Should you migrate at all?
Migration is justified by geography, not by age of kit. The signals that a move to network radio will pay for itself:
- Multiple sites that currently can't talk to each other without phone calls — PoC puts them in one talk group for the price of the subscriptions.
- Vehicles — drivers are out of conventional coverage minutes after leaving the yard; PoC keeps them on the net nationwide.
- Repeater decisions pending — if staying conventional means buying or replacing repeaters, price PoC first — the three-year cost workings usually favour it.
- Lone workers and compliance — GPS, man-down and auditable emergency alerts come bundled with PoC platforms rather than bolted on.
And the honest counter-signals — where keeping DMR (or analogue) is the right engineering call: a single dense site whose direct radio coverage already works and costs nothing monthly; no-coverage environments — deep basements, tunnels, remote terrain with neither mobile signal nor Wi-Fi, where PoC physically cannot deliver live voice; and safety-critical loops that must survive a total network outage. Plenty of good migrations are partial: vehicles and supervisors to PoC, the factory floor stays DMR, a bridge joins them — and for many operations that's the correct end state.
The bridge pattern: nobody goes dark
The standard transition tool is a gateway: a unit that ties one conventional channel into one PoC talk group, so a site radio and a driver two counties away hear each other as if on the same system. This is what makes phased migration safe — the mobile team moves first, the site fleet keeps its familiar radios, and comms never break. Two practicalities from the field: place the gateway's donor radio where the conventional signal is strong (a windowsill in the site office, not a comms cupboard in the basement), and remember the bridged channel is still a licensed transmitter — the conventional side keeps its Ofcom licence during the transition, as covered in the PoC licence guide. Budget a few hundred pounds for the gateway — temporary scaffolding, or permanent in a hybrid fleet.
Talk groups are not channels
The commonest design mistake is recreating the old channel plan one-for-one: sixteen channels become sixteen talk groups, and the new system inherits the old system's habits and confusion. Talk groups are software — unlimited, instantly reconfigurable, and free — so design them around workflows, not frequencies:
| Old thinking (channels) | New thinking (talk groups) |
|---|---|
| Channel 1 = everyone, always congested | Working groups per team/site, sized so most traffic is relevant to most listeners |
| Channel per site, no cross-site path | Site groups plus an operations group spanning sites, plus all-call for genuine broadcasts |
| Supervisors carry two radios | Supervisors scan multiple groups on one handset; dispatch sees everything |
| Emergency = shout over traffic | Priority/emergency calls interrupt automatically, with GPS attached |
Start with fewer groups than feels natural — three to six covers most 40-radio fleets — and let real usage argue for additions. Renaming and regrouping takes minutes from the platform console; on the old system it meant reprogramming every handset in the van.
Retraining: the half-day truth
Radio users need about half a day — plan for it honestly. The PTT button works exactly as it always did; what's new is selecting talk groups instead of turning a channel knob, the half-second latency (teach "press, beat, speak" on day one and it never becomes a complaint), and the features worth using deliberately — emergency button behaviour, who sees GPS and why (tracking lands far better explained than discovered), and messaging where it applies. Dispatchers and supervisors need a further half-day on the console. Run the training during the bridge phase, while the old radios still work — people experiment more freely when the safety net is visible.
Contract gotchas to catch before signing
- Platform lock-in. Many handsets are locked to the supplier's platform; leave the contract and your fleet is scrap. Ask in writing whether hardware can be re-provisioned to another platform.
- SIM steering. "Multi-network" on the brochure can mean a steered SIM that clings to one weak network. Specify unsteered multi-network SIMs in the contract, not the conversation.
- Data caps and fair use. PTT voice uses little data, but GPS at high frequency, photo messaging and video features add up. Check the per-SIM allowance and what throttling looks like — a radio that degrades mid-shift is worse than one that was never bought.
- Term and auto-renewal. 36-month terms are normal; terms that renew for a further 36 unless cancelled in a narrow window are not in your interest. Diarise the notice window the day you sign.
- Who owns the configuration. Your talk-group design, user lists and history live on the platform. Establish exit terms: what's exportable, what notice you get, what dies with the account.
The 90-day phased plan
| Phase | What happens | Exit test |
|---|---|---|
| Days 0–30: pilot | 5–10 radios with the most mobile team; test the worst locations, vehicles at speed and Wi-Fi fallback per the pilot checklist; draft talk-group design; negotiate contract terms above | Pilot log shows acceptable coverage; users would rather keep the new radios than give them back |
| Days 31–60: phased rollout | Migrate mobile teams and supervisors; install the gateway bridging old and new fleets; train everyone (half-day sessions); dispatch console live | A week of normal operations with zero comms escalations; old and new fleets talking through the bridge |
| Days 61–90: cutover and decide the tail | Migrate remaining users or formally designate the retained DMR subset; decommission the bridge or make it permanent; cancel or retain the Ofcom licence to match what's left; sell surplus conventional kit while it holds value | Nobody has pressed an old radio's PTT in a fortnight — or the hybrid boundary is documented and everyone knows which tool does what |
At day 90, make the licence decision deliberately: if any conventional radio or gateway survives, it stays; if nothing does, let it lapse at renewal rather than paying £75 for nostalgia (details in the UK licensing guide).
FAQ
When is migrating from DMR to PoC worth it?
When geography outgrows one site: multiple locations, vehicles, regional lone workers, or a pending repeater purchase. A single well-covered site with working DMR usually shouldn't migrate.
Can old and new radios work together during the switch?
Yes — a gateway bridges a conventional channel into a PoC talk group, so both fleets share comms until cutover, or permanently in a hybrid design.
How long does retraining take?
Half a day for users, a further half-day for dispatchers. The PTT habit transfers directly; talk-group selection and the latency beat are the only new muscle memory.
Should we keep our Ofcom licence after migrating?
Only if any conventional transmitter — handset or gateway — remains in use. Fully migrated fleets can let it lapse at renewal.