Helping Radio Users Stay Focused

The spark of insight that led to Magnetic Mic came from Knoxville, Tennessee Police Officer Bryan Schreiber. While serving as a driving safety instructor, he noticed his trainees—officers from Knoxville and surrounding departments—taking their eyes off the road for critical seconds when they picked up and hung up their police radio microphone.

Officer Schreiber had an idea, and developed a prototype of a new accessory, a magnetic holder for police radio microphones that replaced the conventional, metal hangup clip. While simple, the prototype solved the problem: The driver could stay focused on the road because he didn’t have to look down to hunt for and fumble with a conventional mic clip. He could simply move the police radio microphone close to the holder’s magnetic base piece, let it go, and it would snap into place.

Officer Schreiber and his cousin, Michael Tinter, a Cleveland, Ohio native, joined forces in 2010 to form Innovative Products, Incorporated. Together, they developed, tested and refined the simple but highly effective idea into “Magnetic Mic”; then began sharing it with the first responder community at the 2012 Fire Department Instructor Conference (FDIC). From that moment forward, response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Beyond First Responders

Officer Schreiber and Mr. Tinter recognized the value the CB accessory could bring to not only law enforcement and fire departments, but mining, construction and other industries that rely on radio communication while looking for ways to increase driver safety and uptime.

For instance, aside from the risks of distracted driving, the mining industry deals with lost time from injuries occurring when worn, sharpened hangup clips slice operators’ fingers. With Magnetic Mic, companies virtually eliminate that risk, helping drivers stay on the job, increasing uptime and profitability.

Optimizing Vehicle Setup

Magnetic Mic also increases flexibility for vehicle setup. It can be installed in areas of the dash and console that are traditionally considered less than optimal for a CB mic clip.

Because the driver doesn’t actually have to “guide” the microphone all the way to the base piece and make sure it’s securely in place, Magnetic Mic can be placed, for instance, on the passenger side of a vehicle’s center console. The driver then only has to reach over the console with the microphone, get it close to the magnetic mic holder, and let it go.

That flexibility is welcome, as police, fire, EMS, and commercial vehicles become increasingly crowded with electronic equipment.

Today, Magnetic Mic is used by over 100,000 police officers, fire fighters, EMS, mining, and construction workers around the world. The company is also actively working to expand into the military, taxi, commercial trucking and marine markets.

“Anyone who uses a radio microphone will benefit from Magnetic Mic.”