Analogue radio works well, and proves itself every day in countless
deployments around the world. However, it has reached the limits of innovation.
Virtually everything that can be imagined using analogue radio has been already
been attempted or achieved over more than a half-century of experimentation and
innovation. From 2014, the digital Two Way Radio Industry has flourished in
leaps and bounds since Motorola Solutions issued an intent to no longer
manufacture analogue-only handportables, emphasising their onward focus upon
their MOTOTRBO and digital ranges. Evidently, these actions from one of the
largest two way radio manufacturers in the world should be urging us to really reflect
on why migrating over to digital is the best option for businesses of today.
Like in any industry, products adapt, change and eventually the once,
long ago ‘fashionable big thing’ is obsolete and replaced by a shiny, new
upgrade. This case is no different, following on from the release of the new
T82 TALKABOUT series of radios in July 2017 meaning that the last order date
for the T80 and T80 Extreme is creeping closer – being the 27th April 2018 (there is potential for stock to be
available after these dates but the stock is not guaranteed and will be
available until stock depletion). These products to be affected will be the
TLKR T80 Twin, TLKR T80 Extreme Twin and the TLKR T80 Extreme Quad. So, if your
work environment is currently depending upon this TLKR range – best to think
again and weigh up the benefits of displacing the soon-to-be redundant range
for an alternative, more reliable choice that offers a ton of productivity.
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| If only Nancy had upgraded to digital where Job ticketing could allow her to decline her mother’s heavy duty demands with a one-button-click… ©Ernie Bushmiller |
Today, a new platform is required to break through to new levels of
performance and productivity. As a Two Way Radio provider, it is the cherry on
our cake to ensure we are keeping up with the very latest radio system
technology and feeding this back to our customers. We design, install and
maintain professional radio systems for customers representing a diverse range
of industry sectors. Unlike less specialised providers, we are also recognised
as approved Motorola Solutions & Hytera Channel Partners. This is why we
supply the complete portfolio of ground-breaking leading products including the
latest digital two way radios, walkie talkies, supporting software and DMR
networks.
If now you are scratching your head with an unwittingly confused smile –
let me just give you the heads up on Digital Two Way radio systems and what
they can do for you.
The question you are asking is “What is Digital Two Way Radio?”
To put this bluntly, comparing digital two way radios with analogue is
the technological equivalent to Batman winning combat against KungFu Panda – it
possesses faster reflexes, clearer audio, a more hardwearing constitution AND
can solve problems in a flash. By paying into a digital system, you are
receiving a more dynamic radio communication that rejects noise, improves
speech quality, battery life, coverage and security – essentially the superhero
of Two Way radios. Not to mention the variety of product enhancing applications
that can enable telephone interconnect, job ticketing, tracking solutions,
coverage extension, fire alarm integration, man down protection, control room
solutions… the list is endless and constantly expanding as organisations rely
increasingly more upon immediate communications.
With alternative and emerging technologies – such as cellular,
push-to-talk over cellular, and Voice-over-WLAN – a common question
materialises - is there any reason for enterprises to stick with two-way radio
at all? While there’s no single answer to this question for every organization,
two way radio offers certain advantages that make it the clear choice for the
vast majority of mobile professionals who require an affordable, flexible,
highly reliable and resilient solution – along with the power and range
available only in licensed bands. From a low total cost of ownership,
customisable coverage and features, whilst maintaining its simple, reliable
implementation – two way radio should continue to be your technology choice of
tomorrow. And if you’re not a two-way radio user today, you owe it to yourself
and your business to explore what two-way has to offer.
Many enterprises are now finding they need more than the fundamentals
that analogue two way radio delivers. Perhaps their licensed channels are
becoming crowded and they need more capacity. Perhaps they need more flexible
ways to communicate with users both inside and outside the work team. Perhaps
they need access to data in combination with voice to improve responsiveness
and productivity. Digital radio provides a powerful, flexible platform that
professional organisations can adapt to meet these needs and more. By
migrating, businesses can fill many of these needs immediately and build a strong
technical foundation for adding new functionality to meet new needs in the
future.
For instance, one of our long-term customers, TheCentre: MK, acts as a
good case study to demonstrate the transition from analogue to digital – in the
most stress and hassle-free way. We don’t want the migration of analogue to
digital to make it onto the ’10 most stressful things to do in your life’ list,
so our technical team will design, install and maintain a system that sends you
a smile when you get up in the morning. For instance - Russell Macey, the
Control Room Manager for Central Milton Keynes Shopping Management, experienced
the heavy weight of needing to improve the communications of a large shopping
centre.
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| “With thousands of shoppers on site every day, maintaining excellent communications between staff is paramount” at the Milton Keynes Shopping Centre ©TheCentre: MK |
Russell Macey, Control Room Manager for Central Milton Keynes Shopping
Management says: “Clearly a radio system is the obvious choice, but we were
finding that our analogue equipment just wasn’t giving us the capacity that we
needed. We were concerned at the ability of people to use cheap scanning
equipment and listen in to our conversations,” continued Russell. “The nature
of our work means that sometimes we need to discuss sensitive information over
the radio and wanted to be sure that it was kept private. We even had someone
phone us up once about information that they’d heard on their scanner!”
Russell therefore looked at the available technology and decided that
they should investigate moving to a digital system. To help the
Central Milton Keynes Shopping Management Company’s technical team decide if a
DMR system would be right for the job, Resound Limited arranged for an onsite
trial using a small base station system and some handsets. The trial was
successful and so Russell ordered a complete system with Resound’s Technical
Director, Steve Allen.
“Today we
have a sizeable system with one base station and 120 Motorola handsets,”
continued Russell. “Resound have been excellent in the way that they worked
with us to configure and install the system as well as subsequently in making
sure that they help us keep the system running at optimum performance.”
This is just
one example of how Resound have supported a company with achieving what they
need from a digital two way radio system. At Resound, we have an unrivalled
understanding of digital radio systems and configure, supply, install and
maintain the market-leading ranges from Motorola Solutions and Hytera UK - among
others. Therefore, contact us if you are interested in enquiring about how we
can help you achieve a bespoke communication system – using support@resound.co.uk or connecting with us via our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn links
below.
Don’t let Analogue
hold you back, so push forward with the times. Think innovative. Think Digital.
Over and out.
Vikki Jenner
Resound Limited.
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