Construction
Construction walkie-talkies on Zello
Trades, deliveries and safety all end up talking over each other. We put them on separate Zello channels, from the trailer to the top floor, on rugged two-way radios we run for you.
Short answer
Can each trade have its own channel?
Yes. We set up a Zello channel for each crew before the radios arrive: trades, deliveries, site safety. People only hear what matters to them. The radios cover the whole site and the next job across town, because they run over a multi-carrier cellular SIM instead of an antenna you have to install.
The problem
What gets in the way
A site changes shape every week. Trades, deliveries and safety traffic all end up on one channel, so a concrete pour competes with a driver looking for the gate. Coverage moves as the structure rises: the radio that worked from the trailer stops reaching the top floor once the frame goes up, and basements and lift shafts were never going to work on a handheld alone. Nobody wants to license and install an antenna for a job that finishes in eight months, and the fleet you buy for this site has to work on the next one. Meanwhile the site manager is trying to reach a banksman, a delivery is idling at the gate, and the only reliable way to find anyone is to walk.
How we set it up
How the channels are set up
We set up a Zello channel for each crew before the radios arrive: trades, deliveries, site management, and a broadcast channel that reaches everyone at once for a safety event. People only hear what matters to them, which is what stops a channel being ignored. Because the radios run over a multi-carrier SIM rather than an antenna on site, coverage does not change as the building rises and there is nothing to install or license. The same fleet covers the next job across town without a second system, and subcontractors on their own Zello accounts can join a shared channel through Crosslink. When phases change we restructure the channels for you. A handset that goes missing can be locked, located or wiped through our device management, and adds, swaps and replacement setups are handled as part of the service, which matters on a site where handsets get dropped, buried and driven over.
Typical use cases
Where it gets used day to day
Foreman to crew coordination across a rising structure. Delivery and gate control without anyone walking to the entrance. Banksman and lift coordination. Concrete pours and other timed operations where a delay costs real money. Safety all-calls that reach every trade at once. Site handover between shifts. Running a second site across town on the same fleet.
Recommended solution
What we would recommend
Managed Zello Core on rugged two-way radios suits most sites. Crews working in several languages, or a contractor that wants every message archived, should look at Plus for Translations and Message Vault.
Questions
Questions site teams ask us
What contractors want to know before committing a fleet to a job.
Will the radios still work as the building goes up?
Yes. Because they run over the cell network rather than an antenna on site, coverage does not depend on your structure. Deep basements, lift shafts and heavily shielded plant rooms can still be difficult, which is true of any radio, so we check your specific sites for coverage before you order.
Can we move the fleet to the next job?
Yes, and it is one of the main reasons contractors move to a managed service. The radios are not tied to a site because there is no on-site infrastructure. When a job finishes we reconfigure the channels for the next one and the same radios go back out.
What happens when a radio gets damaged on site?
Tell us what happened and we handle the rest. We lock or wipe the damaged unit remotely, and the replacement arrives enrolled in our device management with Zello signed in and the user's channels loaded. Replacement hardware is priced separately, and we confirm typical turnaround when we quote.
Can we separate the trades so the channel stays usable?
Yes, and we would push for it. A single channel shared by every trade, every delivery and every safety call gets ignored within a week. We set up a channel per crew plus an all-call for safety events, and restructure them as the phases change.
Do we need a license for these?
No. Traditional site radio systems often need a frequency license and an antenna installed somewhere high up. Zello carries audio over the cell network on our multi-carrier SIM, so there is nothing to license and nothing to install.
Related
A typical construction setup
Most crews start with the Telox TE320 on site, sealed to IP68 and rated for a 1.5-meter drop, with the Telox M3 fitted in the trucks and a Zello Dispatch Hub seat in the site office. Screen-free Inrico T522A handhelds suit laborers on a single channel. Work around fuel or gas is assessed per site: we check your area classification before recommending hardware, and the Sonim XP Pro carries a Class I Division 2 non-incendive rating.
Already own radios? Radio interoperability keeps them in the conversation. And before you trust a carrier map for a remote site, read what nationwide coverage actually means.
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