Duke of Edinburgh Award - Brentwood Communications

Duke of Edinburgh Award – Buckingham Palace

Brentwood was honoured to receive a Royal appointment when we were asked to supply two way radio support for a Duke of Edinburgh Award event at Buckingham Palace.

The presentation day at London’s Royal residence was one of the most prestigious events in the charity’s calendar, when the scheme’s outstanding performers met the Duke of Edinburgh to receive their prizes.

At such a high profile event, organisation had to be impeccable so everything went to plan, making sure attendees had a day to remember. That is why organisers contacted Brentwood to supply two way radio support, to ensure faultless coordination on the day.

The main challenge for setting up a two way radio network was the size of Buckingham Palace itself. With over 800 rooms, and a garden which could hold Wembley Stadium four times over, ensuring the event team could stay in touch right across the 19 acre site was critical.

The coordination team was also large. With more than 7000 guests to assist and chaperone around the site, organisers needed to equip not only themselves with radios, but security and palace staff too.

All of this added up to a request for a large scale radio network which balanced faultless reliability with straightforward, intuitive use.

Our solution

Brentwood supplied a network built around the Motorola DP2400 handset, a high quality industry class digital radio with a range of features which make it ideal for use at large scale events.

Digital radios have a wider range than analogue handsets, so the decision to recommend the DP2400 was influenced by the size of the site. Connectivity is excellent and robust, with high quality audio clarity. Digital radios also benefit from considerably better power efficiency, so there is no concerns about the battery running out over the course of a long event.
As well as being robust, the DP2400 is very user friendly. The handset is a compact, lightweight unit which is discreet and easy to carry around. Brentwood also supplied each handset with an individual carry case and belt clip, further aiding portability.

One of the DP2400’s best features for a busy event is intelligent audio control. This means speaker volume is automatically adjusted according to background volume, so event staff did not have to think about adjusting to hear in busy crowds, and then lower to a more discrete volume during the presentations. We also supplied D-shaped earpieces, which both supported call clarity and discretion, and also allowed for hands free operation.