A need for communication
The decision was made to work with WalltoWall, an authorised Hytera dealer. Royal Windsor Racecourse has worked with Sam from WalltoWall since 2009, receiving expert advice and support, servicing and programming for their radio fleet, and assistance with hire radios at short notice for their larger events.
WalltoWall recommended a Hytera solution, and the radio chosen was the PD705LT portable DMR with MCA08 MCU multi-unit, rapid-rate chargers.
Flexibility and ruggedness required
A fleet of portables would manage communications across the whole of the Royal Windsor Racecourse site for the core time, and additional Hytera hire units could be brought in for major events when staff levels would rise.
It was critical that the handsets were operating both indoor and outdoor, across the various business functions.
Now, on race day, Royal Windsor operates 5 talk groups: catering, operations, equine, sales and Health & Safety. Key members of the management and Health & Safety team also use channel scan to monitor messages across all of these work groups.
Considering the nature of work carried out by the team, ruggedness and IP rating were important. Staff would often be climbing in and out of cellars, up into canopies and ducts, where radio is an essential tool that needs to withstand knocks and drops.
The PD705LT is the ideal solution as it is extremely rugged, meaning it can go wherever employees need to go.
A further consideration was ease of use. As staff are often contracted and transient, the radios needed to be simple to use, and easy to train someone up on. Therefore, the PD705LT two-way radio ticks all the boxes, with users trained on basic functionality in ten seconds flat.
Battery life was also important, as event day staff can often work long shifts. The PD705 offers unrivalled battery life, ensuring that staff stay connected and can communicate before, during and after the event on a single battery cycle.
A winning solution with no handicaps
The PD705LT has become an integral part of the Royal Windsor catering and ops team. Efficiency has improved immensely, reducing stock-out situations, ensuring security is quick to respond and critical operations messages are cascaded rapidly.
Couple that with the long battery life, often lasting shifts from 8am to midnight, and the robustness of the solution, Royal Windsor Racecourse has come to rely hugely on the Hytera solution, and highly recommends them.
“The Hytera solution provided by Wall2Wall has significantly improved our day-to-day operations across the racecourse. We are in a better position to deliver world-class customer service, and ensure that our employees are able to communicate anywhere around the racecourse for long periods. The radios are rugged, reliable and are now an essential part of our operations.”
James Loveridge, Catering Operations Manager, Windsor Racecourse
