Two-way Radio Solutions For some companies, serving the school mar-


ket has been a logical choice as their technology matches school district needs. That’s been the case for School-Radio based in Jolliet, Illinois. Its parent company, A Beep LLC, has been in the two-way radio business since 1996. “While we do a lot of public safety business from


FCC licensing to microwave links to full blown P25 simulcast radio systems, at our core we are a push- to-talk provider,” said Mike Ippolito, the company’s general manager. Along with schools and school transportation,


the company’s subscriber-based dispatch radio solutions are used by a variety of industries includ- ing private ambulance, construction and private security companies. “We have always stayed at the edge of the tech-


nologies being offered and were one of the first in the nation to adopt digital Kenwood NEXEDGE technology that allowed us to give our end users seamless roaming coverage, via two-way radio, from Wisconsin through Chicagoland, and into Indiana,” Ippolito recalled. This solution was marketed under the brand


Diga-Talk and was enhanced about seven years ago with a push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) solution dubbed Diga-Talk+. “This was really the first of its kind in the U.S.


because it combined the power and reach of the cellular carriers along with the form factor of a fa- miliar two-way radio,” Ippolito noted. “Through this product we launched a nationwide dealer channel, and we now maintain tens of thousands of users on this system.” More recently, a look at which verticals performed the best using the Diga-Talk+ product showed that student transportation was at the top of that list. That led to the idea of coloring some radios school bus yellow and black, and bundling the devices with a managed services approach. This gave transpor- tation directors a fixed line-item cost that was easily budgeted for. “Through the numerous [trade] shows and pro-


fessionals we’ve talked to, we came to realize we weren’t just solving the budget concerns but also providing these buses with coverage and features they never thought possible with their current radio offerings,” Ippolito recalled, citing examples of dispatch software or smart phone apps for easy communication with a fleet, as well as GPS tracking and SOS calling for emergencies. “It really became about solving some critical challenges that almost every school bus operator has to overcome.”


40 School Transportation News • FEBRUARY 2025


personal cell phones, which can be used in an emer- gency if the vehicle is pulled over and the driver is not seated behind the wheel. “Digital radio technology also makes it possible


for our dispatchers, utilizing their console, to have a discreet one-on-one radio conversation with a spe- cific bus, without having the entire fleet overhearing the conversation,” Matthews noted. “The console also allows for playback of recent radio transmissions and supports rudimentary GPS tracking of the vehicle.” Digital tech has proved its worth at North Sanpete School District in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, especially when dealing with emergencies. The district’s 28-bus fleet is equipped with Kenwood radios along with units in the shop truck and a desk unit in the office. “The radios are a lifeline, especially in the few


emergencies we have had,” said Dallon Sagers, trans- portation supervisor. “In a couple of the more serious situations it was very helpful for the driver or myself to communicate directly with EMS.” Sagers noted that EMS personnel, who in his rural


area are volunteers, have reported it’s been helpful to have direct contact with the bus driver and then arrive at the scene with a good idea of what to expect. The ability to route directions via radio directly to the location in question has also been an asset. A common scenario has been when students have suffered allergy or asthma attacks. A more serious incident involved a fatality, when


a private vehicle failed to stop in time and rear-ended a bus. “I was able to directly coordinate with all parties involved and tried to organize the chaos as best as possible,” Sagers recalled. “It was very nice to be able to communicate with all agencies involved.” A useful factor, he added, was that the shop truck he


drives and the handheld radio he keeps in the truck have more channels programmed than the buses. That includes channels that some of the emergency per- sonnel did not have, providing access to state and local agencies involved with the incident. At Carroll County Public Schools in Westmin- ster, Maryland, GPS capabilities are provided by Zonar, and drivers and operations staff communicate via phones rather than radios. The AT&T Sonim phones employ the push-to-talk technology typical of radios but do not use cellular data. The smartphones provided through a contract with BusPatrol have a microphone attached so bus drivers can use them legally. “Previously we had a hodgepodge of cellphones,


and it was very inefficient,” said Michael Hardesty, the district’s director of transportation services. “We couldn’t broadcast any type of emergency situation.”


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