Simultaneous communication for River Island Clothing

River Island Clothing, a British retail company, expanded its brand with an additional 300 stores across the UK and Ireland, and internationally throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe. To cope with this growth, the company moved to a 43,000 m² distribution centre split between two units and located on 23.35 acres at Magna Park, Milton Keynes.

During the move, staff identified a problem with communication using an analog two-way radio system. A lack of coverage in particular areas gave opportunity to operation problems hidden in blind spots. The two different user groups using the same frequency often caused interference, confusion and lack of efficiency of communication.

To solve this problem, River Island asked Hytera to deploy its DMR system. The system included PD785 digital portable radios and a MD785 base radio in the control room. The main requirement for the communications at the distribution centre was to provide clear and reliable audio communication within the two main units.

Two user groups (security and operations) required simultaneous communication while sharing one single channel/frequency. To meet the requirement, the Hytera base station was installed in the control room with the security and operations teams using PD785 colour display/keypad radios in ‘pseudo-trunking’ mode. The result being that the two teams are able to communicate simultaneously, without interfering with each other’s communication or activity and without the need for an additional frequency licence.

Another benefit of this feature was that the control room base radio could monitor both channels without changing channel, creating comprehensive communication and less margin for error or missed communication.

After deployment of the Hytera DMR system, the previous issues with the analog radio systems were overcome. The radio users found the coverage of the system exceeded the coverage requirement and the robust handsets matched the demands of the working environment.

“We found no one else could match the quality of the product offered and we are extremely happy with our purchase. I have, and would, recommend Hytera to any other similar business and fully expect to use them for the foreseeable future myself,” said David Parker, security controller for River Island Clothing Co.