Background
For 130 years, Leicester City Football Club has been at the heart of the local community, representing both the wider Leicestershire community and its loyal supporters. Following promotion to the Premier League in May 2014, the first time in ten years that Leicester City had played in the highest tier of English football, the club decided to upgrade its radio communications systems.
User
Leicester City Football Club, UK
Market Segment
Sports
Project Time
2013
Product
X1p Portable Radio
PD60X Portable Radio
Customer Demands
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As Paul Lewis, operations manager at Leicester City FC explains, the previous analogue handsets were approaching obsolescence. In an often harsh and loud environment, the analogue system suffered from radio interference and weak signals. The signal could be blocked and voice calls were often inaudible when received. It's vital staff have first-class communications contact with the control room to cope with the potential for social disorder, terrorism, and missing people.
The Solution
In total, 110 Hytera radios were deployed by Consam Communciations, local dealer of Hytea . The fleet includes four slim-line X1p high tier keypad radios and Hytera PD60X basic, fully waterproof radios. The new Digital Mobile Radios (DMR) offer many new features. Key to the system is use of user “ID” on every radio. The system controller and management radios display the ID of every caller, in every conversation, meaning far greater accountability. The system can identify any “stuck mic” problems instantly. Each radio has access to all the talk groups again aiding the smooth running of the system during the hectic match day operations. The DMR radios offer far better voice quality and tremendous background noise reduction – crucial for communications amongst a noisy crowd.
The Benifits
Congestion, a thing of the past
The move from a conventional two-channel analogue system has greatly enhanced the functionality and capacity of the system. Everybody has a radio that can be tuned into the six channels. The improved audio quality and ambient noise cancellation technology means that end-users can communicate clearly during the nosiest of match days, and from anywhere within the ground. Against this background, vibration alerts the user of the reception of voice call and message. A large colour display allows good visibility under outdoor strong sunlight or even floodlights.
Professional operation player
One feature that is a prerequisite is the structural rigidity and robustness of the handset. This is extremely important in situations where the atmosphere amongst spectators could become volatile. In such conditions, the handset could become loose from its belt clip or get bashed about and dropped on concrete. For safety officers, having a handset that can withstand such treatment ensures they have the competencies, status, authority and self-belief to effectively discharge the onerous demands of their role.
Flexible accessory allocation
To facilitate operations further, Hytera radio supports sophisticated earpieces and remote speaker microphone with emergency button, making multi-tasking easier. As Lewis explains, having a push to talk button on an extension, rather than just on the radio handset itself, makes it easier to call for assistance and provides additional peace of mind.