Facilities management is a complex and challenging role, often presenting a problem even to those who attempt to define it.

Essentially, the management requirements vary from facility to facility. The one constancy, to put it simply, involves handling the basic functions of the facility in question, allowing the other related businesses to go about their own day-to-day functions.

Facilities management is a £173bn a year industry, but it would be nothing without the use of two-way radios.

For a job that requires interaction with so many people and related parties, communication is key.

Think of a retail centre, an office block, a school or a hospital. Now imagine how many people visit, work in or use such a place, every single day. It boggles the mind, doesn’t it?

For now, let’s focus on the example of a retail centre. This space is likely to have multiple shops (all of which with their own staff, customers and management personnel, as well as health, safety and security concerns), car parks (which need to be monitored regularly), cafeterias and eateries, toilet facilities (including baby changing facilities) and an on-site office for the smooth running of things – and that’s just for starters.

The manager of such a facility will need to be able to speak to everyone, at any time. Two-way radios are the only clear and reliable way to achieve this. The manager will need to respond to safety issues, security concerns and any other problems that arise, she/he will be responsible for emergency procedures, use of resources and the smooth operation of the site itself, every single day.

Even analogue radios struggled with these tasks, so now most sites are using digital radios to relieve reception loss in various signal ‘black spots’ that were plaguing the bigger and more complex sites around the world.

For the modern facilities manager, a quick, clean and efficient two-way radio network, capable of supporting each and every layer of management, security, outside contractors, businesses, vendors and any other related group is absolutely essential to the smooth running of things.

Two-way radios are a massively important element of most contemporary businesses. The same system employed by the emergency services, the armed forces, building contractors and police is being used, every day, in our leisure facilities, shopping centres, office spaces and housing properties. Two-way radios are an amazing, indispensable part of day-to-day life across countless industries the world over.

The short answer is yes. If you are planning on using a radio system for commercial purposes anywhere in the UK, you will need a radio broadcast licence. According to Ofcom’s official site,

“If you use a radio system for your business then you will need a licence from Ofcom. Business radio users range from taxi companies and factories, to hospitals, care homes, industrial sites and transport operators. To begin the licensing process – and learn more about the specific licence you’ll need – (it then diverts you to a special application link)”.

The quote below is from Icom UK.co.uk. They offer a comprehensive page that you should probably check out before buying your radios. Their advice as is follows:

“You will need a radio licence to operate your two way business radios. This is issued by the Government Agency, Ofcom. Licensed frequencies are allocated on a case-by-case basis. You can get your dealer to program them into your radio”.

They also advise the buyer to,

“Get your local dealer to help with the licence application, they will advise on the best way to apply to get the channel you need”.

And also say that,

“If you wish to use your radios all over the UK and are not based in one fixed location, you can apply for a Business Radio Simple UK licence which is £75, renewable every 5 years”.

On the subject of price, it does appear that I can’t tell you how much it’s likely to cost, as pricing is an individual thing and it depends on your needs. When asked how much a licence will cost, Icom UK says,

“OK, the big question…unfortunately that is the one question we cannot answer, but your local Icom business radio dealer can. Often you will find that the radios you actually need are much more affordable than some you might have first looked at. Icom have a very comprehensive range at all price levels while still having the same quality and you could consider spreading the immediate cost by leasing rather than outright purchase”.

Icom then provide a link to finding a UK dealer, which I’ll add to this answer HERE.

Basically, any business radio use will require a licence, so it’s pretty important that you learn as much as you can about them (and what they entitle you to do).

Do not be disheartened, however, gaining license to broadcast isn’t as difficult as you might think and the costs are likely to be more manageable than you’re probably dreading they will be. Whatever you think of it, you’ll have to pay the fee, that’s just the way it is. In America, the FCC governs the licensing. Here in the UK, broadcast licensing is maintained and regulated by Ofcom (as stated earlier).

According to Walkie-Talkie radio.co.uk, there is a reason beyond naked profiteering:

“Most countries have some government agency in charge of who can use what radio frequencies. This is necessary to ensure that different organizations can use radio communications effectively without interfering with each other”.

So do a little research, fill out a couple of forms and move on to the next problem.

For us, the customers, shopping can be a fun-filled trip into town on a pleasant sun-dappled afternoon, complete with good company, interesting conversation and tasty treats.

However, a shop is actually a lot more than a pleasing Saturday afternoon’s distraction for the people who run it. The average high street store is, in fact, a tightly run combination of clever marketing, well-planned store layouts and hard working employees, all of which come together to create a state of the art consumer environment. Two-way radios are a big part of this operation.

How? Well, there’s health and safety to consider first and foremost. Shoppers need to be protected, with rapid medical attention provided should any problem befall them.

Then, there’s security of course. Allegedly, in 2009 alone, over 800,000 people were arrested for shoplifting. The following year, The BBC reported that shoplifting had cost UK stores £4.4bn in less than a year. Apparently, thefts add around £180 to the average family’s annual shopping bill. Security employees need to be more vigilant than ever, but without imposing their presence on (and thus discouraging) innocent shoppers.

A reliable two-way radio system is a great way to achieve this. Using radios, security personnel can monitor a potential situation quietly and discreetly, questioning (and if need be, apprehending) the suspect without causing too much of a fuss.

But those aren’t the only reasons that radios are vital to a retail environment. Staff and shoppers need to be protected from potentially volatile situations as well. We’ve all seen a seemingly mundane situation grow out of control for one reason or another and it’s down to the store’s management to see that these incidents are controlled and diffused in a quick and professional manner.

Of course, we also need to consider the larger retail environments like shopping malls and large centres of commerce. Across areas as big and sprawling as these can be, security, safety and customer comfort are all key concerns that become that much harder to monitor and manage. On that scale, every concern becomes amplified. In these situations, radios need to be reliable, able to operate over long distances and run with a relatively long battery life.

Two-way radios are ideal for the task at hand, allowing management to oversee complex operations and staff to perform their duties in a safe and respectful working environment. Without two way radios, a Saturday afternoon’s shopping would be a far less appealing prospect…

Essentially, radio static during a call is a sign that the signal strength is degrading (or that there is no signal coming through at all). When signal strength degrades sufficiently, the static sound emerges.

When there is no message coming through, it’s a slightly different story. A walkie-talkie has what’s known as a ‘squelch’ control circuit that keeps tabs on the signal strength. The squelch circuit will mute the speaker as soon as it realizes that there is no signal coming through to the device. This is, essentially, the same function as your TV has when it cuts off an unavailable channel after a preset time. However, in the moments before your walkie-talkie ‘squelches’ the sound, you will hear static, or ‘white noise’ as its also called.

‘Squelching’ is a pretty vital part of any/all broadcasting equipment. The method used in your walkie-talkie is called a ‘carrier squelch’ and is more than likely to be manually adjustable.

From Wikipedia (as of 17^th of May 2013):

“A carrier squelch or noise squelch is the most simple variant of all. It operates strictly on the signal strength, such as when a television mutes the audio or blanks the video on “empty” channels, or when a walkie talkie mutes the audio when no signal is present. In some designs, the squelch threshold is preset. For example, television squelch settings are usually preset. Receivers in base stations at remote mountain top sites are usually not adjustable remotely from the control point.

In devices such as two-way radios (also known as radiotelephones), the squelch can be adjusted with a knob, others have push buttons or a sequence of button presses. This setting adjusts the threshold at which signals will open (un-mute) the audio channel. Backing off the control will turn on the audio, and the operator will hear white noise (also called “static” or squelch noise) if there is no signal present”.

So what is ‘white noise?’ According to Joe Shambro, writing for About.com’s guide to home recording,

“White noise is a static sound that has equal energy on every frequency. Think about this for a second: every frequency from 20Hz to 20kHz is equally represented at the same velocity; this type of frequency scale is called a “linear” scale. This gives the noise a uniform, static sound that the human ear detects as somewhat harsh and heavy-handed toward the high frequencies. However, white noise represents a very unnatural way of presenting frequency data in terms of how our ears work.”

If you’re experiencing signal degradation on your walkie-talkie, there may be several causes for this. ‘Wireless Woman’ a blogger with an excellent site about two-way radios, has this to say:

“Signal loss can happen in any number of places in the system. Antennas may not properly direct the signal toward the horizon. Cables to repeaters may need replacement. Connectors can be corroded. Finally, the quality of the system may not be adequate. The old adage “you get what you pay for” certainly applies to two-way radios, and their quality does vary. Receiver specifications, engineering, tuning, the antenna, and even design generally improve as the price increases. This really happened: Two public safety officers were at a scene. One was using a radio that cost more that twice as much as the other. Guess which one could hear and which one couldn’t?”

So there you go.

According to the UK Government, there were an estimated 5.2 billion bus passenger journeys undertaken on our roads in 2011/2012. Public and private transportation is not only big business; it is also of massive importance to the smooth running of the country.

Whilst only 14% of the UK’s 25 million commuters travel to work by bus or train, this still accounts for over 1.7 million people. In order for a country this reliant on public transport to survive and thrive, it is absolutely imperative that transport workers can communicate with each other in a quick, efficient manner, fuelling an industry that, by necessity, spans the length and breadth of the nation.

Two-way radios provide the solutions to this monumental challenge.

Rail, bus, fleet and trucking management make use of two-way radios in order to keep up to speed with vital information. Drivers and managers can easily contact command and control centres, as well as liaising with depot staff and even customers, all due to using their radios. Together with integrated GPS systems, radios help transport and fleet workers to track deliveries in real time, as well as informing would-be passengers or commuters of any delays or early arrivals.

But it isn’t just truckers making deliveries, commuters travelling to and from work and trains running on time. Public transport is one of the most important aspects of the tourism industry, itself a large part of Britain’s economy. Visitors flock from almost every country on Earth in order to visit popular sites like Stonehenge, The Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the beautiful city of Bath. Without a reliable public transport system, our tourism industry would be seriously harmed.

So, in order to keep things running as smoothly as possible, all relevant personnel are equipped with a two-way radio so that they can keep in direct contact with their colleagues, peers and managers. This also allows for speedy customer service, as well as up-to-date and reliable information.

Health and safety is also a huge concern regarding public transport and, since the tragedy of the London bombings 8 years ago, security is also a large issue. Workers specializing in either area find their radios to be among the most vital of their tools.

Transport companies employ a veritable army of security staff, as well as first-aiders all of whom are connected via rugged and reliable two-way radios.

Without radios, the country’s public transport system could very well come to a standstill. The roads and railways of Britain are, at least in some ways, kept in operation via a network of two-way radios.

These are troubling times for our nation and indeed for the world at large. Our little corner of the history books will be blighted by a global recession and civil unrest as political opportunists fan the flames of religious and racial tensions. In the midst of all this turbulence, there’s us, the regular people, caught up in the middle of the maelstrom.

In a world fraught with buzzwords like ‘terrorism’ ‘counter-terrorism’ ‘contamination’ ‘organized crime’ and ‘data theft’, its easy to feel like you’re always at risk, only ever one diplomatic blunder or power hungry madman away from World War 3. In such a world, an increase in security is often felt to be the only way to achieve peace of mind. Enter the world’s high security professionals.

Whether providing security for public figures, guarding prominent buildings, patrolling national boundaries or keeping the Internet safe from hackers, high security is an enormous and varied industry that demands much from its workers. Public and private security firms are stretched to deal with all the issues and potential problems that they have to tackle.

Fortunately, two-way radios make their work a lot easier. The same type of radios that are used by the military can be affordably purchased by the security services, as and when needed.

These radios are rugged and durable, they can withstand almost any weather type and they have strong, long lasting batteries that allow for hours of field work. Two-way radios are by far the quickest and most reliable form of portable communication, not as clumsy as a pager or as temperamental as a phone. In addition, two-way radios are incredibly easy to use, meaning that training is a doddle.

Working alongside state-of-the-art surveillance technology, non-lethal weaponry and bleeding edge computer security programs, the simple, effective (and simply effective) two-way radio is still the security services first and finest friend.

Whether on foot or in vehicles, whether standing guard or co-ordinating the efforts of a team, two-way radios are an absolutely indispensable part of the high security industry, making them a vital component of the nation’s peace of mind.

You’ll find two-way radios helping to keep secure our data centres, cash warehouses, government buildings, military bases, secure storage facilities and even more sites than we have the space to name.

The world may be a conflicted, sometimes frightening place, but the high security workers around the globe are helping us to sleep at night and using two-way radios to do it.