After 2011, CP radios will have to be changed to only operate in 12.5khz, right now they can do both. This will mean that if a customer wants to buy 1 radio to add on to their system in 2011, they will have to buy a 12.5khz radio which won’t work with their system unless they reprogram all their radios and get rid of any really old radios that were pre-2000 (only capable of 25khz).

The Ontario School Bus Association is fighing this law. They lobbied against the ban, but it was turned down. The overall ban includes talking, texting and e-mailing, but hands-free devices will still be permitted.

A representative from the OSBA said

During every consultation session we attended, we and the other bus and truck associations stressed the importance of being able to use two-way radios

While I see the benefit in having your hands free, emergencies and accidents do happen. There are some really interesting two way radio’s out there that can really help fleet productivity. These include the Mototrbo Mobile radios. They have built in GPS functionality.

Do you think two way radios should be included in the hands free driving laws?

Susan stands in the lobby area for most of her day waiting for radio communication and greeting each passing guest. This morning at 10 am, Bob the bellman, announced the first check in of the day to Susan over his radio. “Ms. Starfeld, checkin in” he said quietly as he followed five steps behind with her luggage. Susan immediatly thought “Oh, no. Quinn Starfeld, the famous tennis star, was supposed to arrive at 4 PM. Maintenance is still preparing her suite…” Her thought was incomplete as Ms. Starfeld approached. “Ms. Starfeld” Susan exclaimed, “Welcome. We are so happy to have you with us this evening. Jenny, our Front Desk agent would be happy to pre-register you and then I will walk to the restaurant where we have set a special breakfast for you to enjoy while we place the finishing touches on your suite”. To all of this, Quinn Starfeld breathed an arrogant “Fine, whatever” while Susan stepped away from her guest and Jenny to notify the restaurant to set up a table complete with breakfast for their celebrity guest. In the matter of of 3 seconds, Susan also had used her Motorola two way radio to call security to escort the VIP guest and to ask maintenance to finish up the work in Ms. Starfeld’s suite asap. Susan took a deep breath as she stepped back out to the front desk to escort Ms. Starfeld to the restaurant. By this time, security had already arrived and was more than happy to escort the VIP to the restaurant.

Once Ms. Starfeld was seated in the restaurant, Susan used the opportunity to go to the employee cafeteria and drink a much needed cup of coffee. She was grateful that it was never hot as she only had about 5 seconds to spare, including walking there and back. On her way back to the Front Desk, Susan called the health club and the pool life guard on her Motorola two way radio and advised them that Ms. Starfeld was in house and as a professional athlete, would be using the health club and pool facilities. Susan then ran to check on the progress of the suite for Ms. Starfeld and thankfully discovered that maintenance was finished. Susan used her two way radio again to contact the Front Desk and ask them to prepare keys to Ms. Starfeld’s room. She swooped by the front desk to pick up the keys, using her two way radio on the way to arrange the delivery of the guest’s luggage with the bell desk on the way to the restaurant. Susan smiled and greeted her VIP guest at the restaurant and escorted her directly to her suite. As she closed the door to the suite, Susan used her Motorola two way radio one last time to advise Valet to have Mr. Starfeld’s car prepared should she need it.

A feeling of exhaustion swept over Susan as she rushed back to the Front Desk. Her watch read 10:40 and she began thinking of what time she would go home and moreover, what hotel communication was like before the invention of the two way radio. Susan was sure at that moment that it was a tool that she could not live without.

It was a dark and stormy night outside the swank hotel. However, inside the marvelous designed banquet hall guest dined sumptuously as a laughing, cheerful staff served a delightful five course fare. Some of the housekeeping staff eagerly poked through the back curtains unnoticed by the guest. They whispered and giggled as they tried to guess which ones were famous patrons. Some eagerly were texting back and forth on their Motorola Mototrbo two way radios to their cohorts who were not fortunate enough to be stationed in the dining hall.

The soft dinner music was picking up to make a gradual change into the dance steps as the night wore on. The sneaky staff was able to keep their gossip lines private due to the text messaging feature of the Motorola MOTORBO two way radios.

In the security shack out front, however, the scene was quite different. Little did the guest know that on the very property lurked a serial killer on the loose. The hotel security and the local police were keeping close tabs of each other through their Motorola Motorbo’ two ways. The man had not been apprehended after his last kill. He always managed to find a way to disrupt the communication of his captors and thus in the confusion slink to freedom. In fact, earlier that evening, the criminal had slipped out of the hands of the transport detectives. He had properly guessed that wet rainy weather would destroy not only the visibility, but also the possibly ruin the communication of the officers phones. It was because they did not have the waterproof Motorola MOTORBO two way radios.

The head security chief was very worried that the same would happen again. He had been on this job for 40 yrs and really was looking forward to retirement in peace. His fear was that if any of the wealthy patrons inside be harmed that would it all would be in jeopardy. He nervously communicated with his sergeant on his Motorola Mototrbo about the progress of the hunt. To his relief he was reassured with an immediate reply that the net was closing in near the large lagoon like pool. The dangerous killer had decided to attempt to get the officers into the water and thus destroy there means of communication.

As wind continued to howl with the fierceness of the storm he dove into the water and begin to swim stealthly toward the banquet room. He heard some officer’s dive in after him. However he knew they could not see him and certainly now there phones were dead in the water. To his surprise he was wrestled to the ground on the other side and cuffed. As he was drug past the guard house with contempt he whined I did not think they could keep talking. “They could not but they had these little hero’s,” the captain retorted. Then he proudly held up his Motorola MOTORBO and happily flipped another page of his retirement travel magazine.

Meanwhile the guest inside and even the gossiping housekeepers never even knew that the real story had transpired outside and they were too busy texting on their Motorola MOTORBO’S to even notice what was happening. The musicians changed to the faster beats as the dance floor opened up. Yes it was a dark and stormy night that could have turned fatal. The waterproof two way radios had saved the day. So even though it was dark and stromy outside, the warmth of communciation had kept the storm where it belonged. It also put away one evil man where he belonged. Do you suppose he would like to buy a new Motorola MOTOTRBO?

This training program will teach educators and school officials how to use two way radios effectively. It will be governed by the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) and the Incident Command System (ICS) training tactics. This is a great program on how to use a two way radio properly. In the event of emergencies, two way radio systems can get clogged down if users don’t know how to use the system properly. With recent improvements in technology, two way radios are no longer just a push and talk situation.

Some radios, like the MOTOTRBO XPR6550 have built in GPS and text messaging features. This type of technology requires teaching sessions to show the full benefits. The article stated many benefits:

Jeff Howes, principal of North Mesa Elementary, sees many benefits to this interoperability. “Communications is easier among stakeholders,” he explained. “Response time is quicker, mistakes can be quickly corrected or response plans quickly changed, and we can run everyday operations more smoothly.

Kudos to the Colorado school district for being proactive in their communication plans.

High School football coach using a headset

It’s High School footbal time. This means that 2-a-day practices will be starting (or have already). One of my favorite things for the fall is the annual email we get from a team that’s 7-0 and looking to beef up their two way radio system. Have confidence in your team and be prepared before the season starts!

A good two way radio for high school football teams is the Motorola CP110. Blinkwave also runs a special, called the football four pack which is a package deal. It includes 4 NFL Headsets.

Motorola CP110 Package

The Motorola CP110 turned 1 years old on May of this year. We have been very impressed with the CP110′s functionality as compared to its predecessor, the Motorola CP100.

The Motorola CP110 comes from the infamous CP, or Commercial family. This two way radio family includes the Motorola CP200, CP125, CP150 and CP185. The Motorola CP110 falls as the first radio in the Commercial Tier.  I’m not certain why it is the first though. It has more features than the CP125; specifically, its water resistant casing and very loud audio.