Pointer from the Principal: Perseverance and hard work ….. it really does pay off.

     Anyone who’s ever been in a job that involves serving customers has had one of “those” meetings.  You know the one I’m talking about.  The one where the customer tells you he or she is disappointed with your service.

     During the meeting I tried my best to convey to the customer that we were a different company than the one he dealt with years back, and that I was confident we wouldn’t let him down if he gave us another try.  I promised him that everything would go well and gave him my direct line should he have any concerns along the way.  Thankfully in the end he agreed to give us another try.

     If we are to remake the movie The Graduate today, what one-word advice would you give to Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman’s character)?  Obviously not “plastics”.  Most people would probably say “wireless” or “mobile”.

     Indeed, the technology of wireless communication has profoundly changed the way we work, live, and interact with each other.  Along with it comes the expectation that people should be able to use their wireless devices whenever and wherever.  Commercial wireless providers (cell phone carriers) want to maximize revenue from their customers and encourage them to use their phone/tablet/laptop as much as possible.  At the same time, public safety agencies are also demanding reliable radio coverage wherever their personnel may be called upon to perform the mission critical tasks. Since the vast majority of the people spend the vast majority of their time indoor, it’s natural that RF in-building coverage has become a fast growing market in the recent years. 

Employee Appreciation:A Little Extra Goes A Long Way

     Every person wants to feel part of something – a family, a group of friends, a team, or if an employee, the company they work for.  As an owner of a company, the challenge is, and always has been, how to make employees feel part of a team.  Many of the articles written on the subject say it’s the “little things”.  And you know what?  It is.

Communication Equipment Keeps Production Team Running

     Our rental department has the pleasure of assisting customers from a wide variety of businesses and events.  On a daily basis our customers are on the go, in the field, on the auditorioum floor, moving across campus or throughout the city. Whether they're keeping a concert atmosphere secure or making sure attendees have a flawless special day, it's essential to keep everyone connected to their teams, everywhere they go. Chicago Communications has been renting two way radios and other communication equipment for many years, to events ranging from concerts to commencements, conventions and coroporate meetings to sporting events and competitions. Coming up this weekend ChiComm's rental representative will be renting portables to a video production team, Dobson Entertainment, in order for them to get exclusive coverage at the Tour of Elk Grove. 

     Dobson Entertainment, Inc. has been one of the Midwest's most established video production companies for over 23 years, providing services with state of the art equipment, breakthrough concepts, and a unique creative team. They work with private and public companies, in addition to working at sites both locally and internationally (the City of Chicago, Comcast Sports Net - NBC, and Yamaha Motor Corporation, are a couple examples of their diversified clientele). They can be hired to film and produce multi-camera coverage for events and promotional material, in addition to feeding live video over to multiple areas, jumbotrons and/or LCD TV screens while also being able to broadcast the signal remotely.

Public Safety Grant Monies May Remain With the Feds

By:  RCN Consulting LLC

      The 2012 Preparedness Grants contain many changes in the rules and funding categories.  DHS further announces that other new deadlines for drawing down 2007-2011 remaining funds are being enacted.  DHS is transitioning to a new grants vision and will be consolidating some programs in preparation for the new model. 

      The new guiding documents for FY2012 can be accessed at the DHS website.  Your state SAA has been provided guidance to assist each department with remaining grant funding.

 The Experience Behind ChiComm

      I recently asked Rich what  he thought was ChiComm’s greatest strength. He answered, “It has to be the combination of younger and older generations benefiting from each other. A lot of the old guys have RF and component expertise while the new guys are experienced with networking and computers, so we all learn from each other. The younger guys come in very eager to learn from us and when the team gets to hear the old way of doing something vs. hearing a newer different perspective, everyone’s helping each other find the best solution.” Rich hits his 29 years of working with Chicago Comm this November. By this measure that qualifies him as one of the “older guys” around the shop. He started back when cellular had just launched commercially.

The Importance of Housekeeping and the Happy Radio

As brought up in one of our Tech Talks, preventative maintenance is crucial in keeping your two way radios optimized to their full potential.

• Most important is keeping the units clean and free of physical defects.

When I say clean I really mean CLEAN. A simple wipe down with a damp cloth over a portable can prevent dust and dirt from collecting inside internal microphones and speakers. Keeping these free of debris can ensure you won't have TX (transmit) or RX (receive) issues. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen a portable come in and the complaint was "POOR TRANSMIT AUDIO" and we've come to find out the microphone was compacted with dirt, grime or debris blocking it. The same goes for mobile radios. Internal speakers jammed with debris causing "POOR RECEIVE AUDIO."

 Tech Talk - IP Delay and DMR

      With the ever changing two way radio market migrating toward “Digital Mobile Radio” (DMR for short), we are challenged with a different set of issues: Networking. Networking is the highway of the future for communications, commerce and now two way radio. What we learn is that although we have blinding “gigabit” speeds, we actually run slower than traditional analog. We found this out the other day by putting in a radio channel at a remote site. This site is connected to the dispatch end by a fiber optics network. In order to use the fiber network we have to convert the analog audio to digital, convert the digital to IP and route this digitized audio to the other end through network switches and routers. At the other end we convert this IP digitized word back to analog to be rebroadcast over the transmitter.

Our specialist Rich Nowakowski (RCN Consulting) says, “Grants: A lot of agencies just don’t get it.”

     Applying for grants is like applying for a job; you have to follow many specific rules to even be put into the submit pile. The decision maker starts sorting through a stack of grant proposals like a stack of resumes and if the proposal doesn’t fit the right font or format requirements, they’ll toss it out. Before you go after grants, there are some important things to know.

 6 Myths are busted by the facts!   

     So first let's address: Is Wireless Broadband for real? Yes, it very much is. It's being deployed in every type of business from Education to Retail to Manufacturing to Public works.  Wireless PTP solutions are ruggedized for 99.999% reliability to deliver exceptional performance at the most extreme temperatures and under the most difficult weather conditions. They deliver the speeds to support today’s in-demand bandwidth-intensive solutions, including high-speed residential and business access, streaming video and VoIP. The following are 6 common myths associated with wireless broadband revealed in truth by Cambium Networks.

#1 Is Wireless Broadband Complicated?

Myth: "These systems must take months to design and install."

Fact: A leased line replacement can be designed in minutes (with a free software tool). Installation is typically one day.