Smartphones vs. Two-Way Radios in Business

Over 96% of (16-24 yr. olds) the UK population own smartphones, so it seems reasonable to assume, that mobile phones are the preeminent choice for critical business communication, well think again.

Smartphones dominate public life, so are two-way radios still necessary for business?

Choosing two-way radios over mobile phones

Irrespective of the device brand, whether it be, Apple, Samsung, or Sony, the same worries rear their ugly heads, time and time again, there are:

• Durability
• Battery life
• Practicality
• Health and Safety
• Coverage

Durability

Radios, due to the often extreme contexts in which they are used will continue to work even after they have been dropped, kicked, knocked about, soaked, and covered in dirt more times than your average phone user could even dream about.

Battery Life

Long battery life is crucial when communicating. Two-way radios normally have a battery life of a day with some designed with long shift patterns in mind and can last over 25 hours, the Mitex Site UHF, for example, will last for over 36 hours.

Practicality

Step away from the desk and into the real world, and there are a whole host of situations, that get in the way of mobile phone use, such as gloves or wet and dirty hands.

Radios come with practicalities built in, such as large PTT buttons, fist mics, or earpieces (many new phones don’t even have a jack any more)

Health and Safety

Better Network Security. Digital two-way radios are an improvement in terms of security, ensuring privacy via a closed network, while mobile phones use public networks, leaving those communications vulnerable to security threats.

The ‘Man down’ feature, available with many portable radios, can alert you if a device has been tilted beyond a specified angle if the user has fallen over or is unconscious or hurt. An alarm will then be activated and information fed back to a control radio or other users.

The lone worker feature incorporates a timer within the set to measure inactivity. If a timer terminates, an alert is issued, and if there is no response to that, an alarm is activated.

Coverage

Organisations need to be able to communicate 24 hours a day, mobile coverage is not 100% reliable.

If a mobile phone carrier e.g. O2, or EE, has a network issue it may result in a comprehensive network failure. If your carrier’s network is down, so too, are your communications.

Two-way radios do not rely on third parties, they offer you unbroken, dependable coverage in all situations.

If you’d like to learn more about how two-way radios can benefit your business, please speak to a member of our team today.