Communications Connection

What is MotoTRBO?

Posted by Amy Cavaliere on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 @ 14:07 PM

You've heard me talking about digital two-way radios and MotoTRBO and you are probably wondering what exactly they are.  The MotoTRBO two-way radio is Motorola's digital platform radio.  I have touched on digital radios and the future of two-way radios in a previous post (read the blog here). 

Motorola has created a series of 16 videos about their MotoTRBO radios explaining what they are and how they can help different vertical markets/industries and, as I promised in my previous post about MotoTRBO reaching 1 million users  I will be posting them here over the next few weeks so stay tuned, there's more to come.

The first video by John Jaderholm of the Motorola Solutions Systems Team talks about "What is MotoTRBO?" So, without further ado, here we go.

Topics: motorola, MotoTRBO, 2 way radio, digital radio, video

Giving Back with The Terry Farrell Firefighter's Fund

Posted by Amy Cavaliere on Thu, Jul 21, 2011 @ 12:07 PM

terry farrell fund banner resized 600

"We get by with a little help from our friends." Paul McCartney and John Lennon sure knew what they were talking about when they wrote this.  There comes a time when even the most self-sufficient of folks need some help.  Thank goodness there are organizations and people willing to lend a hand.  Terry Farrell was one of these people.

Terry was a dedicated member of the FDNY as well as the Hicksville and Dix Hills Fire Departments.  Although I have never met Terry, I feel like I know him from reading about his tireless work helping people through the fire departments to his donation of bone marrow to a little girl suffering from T-cell lymphoma.  Unfortunately, I will never have the opportunity to meet Terry.  He was one of the 343 FDNY members who perished in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.  I have however had the opportunity to meet his brother Brian Farrell.

As the marketing coordinator for Telecom Communications, Inc., a leading Motorola dealer, I was searching for a charity that we could support.  There are so many worthy causes around but we wanted something personal to us and that relates to our customers.  I reached out to some firefighter friends and asked them a simple question.  "If we want to work with a charity that helps firefighters, what do you think is best?"  100% of the people responded to me in the same way "That's a no-brainer, the Terry Farrell Fund."  I figured they all couldn't be wrong so I did some research and reached out to the fund.  When I met with Brian Farrell and listened to him speak about Terry and the fund, it didn't take long to convince me.  His passion and enthusiasm to carry on with the spirit that his brother embodied and to continue his work in helping people was intoxicating.  I am proud to say that Telecom is now the communications sponsor of the Terry Farrell Firefighter's Fund.

The Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund was established in 2002 as a 501c3 exempt organization to assist the firefighters across the nation with professional, educational and personal needs.  They assist fire departments with the purchase of needed equipment, assist firefighters and their families during times of medical emergencies, provide scholarships for children of firefighters and give needed support to returning combat troops and their families in the form of medical grants.  The fund also receives donations of surplus fire service equipment from departments on Long Island to supply to rural departments that do not have the tax base to support the purchase of new equipment.  Along with all of this, the Terry Fund also sets up and sponsors blood and bone marrow collections and provides cardiac defibrillators to educational institutions showing need.  All of this can be done because of volunteers and sponsors.

The fund which has grown exponentially and now has 9 chapters nationwide has no paid staff and operates on a limited budget of 1-3%.  They try hard to never refuse any request for aid.  So, I encourage you to reach out and lend a hand to this wonderful organization.  We did.

For more information check out their website www.terryfund.org

 

Topics: sponsorship, fire depatments, giving back

July 13, 2011 F.C.C. Public Notice on Narrowbanding

Posted by Amy Cavaliere on Mon, Jul 18, 2011 @ 15:07 PM

On July 13, 2011 the F.C.C issued a public notice providing a reminder of the Narrowbanding mandate for VHF/UHF and covering guidelines for submitting waiver requests.  This notice reinforces their committment to the January 1, 2013 deadline.  To read the notice, click here

 If you would like more information on how to handle the narrowbanding requirements for your organization contact Telecom by clicking on the image below.

Narrowband Information

Topics: two way radios, FCC, narrowband

Motorola MotoTRBO reaches 1 million strong

Posted by Amy Cavaliere on Fri, Jul 15, 2011 @ 15:07 PM

Motorola has announced that they have reached 1,000,000 (1 million!) MotoTRBO subscribers.  That shows the versatility and popularity of these two-way radios.  Between the digital capability, text messaging and various apps available there is a fit for virtually everyone. 

Stay tuned because over the course of the next few weeks we will be posting some videos Motorola has created to show how MotoTRBO radios work and how they can be used in different industries such as retail and transportation just to name a few.

Have you tried the Motorola MotoTRBO radios yet?  What are your thoughts on them?  How have you implemented them into your organization?  Let us know in the comments below.

Topics: motorola, MotoTRBO, two way radios, video