of wired interface units (14a-14n) for converting between a plurality of wired signal formats and the common signal format. In addition, the ITS (10) includes a switch (16) for selectively establishing connections between interface units in the group of interface units. Some or all of the interface units are dynamically reconfigurable for supporting new or changing signal formats.