North American School District Deploys Simoco Digital Mobile Radio System

This latest move follows the need for its personnel to reliably communicate with each other across the department’s five school buildings during the school year and summer break, and with the town’s dispatch center in the event of an emergency.

Simoco’s partner Dirigo Wireless, a radio communications specialist serving Maine and New Hampshire, installed Simoco Xd digital mobile and portable radios which offer full keypad functionality for telephone, complex group calls, advanced data messaging and a total of 12 programmable function keys. Over 30 administrators will use the system in their respective school building and on their own digital channel, ensuring the safety of adults and children on site.

One Simoco DMR basestation has been located at Biddeford’s High School, and is interfaced with the township’s dispatch console. The system allows communications where users from all schools can instantly and securely speak with each other and the local emergency services.

The system is now fully operational and used regularly by staff including schools administrators, teachers and security – most of whom had little or no experience in using two-way radio. Those using the radio system can now better communicate with each other and with ease thanks to the user friendly features and ability to adapt to the district’s needs. The digital system has enabled instant and secure communications across the district, improving operations, security and efficiency at the schools and improving the student experience.

“This is the first time that Biddeford School Board has invested in a radio system,” said Gary Correia, Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Simoco Americas. “It was clear from the initial consultation that its staff required resilient technology to help ensure that they could quickly communicate and coordinate with each other as well as achieve a streamlined emergency response process with the fire and police departments. The user friendly nature of Simoco’s DMR Xd System significantly reduced the learning curve for personnel, while providing the features and functionality that they needed.”

Biddeford School District Superintendent, Jeremy Ray, said: “We are committed to providing positive and safe learning environments for Biddeford students who range from five years old through to adults. The welfare of our students is our highest priority, which is why we felt radio communication would be central to creating the best and safest environment in our district. Simoco’s DMR system has given our staff the ability to quickly and effectively communicate with each other. Furthermore, it allows us to easily expand our radio network as our needs evolve in the future.”