Broadstairs Folk Week
Broadstairs Folk Week is an annual event held in Broadstairs, Kent. The festival takes place all over the town and there’s hardly a venue that isn’t bursting with song, music and dance. The Festival attracts visitors from all over the county and even further afield to experience the positive and fun atmosphere. Workshops for children are held during the festival and Morris dancers are frequently spotted across the town of Broadstairs.
The Challenge
Broadstairs Folk Week attracts many thousands of visitors each year and requires much organising. With events taking place all over Broadstairs, it’s High Street and Seafront communication is critical. The Folk Week workforce needed to be able to communicate throughout the town without having to change channel. They required a simple but reliable communication method, which provided ‘blanket’ coverage.
Being an annual event, Broadstairs Folk Week opted to hire equipment from Smye-Rumsby rather than purchase. By doing so, the associated costs of owning the equipment such as battery replacements, equipment servicing and Ofcom Licensing are provided by Smye-Rumsby.
The Radios
Provided from the Smye-Rumsby extensive fleet of hire radios, Folk Week were supplied Motorola DP4400 UHF radios and a Motorola DR3000 UHF digital repeater. With built in ambient noise suppression and wind porting, communications were perfectly clear all over the requested service areas. Earpieces and Spare batteries were supplied to support the workforce throughout the long day and although personnel changed over, radios are in constant use for almost 12 hours. Regular contact and drop in visits during the event make sure that the team at Smye-Rumsby are always on hand to ensure that no issues develop.
“Smye-Rumsby’s extensive range of hire equipment gave us piece-of-mind that they would be able fulfil our needs under one roof”
The Solution
A Smye-Rumsby representative met with the Folk Week team to discuss their needs, the required service area and the specifications of the available equipment. It was agreed the Motorola digital hand-held radios would be trialled due to their improved audio quality, simplicity and robustness. It was established that a repeater would be needed to boost the radio signal ensuring radio coverage even at the extremities of the workforce’s area. Due to the land topography it was necessary to conduct a full site survey. In attendance were representatives from both Broadstairs Folk Week and the dedicated Account Manager at Smye-Rumsby. During the trial, the required service area was thoroughly tested to ensure full coverage to all areas of the deployed staff – approximately 3 miles. Jo Tufts, Folk Week Trustee explained,
“I was very pleased with the results of the trial. Seeing it working re-assured me that on the day, we would have the communication system that we needed. Smye-Rumsby have been fabulous and couldn’t do enough for us”.
The Future
Broadstairs Folk Week will be entering its 50th year this year (2015) and plans are already well underway to make this the best yet. Smye-Rumsby has supported this event many times by supplying excellent radio equipment and hope to continue doing so in the future.
“The Equipment always performs well and the service we receive is exceptional. We look forward to working with Smye-Rumsby again”.
What Our Client Said About Us
"I was very pleased with the results of the trial. Seeing it working re-assured me that on the day, we would have the communication system that we needed. Smye-Rumsby have been fabulous and couldn’t do enough for us"