Motorola Solutions Supplies Mall of America with Digital Radios

The Mall of America puts up some impressive numbers every year. This includes 42 million annual visitors and 11 to 13 thousand employees year-round. In this kind of setting, effective communication is extremely important, which has led the mall to deploy the always-available digital communications solutions from Motorola.

The mall has 520 stores, 50 restaurants, the largest indoor theme park, as well as many other attractions. Until now it has been using analog radio technology, which has led to coverage and frequency issues, static, and security lapses.

“Mall of America operates like a municipality in that our operational entity is vast and our employees can be anywhere and everywhere at any time,” said Chad Martin, communications manager, Mall of America Security Department.

The organization selected the MOTOTRBO digital two-way radios to address the current communications needs of the mall, as well as the planned expansion of the facility.

The MOTOTRBO platform will get rid of the limitations of the analog system while introducing more functionalities and room for unlimited expansion. This system continues to work even through the concrete walls, parking ramps and service corridors of the 5.5 million square feet of retail space.

The new system has caller ID and origination features just like mobile devices. This gives dispatchers vital information in case of emergencies so they can send necessary resources. Another important feature of MOTOTRBO is “transmit interrupt,” which lets users break into radio traffic to deliver information.

“We need to know that our radio communications are seamless and that as technology advances, we can integrate our radios with other systems such as those used by local public safety agencies. MOTOTRBO provides that reliability for all departments, from security and engineering to housekeeping and grounds keeping,” added Martin.

MOTOTRBO can be integrated as part Motrola’s Capacity Plus, a platform that delivers five times the capacity of an analog conventional system and up to three times the capacity of an analog trunking system. This gives customers voice and data integration in one with GPS-enabled location services, text messaging, telemetry and more on the same system.