Chicomm Blog

Chicago Communications, LLC sponsors many different types of events throughout the year. We sponsor runs, festivals, trade show venues, picnics, and believe it or not, snowmobile racing. Yes, snowmobile racing, also known as Snocross.

What is Snocross? Snocross is a sport involving racing specialized high performance snowmobiles on natural or artificially-made tracks consisting of tight turns, banked corners, steep jumps and obstacles. Riders race at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Now you might be wondering ….. do they actually race in Illinois? While there are tracks all over the country – New York, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Michigan -- the southern-most snocross track in the country is, yes, located in Illinois – Wauconda, Illinois to be exact. Races take place pretty much every weekend from December to March, and as you might expect to coordinate practices and race days takes a village. It also requires two-way radios.

This veteran's day we'd like to take the time to pause and thank our Veterans! Let's salute and honor those for being American soldiers, Marines, and sailors, and Coast Guard members, and National Guard members — all those who have served and currently still serve our country—for we deeply appreciate the sacrifices they have made in serving to keep our freedom intact.

Update: Learn about our activities for Customer Service Week 2017 here. 

These past few weeks, we have been busily planning and preparing for Customer Service Week, celebrated October 6^th – 10^th this year. What is Customer Service Week, you ask? In 1992, U.S. Congress proclaimed Customer Service Week a nationally recognized event, to be celebrated annually during the first full week in October. It was designed to be an event devoted to recognizing the importance of customer service, and to honoring the people who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism.

For most people, a vehicle is a very important tool in everyday life. It is a sizeable investment to own a vehicle and it requires regular care to ensure it performs as intended. When you purchase a vehicle, you therefore typically make sure there is a warranty or an extended service plan on the vehicle in order to minimize the impact of potential, expensive repairs during the time in which you own the vehicle. In addition, you sometimes find that when purchasing the vehicle that a preventative maintenance plan is included in the price of the vehicle for services such as regular oil changes, filter changes, tire rotations, and belt replacements. Did you ever wonder why these services would be included in the price of a vehicle or in an extended service plan?

Research has shown that when vehicles have regular preventative maintenance performed on them, they operate more efficiently, generally have fewer large, costly repairs, and experience almost no breakdowns. Since a vehicle for many people is “mission-critical” to their daily lives and or livelihoods, breakdowns cannot be afforded (and you know they ALWAYS happen at the worst possible time), so having some sort of service plan that includes preventative maintenance as part of it is an absolute must. These plans also kind of “force you” to do the preventative maintenance. Reminders are sent out regarding them, and in some cases the warranty or repair coverage is diminished if the proper maintenance is not occurring at the designated points in time.

For as long as I can remember, and it's probably from growing up with a dad who has been in the radio communications business for the past 60 years, I always find myself looking for how businesses, organizations, or volunteers are communicating when I'm out and about. I used to see him do it and now I do it. It has become a force of habit for me now. Are the people in the places I go using radios? (And I of course also look to see if they are Motorola radios.) How are they using them?

By the shear presence of the word in our name, many believe Chicago Communications conducts business only in the Chicago area.  While we are proud to call Chicago our home, and have called it home for over sixty years, many of our business endeavors take us well beyond this great City's limits.  We have customers all across the area and several with locations which extend to the broader reaches of the country.  In these instances, we have been very fortunate to continue our partnership with those customers at their extended locations as well.  This has enabled us to expand our reach to the central and southern portions of Illinois, north into Wisconsin, west toward the Mississippi, although extending as far as Arizona, and east into Indiana, but as far as Ohio. 

Did you know that Chicago Communications, LLC has two locations? Yes, it’s true! While our corporate office is located in Elmhurst, IL, we also have an office in Chicago at 2100 S. Peoria Street, just a few minutes north of U.S. Cellular Field (home of course to the Chicago White Sox). 

Our Chicago office, or Loop Shop as we like to call it, has been around for years providing a convenient location for our customers in the City, and offering the same capabilities as our Elmhurst office. The office houses a drive-in installation bay, technical support, sales, sales support, and customer service. Together, the team there has a combined 17+ years of service with Chicago Communications and it shows. Their commitment to responding to customer needs or issues is second to none. They pull together, gather support from the Elmhurst office when needed, and get the job done. Whether requesting a quote, having an issue, a question, or an installation request regarding a mobile, portable, or system, our Loop Shop team is ready, willing, and able to respond.