You’re planning an event, cutting costs in some avenues is fine. In some aspects, you get what you pay for and will readily bear the brunt of the product/service if it goes south. Your team of eight is spread throughout the venue. It’s 2021, everyone has smartphones, which you choose as your main communication line.

The dispenser ran out of lemonade. You text Terry who is working across the venue to bring some. No response. You call Terry, no response. Since the call was to Terry only, no one else could respond to the request. You didn’t have time to go through the text list, forcing you to go across the venue and grab the lemonade. Attendees are not satisfied. Read More...

People who have the weekday off work, a parent with a kid at school, yoga enthusiasts are getting new clothes and food, it’s the sweet hour before lunch time and the store is bustling. Retail stores are a part of these consumers’ weekly routine. Employees work effortlessly to provide the best shopping experience for customers. Two-way radios can play a huge factor on day to day operations for the store’s environment.

The radio on the employees’ belt is 10 years old and has spotty connection the further back they go towards the electronics section. The employee sees a fallen coffee and a pond of caramel all over the floor of the sports aisle with nobody in sight. The customer who spilt the drink is embarrassed and quickly left. Read More...

We got LTE in your LMR.  No, we got LMR in your LTE.  Whichever way you look at it, Icom’s IP730 series portable is a treat for radio users. Once again, Icom’s engineers looked at a problem and came up with an original solution.  From their experience with IP501 LTE and Land Mobile Radio IDAS radios emerged a new radio able to receive and transmit both LTE and LMR (remember, IDAS is an NXDN and analog LMR radio) simultaneously! A perfect pairing of technology for those hungry to resolve ‘what if’ situations. Read More...

With the VE-PG4 gateway, interoperate through IDAS™/analog, WLAN, and SIP devices. Each operation has advantages that are very well suited for many verticals such as public safety agencies, education, farming, and transportation. Part 3 of the VE-PG4 Configurations blog involves our LTE radios, satellite radios, and the Radio Discovery Tool, RDT.

The full-duplex LTE IP501H/M radios operate over a wide geographic range wherever cell phone towers reach. Full-duplex communications allow telephone-style conversations between radios. Easily interconnect these LTE radios with existing land mobile radios, IP radios, or even SIP phones with the VE-PG4 gateway’s built-in SIM card slot. Another benefit of the built-in LTE connection is the interconnectivity between the VE-PG4 without going through an IP network. Laying any firewall safety concerns to rest. Read More...

Part 2 of this series involves Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones and Network configuration. The VE-PG4 Gateway includes both a SIP server and a WLAN controller built in. These functions introduce another dimension to the VE-PG4 application functionality.

Land mobile radios use signals that can penetrate most areas. However, some structures such as reinforced concrete, glass or steel architecture make it hard for radios to connect with each other. The VE-PG4’s built-in WLAN controller is particularly useful in areas such as school campuses where there are plenty of stairwells or parking garages. We can extend signals for the IP100H and add WLAN coverage with access points, such as Icom’s AP95M, to eliminate dead zones and operate where regular land mobile radios have difficulty. If the school’s radio infrastructure relies on land mobile radios outside of campus such as transportation, the VE-PG4 Gateway can interconnect the IP and land mobile radios. The built-in IP1000C controller manages the audio levels to provide a clear sound with a high bitrate at a low network bandwidth consumption. Read More...

Most of the time, a fisherman’s boat radio cannot talk to an airplane’s radio, or a standard business radio you’d find on a retail worker’s belt clip.

They are all separated by the operating frequency and something that is commonly known in the radio industry as the Common Air Interface (CAI). CAI separates radios of different protocols; however, Icom has a product that can successfully link these protocols on different frequencies together, the VE-PG4. With a purpose-built cable, connect up to four radios in the back of the VE-PG4 to eliminate CAI, and allow seamless interconnection. Read More...

Hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and floods are only some of what Mother Nature can bring us. When catastrophe strikes, it is crucial to have effective communications and the exchange of information during an emergency. With the potential of interrupted ground-based communications – downed phone lines and cellular/radio towers – how can first responders prepare?

With so much reliance on terrestrial forms of communication, our communications systems are vulnerable to natural disasters, which hinders sending and receiving information from organizations like FEMA, NOAA, IPAWS, and EAS, and state and local public safety/service organizations. Satellite communications provide instant connectivity for voice regardless of the status of surrounding terrestrial systems. Read More...