News and Media | Tait Communications

Lessons in reliability: How DMR Tier 3 keeps teams connected when it matters most

Written by Cheryl Rowland | Nov 13, 2025 2:30:28 AM

In high-stakes environments, lives depend on clear, instant, reliable communication. Whether it’s a utility company maintaining the power grid, a manufacturing plant responding to an equipment fault, or a school coordinating an emergency, that need for reliable communication has shaped the way critical communication networks are designed and built, prioritizing resilience, security, and dependability under pressure.

While the applications may be different, keeping staff safe and operations running smoothly is a priority for all organizations. The challenge is that many small- to medium-sized systems aren’t designed for this level of performance, and traditional options are quickly outgrown.

Everyday reliability for any size organization

In many commercial environments, radio communication systems have grown organically over time, with teams adding repeaters, radios, or frequencies as needed without a wider plan of how everything will continue to work together. This leads to a patchwork network that can be hard to manage, prone to congestion, and lacking consistent coverage.

Common problems growing organizations face include:

  • Missed or delayed messages when channels are busy
  • Coverage gaps across large sites or within buildings
  • Limited safety functionality that puts lone workers at risk
  • A lack of centralized visibility making fault-finding or updates manual and time-consuming

These problems were solved in larger critical communications systems long ago with structured, trunked systems that automatically assign users to available channels, ensuring calls always get through. But while trunked systems are a smarter way to keep teams safe and connected, they traditionally come with a significant cost and level of complexity.

While the functionality is clearly valuable, the upfront costs were often not practical for many commercial organizations.

Closing the gap with Tait OpenTrunk DMR Tier 3 Trunking

Tait has decades of experience designing and implementing critical communication systems for high-stakes industries and is now making that same level of safety and reliability available to a wider range of enterprise-level organizations and industries.

Tait OpenTrunk is a simple, scalable DMR Tier 3 trunking solution designed for everyday operations that demand a high level of reliability.

In a conventional radio network, users share a fixed channel and if that channel is busy, they have to wait. A DMR Tier 3 trunked system automatically assigns users to the first available channel, keeping communication flowing even when many users are active at once.

The key advantages of Tait OpenTrunk include:

  • Smart channel management that dynamically allocates channels based on availability to minimize disruptions.
  • Emergency call interrupt options to ensure high-priority calls can override lower-priority traffic in case of emergency.
  • Secure network access with authentication, encryption and device registration.
  • Simplified management via intuitive interfaces for monitoring and configuration.
  • Scalable architecture to easily expand from a single-site network to multi-site operations

Built on open standards, Tait OpenTrunk delivers true interoperability that protects your freedom to choose the vendors, devices and applications that best meet your needs, delivering better value throughout the life of your investment.

Designed to work hard for your business

Every Tait OpenTrunk network is compatible with Tait Tough hardware and the same engineering trusted by organizations worldwide. The result is a communications platform that is reliable, adaptable and cost-effective.

Designed for continuous operation in demanding environments and with an affordable cost of ownership model that scales as you grow, Tait OpenTrunk turns proven critical communication technology into a practical, everyday solution.

Everyone has a mission – what’s yours?

Whether it’s coordinating a transport fleet, managing campus operations, or maintaining safety on a production floor, everyone has a mission, and reliable communications are essential to accomplish it.

Tait OpenTrunk bridges the gap between decades of critical communications expertise and the needs of everyday organizations with a simple, affordable, scalable communication solution that keep your team safe and your operations moving – and that’s essential for any mission.

 

Learn more about how Tait OpenTrunk could transform your operations with smarter, safer, more reliable communication.