ianews

September 2007

ianews, your connection to

Icom Americas Land Mobile
Division! Keep up with the
latest products, news and
technical information in
this newsletter.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Icom Rental Program Forging Ahead
Announcing Icom Americas Newly
Redesigned Website
IWCE/MRT Wireless Summit
Tech Corner - New MDC Features for
the F70/F1700 Radios

Icom Rental Program Forging Ahead

The Icom America dealer rental program
was announced last March, bringing
in fantastic results for dealers across
the country. The program easily affords
dealers the opportunity to bring out
strong and current technology for their
customers while gaining a resource to
bring in extra revenue. The program is
based on the F70/F80 and F1721/F2721
Series radios. The typical comment from
dealers about the program: its a winwin.
Dealers
Jerry
Becker,
Harrison, Mich., and Michael
Simpson, Knoxville, Tenn.,
reported
the
programs
success for their stores in
an IA News article published
last June. The program
announces the advantage of
putting the F70 Series rentals
F80
into the hands of customers
running outdoor special events. Becker
and Simpson sent the waterproof rentals
out to a music festival and outdoor touring
real estate firm, respectively.

Philadelphia Park is home to the premiere

thoroughbred race, Pennsylvania Derby.
Held each Labor Day, the $1 million purse
attracts nearly 150,000 people and offers
a number of family activities and picnics.
Additional security guards are hired by
the racetrack to keep control of the event.
Coupe rented 40 F80 analog portables
for the security department, 10 of those
rental radios coming out of the stores
own purchased inventory.
Coupe explains that the racetrack leases
communications equipment as needed
for their special events and that the
facility typically uses the F60, but with the
F80 there was a very low learning curve.
Icom radios are simple to use and all
share similar ergonomics.

Becker recently sent rentals to a local

Sheriffs department to demo. Beckers
dealership paid the bill for the rentals,
considering the cost a smart investment
for the opportunity of a future purchase
coming back from the department next
October with its fiscal budget. We have
our hat in the ring, says Becker.

Keeping a
good-sized
inventory
on
hand
F1821
can be a
challenge and is a point made by dealers
when discussing the program. Why tie
up money on inventory, says Coupe.
Coupe also explains that there are no
old radios on the shelf being rented
to his customers. With this program,
my customers are getting the best radio
currently out there.

John Parke Coupe, Jr. is the President/

CEO of Coupe Communications in Ambler,
Pa., a large Icom America dealer
in the Northeast. Coupe provides

Bruce Resteau is owner of Bartronics in

Chesterton, Ind. and since the programs
launch his communications company
supplies rentals to four local customers,

The rental program is also being used

by dealers to demo high-end radios that
typically may not be on hand in their own
stores.

2007 Icom America Inc.

The Icom logo is a registered trademark
of Icom Inc. All other trademarks remain
the property of their respective owners. All
information and specifications subject to
change without notice or obligation. 9447

two-way communications to Philadelphia

Park Casino and Racetrack, a six-story
recreational facility located in Bensalem.
In addition to building a complete twoway communications system for the
racetrack, Coupe is providing rentals for
its roster of special events.

Continued on page 2

For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews
news
Upcoming Events

Announcing Icom Americas Newly

Redesigned Website
Icom America is proud to announce the
launch of our newly redesigned website.
Our new website was designed to
provide a fresh new look, while creating
a single source of information for all of
our products.

their needs, in a quick, concise format.

We are also developing the Request
a Demo function, which will allow site
users to request a demonstration of Icom
products in their office or location.

Icom America Web Site - Homepage

Sample Product Page

While continuing to provide current

product information, the redesigned
website adds many additional features,
along with some exciting features
coming soon. Here is a list of some
of the newly added features available
now:

Please visit our new website at

www.icomamerica.com.

IWCE-MRT Wireless Summit

November 13-14, 2007
Regal Sun Resort
(formerly The Grosvenor Resort),
Orlando, FL
www.iwce-mrt.com

Icom Rental Program

Forging Ahead
Continued from page 1

Newly designed, interactive homepage

An interactive product navigator
View multiple images of each product
in our new product viewer
Find all available product downloads
in our new Download Database
Download the product brochure and
manual directly from the products
web page
Locate your nearest dealer, distributor
or service center by Zip Code
directly from each products web page
We will also be adding a few new
features to enhance the functionality
of our website.
Our new Product
Comparison feature will allow you to
compare the features of up to four Icom
products side by side, allowing the user
to see the Icom product that best fits

one of those customers being the

Valparaiso Popcorn Festival. Scheduled
the first Saturday following Labor Day,
the festival is a tribute to popcorn and,
when it began in 1979, was a salute
to then Valparaiso, Ind. native, Orville
Redenbacher. The operational staff for the
festival received 30 F80s and an FR4000
repeater from Resteau.
In addition to the F80s for the festival,
Resteau rents the F80 portables to a local
steel mill. The radios are programmed to
be compatible with the mills Motorola
equipment. The price on the rentals is good
and we are making money, says Resteau.
Resteau is using the program to augment his
own stocked inventory. Stocking your own
inventory can be a headache, says Resteau.
Continued on page 3

For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews

September 2007

Page 2

ianews
news
Feature Article

Icom Rental Program

Forging Ahead
Continued from page 2

This program affords me the opportunity to

create an inventory to match my expected
customer demand without any capital.
Resteau explains that the issue with renting
out a dealers own purchased inventory is
that the rental equipment is categorized as
used when it is returned. It is better to use
the rental program to hold an inventory as
long as needed that can then be returned
back. Its a win-win.
The name Bartronics lights up on the
LCD displays on all the F80s Resteau
rents to his customers. We like putting are
branding where we can, says Resteau.

FR4000

Shipping inventory both ways is paid

by Icom when ordered in advance (see
program rules). For program details, call
800-306-1403 or 800-858-6252. Email:
rentals@icomamerica.com

Icom America Inc.

2380 116th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone: (425) 454-8155
Fax: (425) 454-1509
Customer Service: (425) 454-7619

Icom America Systems

TECH CORNER

New MDC Features for the

F70/F1700 Radios

Call logging feature

When using MDC, the F70/F1700 series
radios now have the ability to log (list)
received calls. This feature works for
emergency calls, selective calls, and call
alerts. When this feature is enabled, your
radio display shows the type of call, the
radio ID of the caller, and how much time
has elapsed since the call was received.

The log feature lists the 5 last received

calls. Turning the radio power off clears the
list. You have the option to set the radio
so it will log only selective calls, call alerts,
emergency calls, or all calls together. If you
have the logged call selected on the display
(as shown above), you can respond to the
caller by pressing PTT.
To program this feature:
1. Navigate to the General window
and set the Log field to Enable.
2. Also in the General window, set the
Log Action Type to Logged if you
want your radio to respond with
the same type of call. Otherwise,
you can set the radio to respond
with a select call or a call alert. An
Emergency Call can respond with
Select Call/Call Alert only.
3. Set the Log field to Enable in the
Emergency, Select Call, or Call
Alert windows as needed.
To use this feature:
1. Press the key programmed for
MDC Call.
2. Select CALL LOG by scrolling the
up/down keys.
3. Press the MDC call key again.
4. The display will show the Radio
ID of the calling radio, the type of
call, and the time elapsed since
the call was received. The time is
in hours (left number) and minutes
(right number).
5. Press the up/down keys to scroll
to each logged call.
6. If you want to respond to the radio
that called, press PTT.

Phone: (425) 586-6363

Fax: (425) 586-6321
ias@icomamerica.com

Carrier Operated Relay for MDC Features

in F1700 Series
This feature can be used to activate an
external device, such as a horn, to the
radio. When enabled, the signal from an
emergency call, select call, or call alert can
be sent to this external device.
To program this feature:
1. Navigate to Emg, SelCall, or Call
Alert and select EXO.
2. Set EXO to Enable.
3. Navigate to Common -> Common
-> EXO/Horn.
4. Set the desired Horn Time (how
long you want the signal to sound
through the external device).
To use this feature:
1. Connect an OPC-617 accessory
cable to the radio.
2. Connect the external device to pin
6 of the OPC-617.
Radio to Radio RX and TX Stun & Revive
You can now set a radio to receive and
transmit stun and revive commands to
individual radios. Previously, the ability to
transmit stun and revive was available to
radio consoles only, not individual radios.
TX Status Polling Feature
When a target radio has status enabled and
poll enabled, your radio can be set so that it
can read or poll the target radios status.
Previously, the ability to transmit a poll to
check for status was available to radio
consoles only, not individual radios.
RX Message Feature
You can now set a radio to transmit and
receive messages to individual radios.
Previously, the ability to receive messages
was available to radio consoles only, not
individual radios.
Emergency RX Feature
You can now set a radio to transmit an
acknowledge signal to another radio that
has transmitted an emergency signal.
Previously, the ability to transmit emergency
acknowledge signals was available to radio
consoles only, not individual radios.

For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews

September 2007

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