Communications 101: A

Quick Guide to Radio

Lingo
1 MARCH 2017

Whether you’re training new starters – or

refreshing the skills of seasoned
personnel with years of experience
working with two-way radios – it’s
essential to ensure that everyone speaks
the same radio lingo. Otherwise you may
!nd responders struggling to get up to
speed with what’s being said. Or failing
to answer communications directed at
them by dispatchers appropriately.

Short-hand radio expressions have been around for decades.

Back in 1937, the Association of Public Safety Communications
O"cials (APCO) developed the so called ‘ten-codes’.
Historically used by law enforcement o"cers in North
America, these brevity codes were used to represent
commonly used phrases.

Since then, many industries have evolved standardised terms

that are used as 2-way radio communication short cuts. The
aim of these ‘dispatch signals’ is to boost communication
response rates and collaboration between teams – and even
di#erent agencies.

But this only works if everyone uses the same agreed

terminology. Which means your organisation needs to de!ne
which terms will be used during message transmissions – or
whether you are going to stick to plain English only.

To get you started, we’ve put together a list of some

commonly used radio communication phrases, traditionally
used in public safety and complex security environments,
such as industrial settings or sports stadiums.

While some of this terminology has fallen into disuse in this

day and age for many two-way radio users, you may !nd that
reviving some of these tried and tested phrases helps improve
your teams communication.

Roger That
Message received and understood – similar to Ten Four or
Copy That

Roger so far
Con!rm parts of long message before continuing with rest of
message

A!rmative
Normally used when a question is asked and the reply is YES

Negative
Normally used when a question is asked and the reply is NO

Come in
Asking another party to acknowledge they can hear you

Go Ahead
I am ready for your message

Say Again
Repeat all your last transmission

Say all after/before

Repeat all after/before a certain key word or phrase

Over
Your message is !nished – invitation for others to
respond/transmit

Out
All conversation is !nished – no answer is required or
expected

Radio Check
What’s my signal strength? Can you hear me?

Read You Loud & Clear

Your transmission signal is good

Wilco
I will comply

Break, Break
Interruption to a transmission to communicate urgently

Emergency emergency
Distress call – used when there is grave or imminent danger to
life – immediate assistance is required

Stand By
Wait for a short period and I will get back to you

Wait Out
The waiting period is longer than expected – I will call you as
soon as possible

I spell
The next word will be spelt out using the phonetic alphabet

Your organisation may also utilise code words like ‘Code Blue’
– to indicate a non crucial incident, ‘Code Yellow’ – for an
incident requiring immediate response but is not yet
dangerous, and ‘Code Red’ – for a serious incident.

If you work in the security sector, then you may employ terms
like ‘Cyclone’ to indicate a violent situation or ‘Tanto’ to
request immediate back up. Similarly, if you operate in the
marine or aviation industries, then you may use speci!c terms
like ‘MayDay’ or ‘Pan-Pan’ to indicate urgent help is needed.

Whatever sector you work in, make sure everyone is familiar

with the call signs used in your workplace. Because when
everyone uses the same radio communications etiquette, it
helps to ensure every message is heard loud and clear.

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1 MARCH 2017

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