Chicomm Blog

Two-way radio, walkie-talkie, portable radio, transceiver—whatever you call it, you likely know what it does. At its simplest, a two-way radio is a device that can both send and receive communications via radio waves. They are ideal for use in most work environments: warehouses, factories, schools, and hospitals, as well as for emergency first responders and truck drivers on the move.

Beyond that, two-way radios have a wide range of features. These days, they’re more like computers, with different software and features that can be adapted to your needs. If you want to understand the basics of two-way radios better or are exploring communication options for your team, here's an overview of two-way radios.

We depend on firefighters to do their jobs under the most dangerous conditions imaginable, and firefighters depend on their communication equipment to help them do it. Firefighter radios must perform reliably in all environments and stand up to rough handling in life-or-death scenarios.

When purchasing two-way digital radios to support this critical work, investing in the right product for your department’s needs is essential. Here are some key questions to consider when shopping for the devices that help firefighters keep our communities safe:

In these inflationary times, everyone has to keep an eye on budget costs. 

But when it comes to communications needs, it’s both wise and cost-effective to consider the added services and benefits offered by your communication technology partner. 

What are some of those added services and benefits?

It goes without saying that safety is a top-tier concern for businesses and organizations. With new federal and state mandates to have robust and secure commercial safety plans in place, safety has become a renewed priority. Hospitals, schools, industry, and manufacturing are all looking for products and technological solutions to support and service their safety plans.

Two-way digital radios provide instant, secure, and high-performing communication that helps increase productivity, improve resolution time, enhance safety, and protect workers. In addition, devices' long life and durability reduce costly repairs and downtime, but they still need servicing and maintenance. 

You’re an IT or system administrator in, say, healthcare, business, hospitality, or education. You have a good two-way radio system, and everything seems to be going okay, but you want to do your due diligence. You want to check how well your system is operating before anything goes wrong. To understand how it’s being used and where the choke points might be. You want data—and the ability to analyze and use that information to maintain and improve your radio system.

We are entering a new era of unified communications, where systems like Motorola’s Safety Reimagined are able to facilitate communication — not just across devices but among different communications platforms.

Evolving technology is making it more possible than ever for different devices to communicate with each other so that humans can do what they do best: think and respond.

It’s called communication interoperability, and it’s allowing for new levels of communication across devices.

How does this work in real life?

When a workforce is scattered throughout a wide area and many people are still working from home on different devices and networks, how do companies keep everyone connected?

Despite all the communications innovations we’re seeing, it still seems like a pretty big challenge.

Pairing your two‑way radio with a Bluetooth headset is a great idea if you want to communicate untethered and hands‑free.

And it can’t be that hard, right?

Well, it's not always easy, either. In this blog we've put together tips, tricks, and background information that has helped our customers pair their two-way radio with a bluetooth accessory.