Two-Way Radios In Catering - The Secret Ingredient to Seamless Service
Going out for a meal isn’t just about the taste and quality of the food, it’s also about receiving great customer service within a reasonable timeframe. From commercial kitchens to Michelin star restaurants, catering organisations rely on efficient communication to ensure seamless operation. In this article we consider two-way radios as an ideal communication solution to help you deliver the best overall dining experience.
Barriers to Communication Communication in a commercial kitchen can be a challenge for many reasons, including:
Speed and Pressure – The fast-paced environment can cause rushed and incomplete communication which can lead to incorrect orders and safety hazards. Servers, hosts and kitchen staff are also constantly moving around each other, increasing the risk of collisions.
Physical Blind Spots – Awkward kitchen layouts, storerooms and large appliances can create blind spots that obstruct a worker's view of their colleagues whilst also putting them out of hearing range. Seating arrangements within a restaurant can also make it difficult for waiters to see each other during busy times.
Excessive Noise – Electrical appliances such as blenders, the hissing of a frying pan and the constant humming of the ovens are only a few background noises that can impede communication in a kitchen. Front of house staff working in the restaurant also have a variation of sounds around them such as customers chatting, restaurant music or sometimes even a live band.
Distance – Even if a kitchen has no blind spots, staff are often separated by their workstations and are spread out across a large space, making face to face communication difficult. The same applies to front of house staff serving the food, especially in larger buildings.
The Pass – The area where finished dishes are placed for inspection before serving is important for quality control and hygiene purposes, but it presents another physical barrier between the kitchen and front of house staff.
How Can Two-Way Radios Help?
Two-way radios can massively improve communication within catering environments.
for the following reasons:
Instant Communication - No need to unlock a phone, find a contact or wait for a call to connect. Front and back of house teams can exchange messages instantly with the press of a button. This allows Sous Chefs to coordinate complex dishes across multiple stations, ensuring all components are finished simultaneously.
Discreet and Professional - Radios remove the need for shouting, resulting in clearer instructions for a smoother workflow and calmer working environment. Some radios also have settings which can separate groups, so that only relevant staff hear specifically what they need to know. This ensures that the kitchen team are not distracted by front-of-house matters and servers are not hearing the complex instructions meant only for the chefs. Radio accessories such as earpieces can also be a great way to use two-way radios discreetly.
Hazard Management - Aside from obvious hazards like sharp knives and boiling pans, kitchen workers are often moving to and from different workstations whilst preparing food. Two-way radios provide the ability to coordinate teams in real-time, avoiding collisions and injuries.
Hands-Free Operation - Chefs and waiters require both hands free to cook and serve dishes. Headsets connected to radios with Bluetooth™ and voice operation allow them to talk and listen without the need to stop what they are doing. These accessories are also great for maintaining hygiene standards as workers handling food can keep their PPE on at all times.
Noise Cancellation - Some high-quality radios come with noise-cancelling as a standard feature, providing crystal clear comms to ensure no detail is lost in translation. This enables caterers to understand instructions from the waiters clearly so that they may prevent cross contamination for guests with a serious allergies or intolerances.
Durable and Reliable - Thanks to their robust design, build and certified IP ratings, two-way radios are fully protected from dust and water. This ensures reliable, continuous operation even if the handset is dropped or exposed to spills.
The Icom Advantage
Icom offer a wide range of solutions including
PMR446,
PMR Licensed,
IP/Wi-Fi and
LTE/PoC
to provide a functional solution no matter the budget or location. Icom radios also have specific designs and features that make them well-suited to the demanding environment of a professional kitchen. Examples of these include:
Talk Groups – Icom radios have either multiple channels or private groups so that teams can be allocated together within the same network (e.g. Kitchen Staff, Front-of-House etc). This helps to keep the relevant information confined to the respective teams and are particularly useful for multi-site catering events or larger restaurants with individual departments.
Bluetooth™ and VOX – Models like the
IC-F52D/F62D
come with Bluetooth™ Voice Operated Exchange (VOX) making them ideal for use with Icom
Headsets and Earpieces.
These accessories are great for workers who constantly use their hands as they eliminate the need for manual radio operation and significantly help to maintain strict health and safety standards. Handsfree operation such as this can be very useful for high-volume production & prep kitchens, where chefs are required to remain working at their stations.
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) Technology - Some Icom radio are equipped with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology as standard. This feature actively scans incoming background noise (like kitchen machinery or crowds) and generates an 'anti-noise' signal to counteract them. The result is a speaking voice that is transmitted and received clearly, regardless of the noise level in the environment. ANC technology can be beneficial in all kinds of catering environments as it ensures that critical instructions are heard correctly in the first instance.
Emergency Functions – Icom radios come with a wide range of features to enhance safety in a commercial kitchen environment. Some have a dedicated emergency button which can broadcast a distress signal to other handsets within the fleet. Other features like Man Down and Lone Worker can be beneficial for any workers who operate alone, such as cleaning staff and kitchen porters who are performing deep cleaning tasks late at night or accessing remote areas like walk-in freezers and storage units.
Achieving exceptional customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry relies on clear communication. Icom two-way radios are designed to overcome the communication hurdles faced in a commercial kitchen, so that you and your team can stay connected at all times. With long battery life, simple operation and multiple charging options, Icom radios provide a reliable communication solution that works just as hard as everyone in the kitchen. Combined with Icom accessories such as headsets and earpieces, caterers can also access a range of additional features to boost operational efficiency, all whilst allowing them to deliver a seamless dining experience.
For more information on how Icom radios can work for your business, call us on 01227 741741 or email
sales@icomuk.co.uk.
