Supreme Radio and TV started in 1954 as a radio and TV sales and service business. After becoming a Motorola Authorized Service Station in 1959, the two-way portion of the business grew and the TV portion of the business was dropped, leading the name to be changed to Supreme Radio Communications, Inc.

The present owner, Shari Tripp, has been at Supreme Radio since 1986. She had the privilege to work with the previous owner, her father, Dale Tripp, until he passed in 2017. She has been proud to continue his legacy of serving the 911 and business communities. The previous owner, Dale Tripp, was hired as a technician and then promoted to manager. When given the opportunity to purchase the business in 1971, he did, and under his guidance the small shop expanded to what it is today, serving a large portion of Illinois and part of Iowa, with over 30 employees.

To more efficiently serve our customers, in 2003 we centralized our dispatch and ordering processes to Peoria and combined our pool of technicians, giving us far greater flexibility in responding to calls. Now although our technicians cover their normal territories in Peoria, Bloomington, Galesburg, and Macomb, we also have the option when needed to pull technicians from other areas if we have a higher than normal customer demand in another area. As part of the reorganization, we now have two dispatchers and two service managers based out of Peoria, allowing us to ensure that incoming calls are handled smoothly.

There have been more changes than just location through the years; as technology and the market has changed, so has Supreme Radio. In 1989 Motorola decided to change from having its own direct sales force to allowing Motorola Service Stations to become Authorized Dealers with the ability to sell as well as service.

Around 1995 Supreme Radio decided to become a dealer and servicer for PBX telephone systems and voice mail systems. In addition to providing the benefit of giving customers a wider range of technologies to choose from, it also allowed our technicians the opportunity to become proficient in telephony and networking technologies.

Throughout our history we have invested in towers and wide area systems. In 2006 we went live with our PlainTalk system, a wide area Passport system that provides two-way radio coverage throughout the Central Illinois area.

Our long experience and commitment to technical training has been beneficial as the new round of digital technologies has emerged, including Voice over IP and Radio over IP. In addition to bringing radio and the internet together, new technologies provide increased battery life, more efficient use of spectrum, and a convergence of many different communications technologies.

The quality of our technical staff recently allowed us to become certified as a Motorola Premier Service Partner. This designation is only awarded to those MSS’s who maintain a specified level of technical certifications for their entire technical staff on an ongoing basis.

Another recent change that we are very excited about is our implementation of a company-wide business management system called MSS21, a software package written especially for Motorola Service Stations. Using this system has enabled us to enhance the flow of communication and streamline operations throughout the company.

Now instead of using paper job tickets, all technicians are equipped with laptops where they enter their tickets on the go. Customers and internal personnel alike can check the real-time status of a ticket in the system, and trace it from the moment the call comes in to parts order to repair to billing. Inventory is real-time, enabling everyone to see if parts and radios are in stock anywhere in the company, from central inventory to any of our mobile repair trucks. Parts are ordered on a daily basis, generated from all open tickets as well as pre-set stock levels. Automatic reports keep personnel on top of the status of repairs and orders, and flag us if a status has not changed within a set period of time.

All of this adds up to superior customer service for our clients. As we go forward, Supreme Radio is looking forward to seeing what the future holds for us and our customers—and making sure we’re ready to meet the challenge.

We’re not just a radio company, we’re a solutions company!

Don’t see something listed that you’re looking for? Ask us anyway, we may be able to help!

  • Two-way radio & Paging
  • Interoperable IP Dispatching
  • Emergency Warning and Notification Systems
  • Wide Area Wireless Networking
  • Wide Area Communications
  • Public Safety Squad Installs
  • Business Telephone Systems
  • Mobile Video Surveillance
  • Fixed Digital Video Surveillance
  • …and more!

We are an authorized Motorola two way radio dealer