ICOM Two Way Communications System User Guide
- September 26, 2024
- ICOM
Table of Contents
ICOM Two Way Communications System
Product Specifications
- Brand: Icom America Inc.
- Product Type: Two-Way Radio Communications System
- Usage: School Campus Communication
Product Usage Instructions
-
Introduction
Choosing the right two-way radio communications system for your school’s campus is crucial. Understanding the school’s primary communication needs is essential in determining the best solution for your institution. -
Identifying School Needs
Consider the immediate problems or needs that require a new communications system. Determine the criticality of the system based on safety, daily operations, or efficiency improvement. -
Talkgroups and Priorities
Identify groups with high communication volume or urgency that require priority handling. Determine if individual-to-individual select calls are necessary and specify who should have this capability. -
Location Considerations
Describe the school’s locations, highlighting local and roaming groups. Specify if users operate locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally to tailor communication services accordingly. -
Structures and Communication Challenges
If there are various structures or communication obstacles, detail them and specify the groups operating in each environment. Different solutions may be required based on the location and environment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
-
Question: What school needs are driving your interest in a new or enhanced system?
Answer: Identify the immediate problems or needs that necessitate an improved communication system. -
Question: What type of school will the system be used in?
Answer: Specify if the school is private or public, and the educational level it serves. -
Question: What is the level of importance for the communications system in your school?
Answer: Determine if the system is critical for safety, essential for daily operations, or valuable for efficiency improvement. -
Question: Do any groups in your organization demand a higher priority? List and explain their priority.
Answer: Identify groups requiring priority handling and explain their communication needs. -
Question: Will your school use individual-to-individual select calls? Who should have this ability?
Answer: Specify if individual calls are needed and determine which individuals should have this capability. -
Question: Describe your school’s locations and user travel patterns.
Answer: Detail where users operate (local, regional, national, international) to tailor communication services accordingly. -
Question: Are there specific structures or communication challenges in your environment?
Answer: Detail any obstacles that may affect communication and specify the groups affected.
School Radio Guide
Two-Way Communications System Overview
Introduction
As you consider implementing a two-way communications system, identifying the
key needs is essential. This user-friendly guide will help define the top-
level operational needs the system must address.
Scoping the needs is like creating a list or a blueprint. This helps in the
decision making process that will make up the initial communications system
architecture.
Once the system architecture is defined, another set of inquiries can be made
at an engineering level and this survey/overview will not drill down to that
level.
The survey is divided into sections. Each section will include a discussion of
the topic and related open-ended questions. It is best to be specific and
detailed when answering the questions while staying within the topic
discussed.
Choosing the right two-way radio communications system for your school’s campus is an important decision. The answers you provide to the questions below will help define what your school’s primary communications needs are and will help Icom determine the best solution.
What problems are you trying to address?
It is helpful to understand the immediate problems and/or needs promoting your interest in an improved or new two-way communications system. It is also useful to know the school’s activity in which you want to use the system. The criticality of the system also provides insight into the system architecture.
Question:
What school needs are driving your interest in a new or enhanced system?
Answer :
Question:
What type of school (private or public, elementary, junior high, secondary)
will the system be used in?
Answer:
Question:
What is the level of importance for the communications system in your school?
(e.g., critical for safety, essential for daily operations, or valuable for
improving efficiency)
Answer:
Talkgroups – Who’s Talking to Whom?
In a two-way system, communication occurs within groups. Groups typically have a common function requiring frequent, routine interaction and communication include administration, security, maintenance, and teaching staff. Think of these as “one-to-many” conversations. Each group constitutes a “talkgroup.”
Question :
In your organization, how many talk groups exist? List them, as completely as
possible. Also, note the number of individuals in each group and the amount of
talk each group might engage in (heavy, moderate, or light).
Answer :
It is not uncommon for individuals in one talk group to occasionally need to
talk to another talk group. In a two-way system, this is done by selecting
another talk group on their device. However, it is also possi-ble to monitor
other talk groups in the background so any request for communication can be
heard and responded to.
Question :
Are there any groups that need to monitor and communicate with other talk
groups? Identify the groups that monitor, which groups they monitor, and how
frequently cross-group communications occur
(frequently, occasionally, rarely).
Answer:
Some groups either have a consistently high volume of two-way communications or have high urgency and need to communicate. These groups typically demand a higher priority over other routine communications. Security is an example of this.
Question :
Do any of the groups in your organization demand a higher priority? List and
explain the nature of their priority.
Answer :
Most two-way communication is done as a one-to-many call – one person
initiates it, and
everyone in the group hears it simultaneously. However, there are direct,
individual-to-individual select calls and emergency calls. Emergency calls may
be all calls that go to all groups. Text and status messages can also be sent
with two-way devices.
Question :
Will your school use any call types beyond the one-to-many calls? If so,
explain how you anticipate using select calls in your operation.
Answer :
Question:
Will your school use individual-to-individual select calls beyond the one-to-
many calls?
Do you want everybody to have this ability or just a subset of individuals? If
so, explain how you anticipate using these other call types.
Answer:
Location Matters
Now, consider where users will be located and how they move about.
- Some two-way systems are used solely at a single location and never roam beyond the specific campus or building. Others are used on several campuses separated by some distance, but the two-way devices aren’t used outside the campuses.
- Still, others may need to access the communications system anywhere within a region, nationally, or globally.
- In addition, some groups on the system may stay local to campus while others may roam far from the campus regularly.
Question:
Describe your schools locations. If some groups are always local to a campus
while others roam, identify them and explain where they operate. It is
particularly important to identify whether users travel only locally,
regionally, nationally, or internationally while requiring two-way
communication services.
Answer:
Communications solutions can vary depending on the environment in which
they exist. For example, a structures composition can interfere with a radio
system’s reception and performance, making communication challenging.
Similarly, certain solutions are available in urban areas that aren’t remote
rural areas.
Location, Location, Location.
Icom’s solutions can provide coverage for users in urban and rural areas as
well as those located locally, regionally, nationally, and even
internationally.
Question :
If there are numerous different structures or communication challenges, please
identify them and provide some indication of how often, or which groups, the
system will operate in each.
Answer:
Desired Features
As technology marches forward, new and intriguing features are available. Each
may be critical to a particular operation. However, in our experience, too
many features can confuse the user and negatively impact the quality and
reliability of the core functionality of real-time, one-to-many push-to-talk
communications.
Consider the features you need to ensure they are truly needed and choose
wisely so they don’t interfere with the primary mission: push-to-talk and
release-to-listen. Decide if you need basic push-to-talk communication or
advanced features like GPS tracking, text messaging, safety alerts, or
encryption for sensitive information.
Question:
What features are needed in your two-way system to improve your organization’s
operational efficiency or safety?
Answer :
Question:
Describe the existing communications environment in which your
organization operates. Is the cellular
coverage good, do you have WiFi coverage, or are you currently using a
traditional Land Mobile Radio system at any of the locations? Since each
location may be different, answer this for each location.
Answer:
Interoperability – Connecting the Dots
You might need to interface with third-party products or make sure that the
system is interoperalbe between different entities. This level of integration
often adds operational benefits to the two-way communications system. A
mapping application can show device location or implement geo-fencing to alert
when a device roams beyond pre-set boundaries. A console system can amplify
communications by monitoring many groups, patching them, or connecting them to
telephone lines. Other systems allow machines to alert the two-way devices as
well as send emails or text messages. Some operations may need access to
public address systems or building controls. Do you need to interface with
another existing communications system? On the device side, specialized
accessories like Bluetooth® or hard-wired connections might be needed.
Question:
What other systems integrations are required for your organization?
Answer:
Question:
Although not strictly an Interoperability consideration, what are your future
plans? Is this a first step in a se-ries of upgrades to your communications
system? What is the entire scope of your communication plans?
Answer:
Understanding the purpose of two-way radio integrations helps set priorities.
Bringing It All Together
You naturally want to know the cost of the system upfront, but a precise
figure can be challenging without sufficient details. Be aware that any early
estimate is a “Rough Order of Magnitude” (ROM) and may vary considerably. The
goal is to strike a balance between system capability and cost. Identifying
the top-level operational needs that inform the system architecture is
necessary before any ROM can be floated. The engineering design is then
necessary before a quote can be created.
This guide will help define the two-way system architecture that might be best
for your school. If you would like Icom to analyze your needs and provide you
with a system architecture, please contact us at:
Marketing@IcomAmerica.com
About Icom
Icom started in Japan in 1954 and quickly became a leader in amateur radio
products. In the following years, Icom has grown to provide radio equipment
for marine, land mobile, and avionics applications. It has become a leader in
designing and manufacturing radio equipment that reaches across the spectrum
from simple radios to sophisticated IP-based systems. Icom America is
responsible for representing Icom products within the entire Western
Hemisphere and U.S. Territories in the Pacific.
Unified communications
Inside, Campus-wide, Nationwide, Worldwide Let Your Mission Define Your Device
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9 School Radio Guide: Overview