diff --git a/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsCommon.h b/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsCommon.h
index 3566a177be069cbfe9131785cb32c37dcf9e42a5..6ab31419237d80cd59d0de9b151168bf90884403 100644
--- a/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsCommon.h
+++ b/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsCommon.h
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 #define PACKET_SET   0x20 //set vs get ?
 
 // enum of all transfer types
-enum PRIORITY {
+enum PRIORITY : uint8_t {
     DATA  = PACKET_DATA,
     CMD   = PACKET_CMD,
     ALARM = PACKET_ALARM,
diff --git a/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsControl.cpp b/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsControl.cpp
index 02ff4fa433b98d95530993e89a7696321bf3eb89..58f6a2130e0075ab97b9c8cf3dfafd1e86bc215f 100644
--- a/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsControl.cpp
+++ b/arduino/common/lib/CommsControl/CommsControl.cpp
@@ -275,16 +275,8 @@ void CommsControl::finishPacket(PRIORITY &type) {
 }
 
 PRIORITY CommsControl::getInfoType(uint8_t &address) {
-    switch (address & PACKET_TYPE) {
-        case PACKET_ALARM:
-            return PRIORITY::ALARM;
-        case PACKET_CMD:
-            return PRIORITY::CMD;
-        case PACKET_DATA:
-            return PRIORITY::DATA;
-        default:
-            return PRIORITY::UNSET;
-    }
+    // return enum element corresponding to the address
+    return (PRIORITY)(address & PACKET_TYPE);
 }
 
 // get link to queue according to packet format