03 May 2019

ChannelPorts opts for Icom’s PoC system

ChannelPorts, a private customs clearance company that processes more than 3,000 vehicles and consignments a month, is using an Icom LTE/PTT over Cellular (PoC) system supplied by Chatterbox Ltd to coordinate parking and customs clearance.

ChannelPorts based in Folkestone Services, Hythe on Junction 11 of the M20 motorway. It provides a customs clearance service for trucks through the Port of Dover and via the Channel Tunnel.

ChannelPorts’ Chris Childs said, “We need radio comms here as our business/parking is spread over a one square mile area. We have limited space for parking so we need good communication as we have to turn many drivers away, maybe 150-200 vehicles a night because we are always full. We must have staff positioned at various points around the site to tell drivers that we either have spaces or not.

“We have always used radio communications. Our previous digital radio system was from another manufacturer and although the quality was good outside because of the type of buildings we have in here and the distance we are covering, it would drop out quite often.

‘We went for the Icom LTE system because of the simplicity of the setup. There were no additional aerials, repeaters to put up. We have a mobile phone mast right outside and once we tested it, it was almost a no brainer.