During the COVID pandemic many schools purchased walkie talkies, often these were brought in a hurry, with limited supply and budget. As a result many schools invested in low quality walkie talkies with poor coverage and reliability.
There are a number of solutions currently available which are suitable for the education sector. Below we explain three of them to you: License free radios (walkie talkies), Licensed radios, and Push to talk over Cellular (PoC) radios.
License free radios (446)
License free radios operate on a set of public UHF frequencies, often referred to as PMR446. They come pre-programmed out of the box. They have a low initial cost and as the name suggests they don’t require a license or subscription. The drawbacks of these are the low transmission power and the lack of privacy, you will often hear local builders and shop owners talking on your channel!
License free radios are restricted to 0.5W output power, this gives them a very limited range, that may not cover the whole school as they have limited ability to penetrate concrete walls.

The radios come pre-programmed with 8 channels. The channels are different frequencies and the privacy codes provide basic privacy, however anyone using a radio on the same public channel without a privacy code enabled will be able to overhear the conversation, in addition to this many licence free radios come with a scan feature allowing people to scan for transmissions no matter which channel or privacy code is used.
Sadlesea recommends the Motorola XT185, this comes in a twin pack with long lasting Li-ion batteries, drop in charger docks, belt clips and earpieces with mic and PTT. The batteries will easily last all day and the charger docks make charging easy, The radios can also be charged directly with a micro USB cable. The XT185's small size means it fits comfortably in your hand and doesn’t feel like a burden when clipped onto a pocket or lapel.
Licensed radios
Licensed radios require an OFCOM license, Sadlesea can assist you in the application process. A single site simple license costs £75 for 5 years and will give you a range of frequencies that are private to your organisation within a specified distance of your address. We feel the level of privacy which this provides is something that all schools should be looking to move to. The higher initial investment and recurring cost is offset by the increased privacy. Some other positives of licensed radios are their increased range, they have an output power of 5W which will give coverage across large sites and into the surrounding area.

There are a wide variety of licensed radios available, which have a varied range of feature sets. However, to access these features base radios and expensive dispatch software are required. in a school setting a user friendly radio which provides reliable clear voice communication is what we feel is required. We recommend the Icom IC-F2000 series radios (Pictured above) as being a reliable, well made and budget friendly option for schools. There are three options in this series: the IC-F2000 which has no keypad or screen, the IC-F2000S which has a screen and limited keypad, and the IC-F2000T which has a screen and full keypad.
Push to talk over Cellular (PoC)

PoC radio utilises 4G/5G and WiFi networks to transmit the communications, meaning that the devices have nationwide coverage, so can be taken on any trips and still have instant communications with the school. These require a SIM card to connect to the network and a user licence to connect to the PoC provider’s service. Both of these are charged annually. PoC provides a top tier feature set which previously would have been out of the reach of most schools, including GPS monitoring, call recording, geo-fencing and one to one as well as one to many communications.
We recommend iPTT’s PoC system, they provide excellent service and good value for money, we recommend the iPTT P500, with its long battery life, 4G connectivity, built-in GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi. The dispatch app which can be run on a PC allows the school to view the GPS position of the radios as well as communicate with them, this will definitely increase the school’s ability to safeguard groups whilst off site.

Please feel free to contact us on 0333 050 3207 or sales@sadlesea.co.uk to discuss your specific requirements, we will be able to create a solution to suit your needs.
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