PMR Expo 2025, held from 25–27 November in Cologne, is Europe’s most influential event for secure and mission-critical communications. With a record number of exhibitors, a notable rise in international participation, and an expanded programme that reached far beyond traditional radio technologies, this year’s edition highlighted how rapidly the sector is evolving.

The critical communications industry undergoes modernization. The number of applications is growing, encompassing public-safety agencies, utilities, transport operators, industrial organisations, medical and entertainment companies.

For the first time, the event featured a dedicated emphasis on civil-military cooperation. This shift mirrors a broader European trend toward communication systems that must remain operational and interoperable across defence, emergency response, and civilian critical-infrastructure networks.

One clear industry shift is improved connectivity driven by recent developments in networking and related new standards such as MCPTT over LTE/5G. Hybrid communication is the new normal, providing always-available connectivity by leveraging a mix of modern broadband, Wi-Fi, and legacy narrowband infrastructure.

AI that is everywhere now pushes into the critical communications field.  At Hackathon@PMRExpo, teams designed AI-driven tools for crisis communication. The winning concept offered real-time extraction of essential details from emergency calls and the direct feeding of summarised, structured information into dispatch workflows.  

Another notable trend is the evolution of device intelligence. New professional radio designs included integration with control-room platforms and support for rich media streams, such as video and telemetry.

POLYN’s AI-powered voice-activation solution for two-way radio headsets stood out among many innovations showcased at the trade show. NeuroComm, POLYN’s neuromorphic analog chip, placed next to the microphone, is unique for its ultra-low power consumption and high voice-processing speed.

The NeuroComm demo at PMR Expo 2025 showcased the solution’s effectiveness for both public and professional markets. Industry experts warmly received the speech intelligibility and reliable hands-free operation that NeuroComm provides. POLYN gathered valuable feedback from potential customers and gained further reassurance that NeuroComm’s complete voice control and voice extraction improvements at ultra-low power are addressing urgent market needs. Several vendors of critical communication systems expressed interest in POLYN’s first commercially available voice detection chip.