Analogue vs Digital Radios

28 August 2021

For many managers, a radio is just a radio; you push the button to talk, release it to listen and remember to charge the battery at the end of the day. To see how outdated this sort of thinking is, you only have to look at your smartphone. Remember the days when your phone was good for a voice call, a game of Snake, and not much else?

Technology has come a long way over the last twenty-odd years, and running a busy site or operation on analogue radio technology in 2021 is just as ill-advised as trying to browse social media on your black-and-white brick. Here’s why.

Digital radio offers superior reception

While older analogue systems tend to suffer from irregular coverage – everything from patchy and noisy reception to ‘dead spots’ – digital radios have improved sound quality offering an interference-free experience.  Some also have the inbuilt capacity to switch networks when signal quality drops.

Today’s radios offer much more than voice communication

Easy, instant voice communication remains the main appeal of radio communication, but modern digital radio systems such as the Motorola Solutions MOTOTRBO Ion Smart Radio bear as much resemblance to an old two-way as the latest iPhone does to a wall-mounted rotary phone. Modern digital radios boast cameras, robust touchscreens, full multimedia capabilities and a range of apps to enable anything from email management to barcode scanning.

You’re no longer constrained to site limits

When using analogue systems, handset range is constrained by base station placement, meaning that mobile personnel lose contact the moment they leave the site. Digital radio systems can use a functionality known as push to talk (‘PTT’) over cellular or WiFi, allowing for easy one-to-many communication no matter how widely dispersed your team members may be.

Digital radios benefit from continuous innovation and improvement

Just as mobile phones become faster and more feature-rich each year, digital radio manufacturers strive to provide added functionality and improved performance with each new product release. Lone worker monitoring capabilities, broadband data connectivity and new safety measures set the latest digital radios apart from their analogue ancestors. Rapid progression doesn’t mean that your investment in digital radio systems will date too quickly, though, as all new handsets remain compatible with existing networks and frequencies, and the software and firmware can be updated to keep up with new releases.

At CSE Crosscom, we cater to all customers. From traditional purchase to operational expense solutions and rental agreements, we have you covered.

If your site is still running on analogue, a change to digital radio systems could improve your efficiency, boost site safety and open up a world of new communication capabilities. Interested? Contact the team at CSE Crosscom to discuss your options.