The customer had long standing relationships with two radio suppliers, including Wall to Wall (WTW) Communications. One supplier tended to simply offer the cheapest radio solution available.
WTW, however, always took the trouble to call the site first and then after making an assessment of the site would recommend the correct radio for the venue. This was not always the cheapest option, but it was the right thing for the site and the business.
The pub chain approached WTW Communications to support them in delivering the massive radio communications rollout, as it considered Wall to Wall to be a trusted partner with a 100 percent perfect track record in support of its sites.
WTW began by opting to contact all 1,400 locations to provide a report back to the client’s HQ detailing what radio equipment was being used, along with the current standard of the equipment.
Hytera was chosen as the preferred radio manufacturer for the project, because when everyone else said it could not be done, Hytera was able to step up and produce 3,800 Hytera hand portable radios.
The choice of handsets was partly dictated by the fact that WTW has already supplied a number of sites with Hytera radios and had received great feedback from the users. As the sites had such a poor collection of 446 radios, it was deemed a sensible choice to upgrade to analogue radios.
WTW has supplied around 2,600 HYT TC-620 licensed analogue radios, but a further 1,200 of Hytera’s new AP5 Series analogue radios are also on order. Some sites required a digital solution, so they have been provided with robust Hytera PD405 DMR radios.
The roll out was run by a professional WTW team who supported the client’s requirements in every way. The major challenge of the rollout stage was to deliver the huge number of terminals within the required timeframe, which put a lot of pressure on Hytera’s stock availability. However, Hytera and WTW succeeded in delivering all the radios to the sites within the permitted project timeframe.