The Shay Stadium is a Football and Rugby Stadium sited in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The stadium has x number or matches / events a year with a seating capacity of. The Stadium is made up of x number of stands spread across an x number of acres.

The Stadium has a dedicated control room with a number of roles that co ordinate the safe running of the events.

The Background

Event Comms was contacted by employees working at the Shay Stadium due to issues they experienced with their current off the shelf PMR radio solution. The initial request from the Stadium was to carry out a site wide survey using the radios they had and to also then test the same coverage using handhelds that would be supplied if they were to look to purchase / rent new units to facilitate their requirement.

The Challenge

The Shay Stadium is made up of x number of stands made of substantial building materials. It is spread across a large site built into the hillside. A large number of the areas around the stadium are behind buildings and out of direct site of the control room.

On match days the site becomes busy with spectators filling the car park areas and the stands. This can it’s self provide issues to shop purchased radio systems.

The existing system did not provide enough protection against channel interruptions from other radio users in the area. The system did not also provide them with the capabilities they required to safely run and manage the events such as priority interrupt, private calling and simple functionality as call sign displays.

The existing system also suffered from accidental key interruptions making transmissions difficult and increasing the risks of the radio system becoming unusable in case of emergency.

The Solution

Event Comms put a proposal forward to the Shay Stadium to provide 29 Basic Handhelds for example PD605s, 5 Advanced Handhelds PD785s / 985s / PD665s an MD785 and a number of 6 way chargers. All radios were setup with a range of channels to not only meet their needs but also allow for resilience and growth if required without the requirement to be reprogrammed.

Event Comms also enabled advanced features such as the ability to Stun a radio, Priority Interrupt, Radio Check and Remote Monitor these were features that during the work with the Shay Stadium the benefits were analysed against each function and it’s use including examples of how it might benefit the stadium.

During the sessions Event Comms were able to offer a way that ‘spare’ units were available if needed in a way the stadium could access them if a fault was discovered on a unit without and impact to operations.

For the stadium it was decided they didn’t want to purchase the radios outright but sign up for a long term hire with a support package which Event Comms was happy to put a proposal forwards in line with this.

Event Comms continues to work closely with the stadium arranging visits to ensure the equipment is still adequate and the setup still functions in line with the requirements. Within the contract there was capacity to enhance the setup as changes came along with the introduction of call signs being assigned to handsets and the handsets being allocated permanently.

Event Comms continues to work with the Shay Stadium to ensure as features and equipment changes and improves these benefits are used where the requirements exist.