The radio ID is displayed beneath the talkgroup name

The radio ID is displayed beneath the talkgroup name

Every radio has a unique, eight-digit ID number that identifies your radio to BRICS and to the MARCS-IP statewide system of systems. Think of it like your radio’s telephone number.

When your radio is powered up and “affiliates” to the system, this number is what identifies you. You’ll see it on the screen of your portable beneath the name of the talkgroup. When other users transmit, their number will appear in the same location, like “caller ID”. Unfortunately, your portable and mobile radio does not translate this number to a name you might be familiar with.

Aliases as displayed on a dispatch console

Aliases as displayed on a dispatch console

At the communications center, the dispatch console does translate this number to a recognizable name, called an “alias”. All consoles at each center display this alias, which is translated from your ID number. When radio 00942391 transmits, the dispatcher sees “09 MED 25” on their console instead. This is also how the dispatcher identifies you following an emergency button activation. If, for some reason, there was no alias associated with your radio, the dispatcher would still receive the ID number.

It’s important to keep this alias up to date. Any time an employee resigns or changes assignments, don’t let the radio sit in a drawer! Submit an alias change support ticket so the system can be updated.

Learn more about how aliases are formatted.

Decoding the Radio ID Number

P25 radios are identified according to a statewide plan, using the first three digits of the eight digit ID to separate blocks. Butler County IDs are in the 00900000 to 00999999 range, because we are county 09. Warren County IDs, for instance, begin with 083.

Several parts of the radio ID can be decoded to determine the assignment of the radio:

The first three digits tell us from which county the radio originates.

The third and fourth digits indicate the particular agency or political subdivision with a two-digit code.

The remaining three digits identify the particular radio. Blocks within this three digit section divide the user disciplines (like law, fire/EMS) – more detail below.

The Technical Details

Based on P25 standards, radio IDs are 24 bits, allowing for over 16 million unique radios. In hexadecimal, the range is 1 to FFFFFF. In decimal, it is 1 to 16777215.

A multi-zone Motorola Astro 25 system may have up to 128,000 users. The IDs for those users may fall anywhere within the 16 million available IDs – they do not need to be sequential.

Essentially, each radio has an eight digit ID number. The highest possible number is:

1st

2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th

1

6

7

7

7

2

1

5

The first digit can only ever be a 0 or a 1 so, in the state plan, it is normally zero. The prefixes or first three digits of “local” radios were then broken down by county, with 001 through 088. State / federal / other radios are using 089 through 167 according to the plan.

Radios based in Butler County must fall within the span of 00900000 and 00999999. This leaves the 4th through 8th digit for building a local ID scheme that makes sense for the logical management of radios and radio programming.

In Butler County, the 4th and 5th digits are used as a two-digit number assigned to political subdivisions and organizations using the radio system, similar to the original BRICS plan it was based upon. Butler County uses the last three digits (6th through 8th) to divide up radios within the political subdivision. Since nearly all Butler County agencies have fewer than 200 radios per agency or discipline, they are broken up as follows:

  • 001 – 099: Consoles, Consolettes, Control Stations, Comm Center Radios
  • 101 – 299: Law Enforcement
  • 301 – 499: Fire / EMS
  • 501 – 999: Public Works / Transportation / Other / Spill-over

Radio 00945301, for example, is a Butler County (009) City of Oxford (45) fire department user (301).

For agencies that have more than 200 radios (e.g. the BC Sheriff’s Office), BRICS staff assigned all of the 101 – 299 block and then used the 501 – 999 block.

Political Subdivision / Organization Code

# Assigned
01 Board of Commissioners
02 Sheriff's Office
03 Coroner's Office
04 Prosecutor's Office
05 Engineer's Office
06 Auditor's Office
07 Common Pleas Court
11 Fairfield Township
12 Hanover Township
13 Lemon Township
14 Liberty Township
15 Madison Twp
16 Milford Township
17 Morgan Township
18 Oxford Township
19 Reily Township
21 Ross Township
22 St. Clair Twp
23 Wayne Twp
24 West Chester Township
31 Village of College Corner
32 Village of Jacksonburg
33 Village of Millville
34 Village of New Miami
35 Village of Seven Mile
36 Village of Somerville
41 City of Fairfield
42 City of Hamilton
43 City of Middletown
44 City of Monroe
45 City of Oxford
46 City of Trenton
51 Edgewood
52 Fairfield
53 Hamilton
54 Lakota
55 Madison
56 Middletown
57 Monroe School District
58 New Miami
59 Ross
61 Miami University
62 Butler Tech
63 Metro Parks
64 Emergency Management
65 Talawanda
66 Cincinnati State
67 College Corner Schools
69 Charter / Private Schools
71 Atrium Medical Center
72 Children's Hospital Liberty
73 Fort Hamilton-Hughes
74 Mercy Fairfield
75 McCullough-Hyde
76 West Chester Medical Center
77 Bethesda Butler County
81 Partners in Prime
82 Middletown Senior Center
84 Regional Transit Authority