Multi-customer MOTOTRBO Radio Management

 

One of the misconceptions about MOTOTRBO Radio Management is that you need one instance per customer. While this might be true for customers who want to have everything on-premise, it does not apply to every system you deploy.

Another misconception is that you can/should only use Radio Management in conjunction with OTAP and/or high titer models. While OTAP does solve many headaches of going to site with a laptop and cable, you can use Radio Management for older and current radios which didn't/don't support OTAP.

The above diagram shows a Radio Management setup that allows you to manage the configuration of several customers from a single Radio Management server. Three customers are shown here. A; B and C. 

There is a Device Programmer host at each site. This does not have to be a high-power PC - something like a NUC will work fine.

The setup at customer A uses MNIS and NAI. Because of this, DDMS is needed to inform Device programmer about the status of each radio. DDMS and MNIS could be installed on the same PC as Device Programmer. Programming is achieved here via OTAP using the radio channel(s).

The setup at customer B allows radios which do not support OTAP to b programmed. This customer would only need a PC onto which Device programmer is installed. The customer could also be shown how to connect the radios to the PC to download the configuration (potentially saving you a trip to site).

The setup at customer C uses Wi-Fi. This setup might be useful for getting new radios onto the system if the Access Point is set up with the default SSID and passcode in new radios.

The Device Programmer at each site will need some configuration and you will need to organise the information in your Radio Management Database.

Radio Management allows you to define folders and subfolders into which you can arrange different radios. In the below screenshot, we can see customer A; B and C. The radios (and repeaters) at customer B are then arranged by department and group - or whatever you choose!

1. The Device Programmer would be configured to connect to the server you specify - this could be an IP address or the fully qualified domain mane (e.g. my-rm-server.dyndns.com). Pay attention to the port number and authentication method.
2. You would then also need to choose how the radio should connect to the PC. At customer A this would be Over The Air; at customer B, USB and at customer C Wireless LAN. IP Program would be ticked if there was an IP connection to the Master repeater and you wanted to remotely program those.
3. Each of the Device Programmers would be set up to only address radios in those top-level folders (A; B or C).

In the network diagram, I show a VPN connection between your server and the customers. This is not 100% necessary but would make life easier from a networking point of view and would add more security.

While on the topic of security, make sure your server is locked down and the necessary updates are being installed. Also, make sure to make regular backups/snapshots.

The laptop running Radio Management Client would be your machine that just runs the client. It could connect directly via your LAN or via the VPN.