TETRA Open Digital Radio Standard
TETRA is an international open digital radio standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). It is the most widely deployed digital radio standard in the world – used in a variety of applications from huge public safety systems in Europe through to small manufacturing operations. The standard was developed over ten years ago – and continues to be updated regularly to ensure it remains at the forefront of radio technology. Below is a video of a 2020 conference overviewing the ongoing development of the TETRA standard.
The TETRA standard
The TETRA standard reduces the risk associated with deployment of two-way radio systems by providing access to a wide choice of independent vendors to keep your enterprise radio communication system running well into the future irrespective of what happens to your supplier arrangements. Most manufacturers are into their third or four generation of TETRA product ensuring a stable and mature solution. Competition between manufacturers creates a dynamic market, fostering innovation.
TETRA technology is a TDMA based standard which means the radio divides the frequency into time slots. With this standard it is four slots, and this has the benefit of allowing you greater efficiency from infrastructure and licensing as several different radio user groups can concurrently use each frequency.
TETRA has a reputation as a ‘high end’ solution – over time increased competition in the TETRA market has lowered prices and made this a cost-effective solution on all but the smallest sites.
TETRA enables more efficient use of spectrum
TETRA is a digital Two-Way radio technology for building highly scalable, secure and intelligent, radio communication networks with the following features:
- Ease of use
National Wireless TETRA systems are designed for effective operational simplicity.
Robust. Real-time. Instant. One-to-many voice communications – convey messages to multiple team members instantly without latency. - Amazing audio clarity
TETRA handsets operate perfectly out in the wind and even next to operating machinery providing crystal clear voice communications (ask for a demonstration – you will be amazed!) - Location services are optional with GPS built-in to the handsets for outdoor applications or indoor positioning – Location features can be activated with appropriate software.
- One device
National Wireless TETRA can replace all of your other mobile communications equipment – pagers, mobile phones, text messaging and emergency alert systems – with the one supportable device - Low cost of integration with telephony and other systems. Your radio can become a full extension of your internal phone system, effectively joining your voice communications systems together.
- Advanced handset features to meet diverse operational needs including configurable emergency safety systems – man-down, lone worker with location services.
- Central configuration: manage your total system centrally with complete control over talk groups and who can access the system. No need to panic over stolen handsets – just lock them out, additional talk groups or coverage can be provisioned with reprogramming the fleet.
- Open standard – wide choice of leading network equipment and handset manufacturers.
- Multiple talk groups and aliasing: No need to remember channel numbers; handsets display actual talk group names.
- Scalability
National Wireless TETRA systems provide advanced features for small systems supporting 20 handsets but can be later scaled-up with additional capacity or coverage without reprogramming terminals. - Resilience
The network can be built with various layers of redundancy to outages or coverage issues (handsets and vehicle radios can become repeaters at the flick of a switch). - Advanced handset battery power management to increase time between battery charge and increase battery life. This is just one example of how we can reduce whole of life costs.
National Wireless’ application of the TETRA standard provides customers with robust, feature packed, flexible radio solutions. National Wireless TETRA is an end-to-end approach to supplying two-way radio systems that integrate:
- Business needs analysis
- System specification, fleet mapping, design and engineering
- Business case support
- System installation and migration from legacy equipment
- End-user training
- Ongoing support and future expansion
With National Wireless TETRA you are not just buying a “bunch of two-way radios” you are procuring a purpose-built, well-engineered, well deployed, and well supported advanced communications platform to underpin your business operations. National Wireless has a proven track record engineering two-way radio for organisations that need robust, fit for purpose, future proof radio communications.
More than just two-way radio
National Wireless TETRA will drive real change in your business processes by eliminating the constraints of legacy two-way radio systems; enabling you to re-think your operational procedures and leverage productivity improvements.
National Wireless TETRA delivers ease of use, vastly superior voice performance in noisy environments, and the ability to replace mobile phones, pagers, and emergency devices with just one easy to use handset.
Find out more
At National Wireless we understand how large organisations work when considering new technologies and evaluating vendors.
We have partnered with some of Australia’s largest organisations on their journey toward improved radio communications delivering better business outcomes.
If you are serious about investigating the possibilities for improving your business through radio technology, then we welcome the opportunity to present to your team our briefing presentation and National Wireless TETRA case studies.