Nextel's Network has been Decommissioned. What's Next?

A common concern we expect to hear would be: "So now that Nextel has shut down, what do I do with my trucks? The cell phone bills will kill me!!"

The answer to that first depends on the coverage required to run your operations. Is it local to a town or County? Is it regional like Chicago? Is it area wide like Chicago and the surrounding collar counties or is it statewide? For all of those answers you have options. As you know you have the Cellular carrier. For those as fortunate you get a cell phone on the Sprint system or another, but your drivers are allowed to communicate ONLY when NOT operating the vehicle.

Another Lesson from Tommy Two Way: Campus radio systems present a wide range of challenges for radio communications

    Building radio systems for educational institutions usually presents itself as: the bigger the campus, the more complex the system. In elementary and middle school, facilities are typically smaller buildings with smaller campuses. As the kids get aggregated into high school the size and complexity of the building changes, not to mention the drastic differences experienced in the environment, too. Each city or district can be different, but it’s common for simplex radio to radio communications to suffice in elementary and middle schools.  Coverage is limited to the distance of the portables talking with each other. As we get into the High School level, coverage issues are typically encountered that require solutions to ensure communications.

 High Schools, like many educational institutions, are built with brick and mortar. Along with that you’ll see the hallways lined with metal lockers. What a great environment for radio, right? Wrong. The materials used in schools, including some of the energy efficient glass, create some of the most challenging environments known to radio. 

Plus the Top 10 Losing Warehouse Strategies And How To Avoid Them    

There are many types of manufacturing sectors out there, from transportation (airplanes, cars, trains) to raw materials (steel mills, rubber, etc.), but the two leading factors driving ALL manufacturing companies and warehouses is Productivity and Efficiency. From the warehouse floor to product delivery, workers need access to information in real time to help automate operations and ultimately create a seamless, error-proof work environment.

     In today’s Healthcare market, more and more hospitals are being absorbed by larger corporations. Since this trend has been picking up speed, radio systems which have typically been used for a multitude of uses (Security, Maintenance, IT and Janitorial services) are now creating disparate communications between facilities.

     At Chicago Communications, we had a similar situation with a customer that had 3 sites of hospitals spread across a 3 town radius.  The main site had five multi-story buildings with two parking garages and two problems: (1) They wanted to tie the sites together and (2) they needed to improve coverage. The hospitals were using analog radios and had several areas across campus that had poor to zero coverage.

The first solution: MotoTRBO Digital two way radios with IP site connect capabilities.

     We addressed their coverage issue by implementing a Digital Mobile Radio system (DMR). By leveraging a DMR, Hospitals can use their current Wide Area Networks (WANs) to create larger communications systems. This system will allow applications such as a Central Dispatch for Security services, Shared Maintenance, BioMed and IT resources between facilities, while still using a common communications platform.

   Does Your School Have a Secure Emergency Preparedness Plan in Place? 

   In the aftermath of 2012, educational institutions everywhere re-evaluated and re-examined their security and emergency-preparedness plans. Administrators went into crisis mode to comfort students and parents while ensuring all that plans and procedures were in place to keep their schools safe and secure. A critical piece of the plan is communicating across school grounds, and two-way radios are an instrumental part of that plan. 

So you bought your new Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) system from Chicago Communications. As promised, we provided coverage in and around your areas of operation. The system allows communications between personnel and management staff, offering you the communications you require to keep your production lines running, your hotel staff moving and your security operations handling building safety. Now What???

 As everyone knows, your new radio system communicates voice between users, but did you know that it also communicates data between devices? Whether Machine-to-Machine for Manufacturing or smartphone to mobile radio, the DMR MOTOTRBO product lines allow so much more.

Top 3 Trends of Radio in 2013

With 2013 finally upon us, it is time to move forward with regard to radio. Last year lead to one of the largest years radio dealers have seen in 20 years, mainly due to the Federal Communications Commission's mandate for Narrowbanding all radio channels below 512 MHz. Narrowbanding created scheduling conflicts and made things hectic for those involved, but overall, it allowed us to revisit with all of our customers. Some abided by the mandate, took the proper steps and have completed narrowbanding. Some have not.  In addition to that, changes occurred with the D Block legislation that left the 470 MHz users on a freeze and rumors of a private LTE network for public safety left many questions unanswered as well. Looking ahead though, the future of two way radio remains to look bright, and here are 3 trends you’re sure to see this year.

Tom's Tech Talk #16: What's New with MOTOTRBO

     I have to say, in my 32 years of being in radio, the MOTOTRBO product line is one of the best ideas I have seen come out from Motorola Solutions in a long time. Back in 2007 I remember seeing it for the first time. When I heard 2-for-1 channel usage, it immediately made me think of reducing our customers capital outlay for radio systems. In addition with many users still using Micor vintage equipment, the time was right for this product.

     MOTOTRBO’s ability to cross both the analog and digital platforms really gave the customer a choice. It allowed the end user to migrate from a legacy platform of equipment operating on analog to a digital platform that allowed 2 simultaneous voice conversations over one radio frequency. DOUBLE CAPACITY with one system!! Purchasing an upgraded infrastructure backbone can allow a customer to operate analog until the customer gets enough mobile and portable radios; and with a simple programming to digital, the customer effectively has two repeaters in one system.

     Motorola Solutions went one step further by allowing Application Developers to write software code to the radios to allow it to act as a modem or input/output device. By creating this digital platform, these binary ones and zeros carry more information than just voice.

Meet Our Techs: The Experience Behind ChiComm

John Syron started working at Chicago Comm in March of 2011, so he may be considered a rookie around here. But he could certainly fool you into thinking he’s been doing tech work for much longer. If the Chicago Comm technician's were a baseball team, he’d probably get rookie of the year with his track record so far.

     John graduated high school in 2008, and immediately enrolled in DeVry’s networking and communication management program (going on to earn his bachelor’s in just 2 ½ years). His ambition and eagerness to get started in the industry led him to a career fair before concluding his time there. Ever heard the saying: Luck is when preparation meets opportunity? John's luck must have paid off at the fair because he received 4 job offers! Ultimately though, John chose Chicago Communications and the company was thrilled to bring him on board.

What we discovered at this year's Motorola Channel Partner Expo

It was a momentous year at the Motorola roadshow in Las Vegas. Our yearly trek to understand products, goals and networking with colleagues really put a vision in our minds. As a follow up to my notes on the Public Safety (Future of the DBlock) aspect of the Motorola Expo this year, we also looked into the future with Digital Mobile Radio (DMR); and for Motorola this means MOTOTRBO. A technology that lends itself to gain two voice paths for one channel, it effectively doubles the ability of a customer’s radio system for voice traffic. In addition with Application Developers who write software to these radio platforms, we had a chance to review the concepts and systems that allow unique platforms such as GPS, Texting, Personal Location systems and Interoperability to be displayed in one location.