A land mobile radio dispatch system is provided, which comprises a radio, one or more remote dispatch devices, and a scanning tone remote adapter connected to the radio and the remote dispatch devices, and is adapted to receive tonal signals from the remote dispatch devices. The dispatch system provides scanning of RF channels, control from remote locations, and parallel updating of multiple dispatch devices, including changing the channel or the base station and notifying other dispatch devices of the current channel-in-use. The tonal signals indicate either an action taken, or an action desired to be taken by the remote dispatch devices. The scanning tone remote adapter is further adapted to transmit received tonal signals to remote dispatch devices, which can indicate the status of the radio, or requested commands by other remote dispatch devices.