Before purchasing this piece of equipment, it’s important to know how to talk on a walkie-talkie effectively. Buying or hiring these pieces of equipment is to allow your communication to be more concise and efficient, but without knowing the basics of these devices, it can in fact hinder your team’s ability to talk to one another.
In this article, we showing you how to talk on a walkie-talkie, how to identify yourself before speaking and how to keep your messaging short and sweet.
Learn Two-Way Radio Talk
Learning some of the key two-way radio lingo before picking up your communication device is a great idea, especially if you’re going to speak with a large group of people. There are the more well known phrases, such as ‘Over’, which signify you have done talking and are reading to receive a reply. But there are also some less established words, which are very commonly used in two-way radio conversation.
For example, ‘say again’, means to repeat the last message that was spoken. This can be used if you didn’t quite understand or hear what the other person was saying and need them to reiterate it. There is also ‘Go ahead’, which means that you can respond and that the individual on the other end of the conversation can in fact, go ahead with their message.
Another common phrase is ‘Roger’. Again, you may have heard of this one, but in two-way radio speak, it means that a message has been heard and if in fact understood. When communicating with radio, ‘Roger’ is used when the action that you have been asked to do, is being carried out.
‘Stand-by’, is almost the opposite of ‘Roger’. It means that you have heard the transmission, fully understood it but you can’t respond right at that moment. The team should ‘stand-by’ and await your response.
Whilst you use ‘Over’ to signify that you are done talking, if you are planning on leaving the channel all together, then using the phrase ‘Out’ makes it clear that the channel is now clear for other users. Finally, ‘Affirmative’ is a simple yes and ‘Negative’ is a no.
Knowing your lingo is imperative when it comes to communicating with a two-way radio, but so is knowing your Phonetic Alphabet.
The Phonetic Alphabet is used to indicate through symbols and code what a speech sound or letter sounds like. Typically, over a two-way radio, it is necessary to clarify a key part of a message. You can do this by spelling something out using the Phonetic Alphabet, ensuring that your message is heard loud and clear.
Identify Yourself On The Channel
Identifying yourself when speaking into your radio is extremely important. This is because there is no limit to how many people can be on one channel at any given time. If you are looking to communicate with your team, proclaiming your name in your message will help them identify who is speaking and that they are the ones who need to receive your message.
Not only is this important for both yourself and your team, for all round effective communication, but it’s also good manners and polite two-way radio etiquette. A good example of this is: “Wall To Wall Communications, this is Jamie22, OVER”.
This will efficiently get the attention of your desired audience as well as clearly identify who you are before communicating your message with the rest of your team.
Keep It Short And Sweet
When using a two-way radio, it’s important to remember that only one person can speak at any one given time. With this in mind, it’s best to keep all your communication to a short and clear few seconds, allowing all communication to be as concise as possible. This gives all the team a chance to acknowledge your message and reply within a timely manner.