Digital Mobile Radios (DMR) have been selected by the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford, home to the Salford Red Devils Rugby League and the Sale Sharks Rugby Union clubs.
The install was by Pennine Telecom, the recent winners of Hytera’s Fastest Growing Reseller Award. The firm provided the stadium with 70 PD705 hand-portable radios from the Chinese firm Hytera.
After a review of contracts, the stadium looked at options and selected a managed service from Pennine Telecom to replace a previous long term hire contract.
The weight of the radios was one of the main factors for the stadium managers as was the comfort of the earpiece which are typically worn for eight hours on a match day by some of the team.
The managed service provides a multi-channel solution, so that the management, conferencing/hospitality, catering, security and parking teams who work across the stadium have their own channels, all coordinated by a central control. Another necessity was transmission quality and noise reduction which is essential in ensuring staff can provide a response to any requests.
Ruth Steenson, Stadium Manager, said: “It’s imperative to have reliable communications when managing large crowds. Peoples’ lives are at risk . The Hytera solution implemented by Pennine has not only provided us with cost savings to pass on to the rest of the business, but has also given us a multi-channel radio system that is easy-to-use, lightweight, and reliable.”
Radios are in use across the week on conference days as well as match days. The PD705 itself has been well received, the installer reports, as it is lightweight and user-friendly with features such as Group Call and Private Call. The audible channel selection allows users to change channels without removing the radio from their belt-clip or holster.
