Live event production
Two-way radios for live event production
The truck is at the wrong door, the runner is across the site, and the production office needs a head count. Managed Zello gives your crew channels that work from load-in to load-out, with no frequencies to coordinate and nothing to reprogram in the next city.
Short answer
Does this replace our intercom or UHF radios?
The problem
What gets in the way
A show pulls together crew from several vendors, often in a building nobody has worked in before. Rental UHF radios need programming and clearing against everything else in the air, and the spectrum is already crowded with wireless mics and in-ears. Their range tends to stop at the edge of the venue, so the runner at the hotel and the truck at the gate are back on their phones. Group texts get buried, calls go unanswered on a loud stage, and crew change from one show to the next. Touring makes it worse, because the whole arrangement has to be rebuilt in every market.
How we set it up
How the channels are set up
We build channels from your crew list and your call sheet: production, stage, audio, lighting, video, rigging, backline, transport, runners and hospitality, however your show is organized.
Radios arrive signed in with channels loaded and enrolled in device management, so a local hire picks one up and presses the button. Because Zello runs over cellular and Wi-Fi, it does not need a place in your RF plan, and the same channels work at the venue, the hotel, the airport run and the next city. A Zello Dispatch Hub seat in the production office reaches any department and shows people on a live map. Vendors and local crew can join for a show from a phone with Zello Work, then come off when it ends. On Managed Zello Plus, Message Vault keeps a searchable record if a load-in dispute comes up later, and Translations help on mixed-language crews. Show calling stays on your intercom.
Example channels and calls
What each channel sounds like
Sample logistics traffic, written to show how each channel gets used. Show calling stays on your intercom.
ProductionProduction office and department heads
“Department heads, load-out call moved to 11:30. Trucks at the dock by midnight.”
StageStage manager and stage crew
“Second truck’s open at the dock. Stage crew, we need four more hands for cases.”
AudioAudio crew and the production office
“Can someone from audio meet the venue contact at the side door about power?”
RiggingRiggers and the production office
“Points are set and we’re off the floor. Lighting can bring in their cases now.”
Transport and runnersRunners, drivers and the production office
“Runner needed. Pick up two cases from the hotel and be back by four.”
HospitalityCatering and crew hospitality
“Crew meal is ready in catering. Stage crew first, please.”
Typical use cases
Where it gets used day to day
Load-in and load-out at the dock
Truck and bus arrivals
Runner and ground transport requests
Production office to department heads
Finding a vendor or a venue contact across a large site
Hotel, airport and venue moves on show days
Festival stage-to-stage logistics
Crew calls and schedule changes between cities
The radios
A typical production setup
Stagehands and runners usually carry the screen-free Inrico T522A or the slim Inrico T640A with an earpiece, and department heads the Inrico S380 or the rugged Telox TE320. Production managers who also need a phone often carry the Sonim XP5plus. A Zello Dispatch Hub seat in the production office reaches any department, and live location in Managed Zello Core shows who is closest to the dock.
Keep your UHF channels in the conversation through radio interoperability. For a one-off, see event radio rentals, and for corporate shows, see events and conferences.
Handheld radio
Inrico T522A
No screen, one big button. The simplest radio to hand someone.
$220.00
Handheld radio
Inrico T640A
A slim everyday radio with a screen. Our lowest-priced handheld.
$199.00
Handheld radio
Inrico S380
For supervisors and patrols who need a screen, a keypad and NFC check-in.
$360.00
Handheld radio
Telox TE320
A rugged, IP68 radio with a color screen and a two-day battery.
$259.00
Rugged PTT device
Sonim XP5plus
Feels like a radio, runs the Zello app. Physical buttons, no hunting on a screen.
$499.00
Recommended solution
What we would recommend
Event radio rentals suit a single show or a short run. Production companies and tours working year-round usually do better on Managed Zello Core, with Plus for a searchable record and a Dispatch Hub seat in the production office.
Questions
Questions production teams ask us
What production managers and tour managers want to know before they trust anything new on show day.
Does this replace our intercom or UHF radios?
No. Show-critical cueing stays on your intercom and whatever you trust at the console. Managed Zello is for everything around it: the dock, the runners, production, venue contacts, and the crew who are not on a headset. If you want your UHF channels in the conversation, the Zello radio gateway can link selected channels.
What about festivals where the cell network is overloaded?
It is a real limit, and we would rather say so up front. Zello needs a data connection, and a packed site can strain public cellular networks. A multi-carrier SIM gives more than one network to use, and radios can run on your production Wi-Fi where it reaches. We check the site with you, and anything that has to work with a full house should stay on a dedicated system.
Do we need to coordinate frequencies?
No. Zello runs over cellular and Wi-Fi, so it takes no RF spectrum from your wireless mics and in-ears, and there is no frequency to license or clear at each venue. Your RF coordinator has one less thing to place.
Can we use it on a tour, city after city?
Yes, within our US coverage. Channels stay the same from one venue to the next, with no programming between stops. Tell us your routing first, because we check coverage against it. If you have international legs, tell us those too and we will confirm what is possible before you commit.
Can we scale up for one show and back down?
Yes. Service is month to month with no minimum, and event radio rentals cover short-term needs. We add and remove crew on the channels as your call sheet changes, and a phone with Zello Work can join for a day.
Related
Related industries
Events and conferences
Production, security, registration and logistics on their own Zello channels, on radios that arrive set up and go back when the event ends.
Read more
Security
Officers work alone across large sites and long shifts. Zello gives every guard one-button contact with a supervisor, a live location, and Emergency Alerts on Plus.
Read more
Transportation and logistics
Drivers leave the yard and a conventional radio stops working. Zello on a multi-carrier SIM keeps dispatch connected to the whole fleet for the length of the route.
Read more
Get started
Tell us how your team works today
Send us your route or your site, your crew count and what you run on today. We will come back with coverage, hardware and pricing in one document.