Clear and efficient communication is critical to running onsite events. Organisers have traditionally relied on two-way radios for events of all sizes. But new LTE-based technology has emerged that is causing organisers to critically reevaluate their event setups. 

This raises an important question for anyone involved in events: what benefits are you missing out on? And is your communication technology holding you back? 

Measuring the Strength of Your Event Communications

Your event communications solution should help staff to coordinate activities and respond quickly to emergencies or unexpected situations. For instance, if there’s a medical emergency in a crowded festival, security staff need to quickly and clearly coordinate their response. This is key to ensuring that events run securely, smoothly, and successfully. 

This is why all event technology should:

• Be rugged and durable, ensuring reliable operation 
• Be easy to use  
• Be easy to transport and setup 
• Guarantee audible and instant communication between team members

Most radio technology provides these features, which is why radios have been a mainstay at events for decades. 

But radio communication has its disadvantages. For starters, it needs infrastructure to function properly over the event area, which increases the time and financial burden of setting up and organising events. Relying on infrastructure also limits coverage, presenting a challenge for events that take place over large areas. 

How LTE Event Technology Fills These Gaps

New LTE event technology makes up for these shortfalls by hosting communication over national carrier networks. With near-yearly upgrades, these networks are highly stable and guarantee extensive coverage in most European countries. In the UK, for instance, 96% of the total landmass receives high quality network signal, dispelling the myth that LTE suffers from narrow coverage.

LTE event technology often comes in the form of the same push-to-talk two-way radios that event planners are used to. Like radio, this technology enables immediate and clear communication. Unlike radio, LTE event technology has the following features:

• Web-based dispatching
• Real-time GPS tracking of event staff
• Multimedia communication, including pictures, videos, voice notes and file attachments
• Instant data capture of all event communications

Should You Upgrade Your Event Communications Technology?

While not all events require features like GPS location mapping or sophisticated data capturing, many will greatly benefit from LTE’s game-changing capabilities. 

Fortunately for most organisers, upgrading event communications doesn’t involve massive process changes. In many cases, LTE technology can be used alongside traditional radio communication, letting organisers benefit from the best of both worlds.