The introduction of two-way radios across sport and leisure facilities in a North West city is helping revolutionise customer service and potentially save lives.
Thirty four Motorola radios have been introduced across 10 local authority sites at Salford (including a library) and are proving a resounding success. They are speeding up communication, enhancing customer service and being hailed as a ‘must have’ solution for all similar environments across the country.
Salford Community Leisure has witnessed a number of incidents where customers have experienced serious heart problems and paramedics have been called. How staff respond can make the difference between life or death and providing them with improved communication methods helps ensure as rapid a response as possible.
Head of Sport and Leisure, Garry Bateman, says the organisation recently invested in Motorola XT420 radios and six way chargers, along with waterproof bags for sites with swimming pools.
It teamed-up with comms supply specialist Rocom (part of the Salford-based Nycomm Group of Companies) who conducted various site surveys before making equipment and technical recommendations.
“We initially discussed the concept in a team meeting; primarily it was about customer service as well as health and safety,” he explained. “Better communication was the key. It could be as simple as someone turning up at Reception to be shown around the facility. That member of staff can’t leave their post but they can now just radio a colleague. It’s instant, more responsive communication.”
Garry emphasised: “Speeding up communication and maximising resource are vital in today’s world where every penny counts. Staff numbers have been cut to the bare minimum in recent years. Budgets are so precious and we are down to essential spends. We simply cannot afford to waste any money whatsoever. The radios have only recently gone live across all sites and the feedback has been very very positive. Communication is so much better.”
Garry explained how the organisation has used a small number of radios in the past but these were ‘domestic quality’ and ‘not completely up to the job’. “The site managers saw a need but we decided if we were going to do something we wanted to do it properly, consult the experts at Rocom and invest in quality equipment with the right range and reliability.”
Garry added: “It could be an awkward customer, a broken leg from a football match or someone collapsing on a treadmill. We find the radios are much more flexible and practical than an in-built alarm system and more discreet than using a tannoy. There are emergency alarms in the pools though.
“Communication is the essence. You can’t be dealing with a life and death situation on your own. If you are resuscitating someone it’s better to be doing it in tandem with someone else. In the last six months we have had a number of incidents including heart attacks where a radio would have helped to summon assistance from a fellow member of staff. We have defibrillators and fully trained staff who can deal with this.
“We would strongly recommend all sites have radios on the grounds of customer service alone but the fact they can play a vital part in emergency incidents makes them life savers.”
Garry concluded: “There’s no issues with range, battery performance and usability of the Motorola’s. They last a full day. We would be very reluctant to be without them and they are going to play an integral part in our everyday operations from now on. It makes things a lot easier for us.
“The radio range is so impressive. When one member of staff accidently took one home by mistake he could still communicate even when several kilometres away.
“It can be a nightmare to find people on some sites just by walking around. Staff could be out for several hours supervising five-a-side football matches for example, so the radios are ideal for internal communication, saving time, inconvenience and improving customer service. Based on our experiences they should be implemented in all similar establishments as part of any best practice programme.”
