At our campus, the administration faced an ongoing communication challenge with 50 head counselors and 150 specialty staff spread across a 40-acre campus. Staff members, often on the move, were previously reachable only by paper notes delivered by office runners. Early in my role with the organization, I saw an opportunity to introduce a more efficient system. My team and I began experimenting with walkie-talkies, but the single-channel models caused interruptions, miscommunications, and privacy concerns among nearly 200 users. Determined to solve this issue, I set out to find a better solution.

In 2015, while attending an industry conference, I discovered the Motorola DT550—a multi-channel radio allowing users to select specific contacts from a pre-programmed list. This feature enabled private, direct communication, addressing the key issues with traditional radios. Despite their cost of about $250 each (compared to $40 generic models), I advocated for purchasing 15 units to test among our senior staff. This initial investment proved invaluable: it streamlined real-time communication across campus, enabling administrators to address issues on the spot without constant trips to the office.

Training staff to use the DT550s came with challenges, especially as the senior team adjusted to the new technology. However, they quickly saw the value these radios brought to our operations. Encouraged by our success, we expanded our setup in 2016, acquiring 20 more units. This time, we assigned radios to specific locations like archery, swimming, and the lower lot, training area supervisors to check out and dock radios daily. This allowed the office to pinpoint activity locations and connect directly with staff as needed.

However, assigning radios to activity areas yielded mixed results. Staff in these areas were often busy with campers, making it difficult to respond to calls. Realizing a need for streamlined, one-way communication, we took the solution further. After experimenting with Motorola’s public channel settings, we repurposed radios as “Call Boxes” stationed across campus, allowing staff to make urgent calls to designated office radios without searching through contacts. Though rarely used, these visible call boxes provided peace of mind to parents, staff, and administrators, reinforcing the campus’s commitment to safety and efficient communication.

Our communication strategy continued to evolve. Impressed by our use of Motorola’s equipment, the company sent five executives to observe our campus setup in 2017. Our innovative applications influenced future designs, including voice-controlled contact selection—a feature later adopted in Motorola’s medical devices.

As our system expanded, so did our need for a more accessible, user-friendly radio for our head counselors. Motorola’s DLR 120 radios met this requirement, offering simpler functionality at a lower price of $120 each. We acquired 80 units, each pre-programmed with two channels: one for direct supervisors and another for the nurse’s station. This allowed counselors to coordinate movements across campus and summon nurses swiftly when needed, especially in situations where campers required immediate assistance at remote activity areas.

Ultimately, our comprehensive radio network, with a total investment of over $10,000, transformed communication across campus. Where once only urgent messages warranted a trip to the office, counselors could now address even minor concerns almost instantly. The professional appearance of the radios instilled confidence in visiting parents, while the vastly improved communication increased staff responsiveness, campus safety, and overall operational efficiency.