THE FIRETIDE BLOG

Top 4 reasons construction crews shouldn’t rely on just walkie-talkies

Mar 07, 2016

Construction Crew.jpgAt seemingly every construction site the world over, there are a few constants: hard hats, concrete, cranes and steel beams, to name just a few. But, there is one thing that is also at all construction locations that can be easy to miss, although it's critical for work safety: the walkie-talkie.

Perhaps the first true person-to-person communications device, walkie-talkies have been around for generations. It's no wonder they're so ubiquitous at construction sites, as they are easy to use, hard to destroy and time-tested.

However, just because construction workers have been using walkie-talkies for a long time doesn't mean they should continue to use them to communicate and ensure safety on the job site. In particular, walkie-talkies can be especially problematic for these reasons:

1) Signals can be impeded

Walkie-talkies work kind of like a radio, as each device sends out a signal that can be picked up by any other device operating on the same frequency. However, also like radio, the signal can be impeded by a variety of factors. For starters, bad weather like rain storms, heavy fog or snow can limit a walkie-talkie's distance.

In addition, physical objects like hills or car doors can cause a signal to not go as far as expected or to not travel more than a few feet at all. Considering how much concrete and other similar building materials exist at the typical construction site, this can be a major impediment to effective communications.

2) Distance can sometimes be a concern

Unlike cellphones, which are designed to transfer signals over great distances, walkie-talkies have a far more limited range. While some newer, high-end models purport to have a range of dozens of kilometers, the reality is that the vast majority of them are only fit for between one to three miles at most. When signal impediments like building materials and weather are factored into the equation, the range of the walkie-talkie can be further limited.

At most construction sites, especially smaller ones involving just one or a few structures, distance won't be much of a concern. However, at a sprawling location or at a site where a very large skyscraper is being built, these distance concerns can be a huge problem affecting a crew's ability to efficiently communicate.

3) Can be a lot of interference

Walls, trees, trains, buildings, mountains and many more objects can obstruct a walkie-talkie's signal and prevent a sent message from being clearly received. However, physical objects are not the only source of interference to think about when using these devices.

Just about all walkie-talkies operate using a wavelength shorter than 5 GHz, which Popular Mechanics once described as "a thin, patchy section of the electromagnetic spectrum." Because so many wireless devices now operate on these wavelengths, they can all interfere with each other's signals. One study, which was published in Australasian Physics & Engineering Sciences in Medicine, found that walkie-talkies caused more signal interference in hospitals than cellphones. This means that the numerous wireless signals now found on a typical job site could be impacting signal strength and latency for communications.

4) Can create communication snafus

Construction crews use walkie-talkies to directly communicate with someone else located outside of earshot. These missives can sometimes be mundane in nature, but more often than not they are critical messages. If a crew member by the foundation is not able to get a message about the building's structural strength to someone located at the top of the building or in a tall crane in time, for example, then the result could be catastrophic.

However, because it's not possible to direct a message to only one or a small number of walkie-talkies, being able to communicate critical missives can be hard to do. If many people are talking using the same frequency, then messages can easily be missed in the chatter. In addition, there is no way for a sender of a message to know all of the time if what they said was received and fully understood by the intended recipient.

"Depending on which devices you use, it can be difficult or almost impossible to direct a 'call' to a specific single individual. Privacy is a huge challenge, too," IDG News Service contributor Ken Banks noted.

How Burj Khalifa construction crew overcame walkie-talkie limitations

With over 160 stories, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world. It's also the tallest free-standing structure in the globe, stretching over a half mile from top to bottom. Nevertheless, as with just about any other structure, construction crews working on the monumental building initially used walkie-talkies to communicate on the job site.

As the tower climbed ever higher, however, crews quickly found that walkie-talkies were not up to the task. In particular, the labor force found that their initial communications equipment failed to function properly when there was a distance of 30 or more floors between individuals.

Considering that the final structure stretched out over 160 floors, this impediment meant that the walkie-talkies first obtained were simply not going to cut it. Even installing radio amplifiers on all walkie-talkies failed to properly address the issue.

To resolve their communications conundrum, they eventually built a wireless mesh network on site using Firetide HotPort technology. They used a system by which walkie-talkie signals were converted to IP and then transferred via the wireless mesh network.

This IP-based walkie-talkie system proved advantageous for a number of reasons. For one, the wireless mesh network provided superior throughput, ensuring that all signals could be reliably relayed between endpoints. Since the network was based on Firetide technology, it was also very simple to set up and configure. Not only did the wireless mesh network address all of their old communication problems, but it even gave them the ability to easily implement a video surveillance system in the building as well.

"After thorough testing of various products, we determined that the Firetide mesh network was the best solution for our situation," said Jerry Jang, project manager for Samsung SDS. "We were impressed with the 25 Mbps throughput Firetide mesh delivered. Besides the excellent bandwidth and voice quality, we also chose Firetide for its ease of deployment, speed of implementation, flexibility and resiliency."

Walkie-talkies have long remained a staple of construction sites, and for good reason. They are easy to use, and much better than smartphones for the kind of communication that happens in a rugged location like a construction site. However, this technology does present its fair share of problems that can severely limit their functionality. Luckily, a wireless mesh network can remove these impediments and ensure that walkie-talkies remain reliable and effective on any job site. If you want to learn more about the benefits of wireless mesh networking and video surveillance in construction, then be sure to contact a Firetide representative today.


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