Setting Up the Radio
Channels, push-to-talk, department-only frequencies, and the traffic log underneath all of it.
Table of contents
The CAD's radio is a real voice radio, not a chat box with a microphone bolted on — there's no text field, and what you hear depends entirely on which channels you've joined.
Channels, and how they're grouped
A brand new CAD gets two channels automatically — Dispatch and Tactical — so there's something working the moment anyone opens the radio. From there, anyone with Roster Edit access can add more from the radio panel itself: a name, an optional frequency (cosmetic, but communities that assign and say frequencies out loud will want it filled in), and an optional group name, which is how a long channel list stays readable instead of being one flat column of fifteen entries.
Department-only channels
A channel can be tied to a specific department when it's created. Members of that department hear it like any other channel; everyone else simply doesn't see it in their list at all — it's not hidden-but-joinable, it's genuinely not there. Staff are the one exception: anyone with staff-level access hears every channel regardless of department, because supervising a department means being able to actually hear it.
Push-to-talk and quick transmit
Each person sets their own push-to-talk key from the radio's settings — it transmits on whatever channel they currently have focused. Quick transmit is the other option: bind a key to one specific channel, and holding it joins and transmits on that channel in one motion, which is built for a channel someone needs occasionally without wanting it in their ears all the time.
Per-channel volume
Volume's set per channel, not globally — the idea being that someone monitoring four channels at once needs the two they're not actively working turned down, not muted entirely. It takes effect on the live audio immediately when you move the slider, before it's even finished saving.
The traffic log
Every channel keeps a short written log underneath the voice itself — calls being raised, panic, a unit going en route. This exists because voice disappears the moment it's said, and "what was the location on call 14 again" needs to still be answerable five minutes later. It's a tail, not a full archive — recent lines only, not a permanent transcript.
The panic button
Panic goes out on every channel a person can reach, not just the one they happened to be looking at — because someone hitting panic isn't in a position to be choosing an audience.
More in Guides
Managing the Roster
Editing a member's callsign, department, and rank, suspending someone, and reading the roster the way staff actually need to.
The Dispatch Board: Calls, BOLOs, and Priorities
Creating and running a call from the moment it comes in to the moment it closes, and keeping BOLOs current while you're at it.
The Moderator Panel: Infractions and Cleanup
Two different screens that both sound like moderation — logging discipline against a person, and cleaning up records and BOLOs. They're gated by different permissions on purpose.