GOING MOBILE The Newest in Communications Technology for Contractors u can’t be everywhere at once. pany owners often have to discuss once? Mobile communications equip- Owners and employees of to- strategy with members of the office ment is the answer. Today’s impres- day’s contracting firms have to staff while driving across town to in- sive variety of mobile communica- Y tions equipment can satisfy almost communicate a wide range of infor- spect yet another project. And office mation over a variety of distances. personnel have to transmit revised every need. Even contractors who are Foremen have to give instructions to blueprints from the drafting table to already using this equipment to some employees on each floor of the highrise the dirt field across town. extent can benefit by exploring building that they are constructing. But shouting, running to pay new innovations in communications Project managers have to be available phones, or hiring bicycle messengers technology. to settle minute-by-minute problems at every half-hour won’t do. So how does A construction company’s typical the jobsite, even when they are at the a contractor communicate effectively business day presents several situations company offices. Construction com- in a dozen different environments at in which mobile communications equipment can be useful. Your equip- ment needs will vary depending on which situations occur, and what infor- mation needs to be transmitted. So you should analyze the verbal and data traffic patterns in your company before investing in equipment or up- dating your current equipment. For instance, do you work on very large commercial jobsites where a foreman or other member of the supervisory staff might have to deliver orders or instructions to employees who are more than speaking distance away? Do your foremen or supervisors often find themselves needing to talk to someone at the corporate head- quarters, at a branch office, or even at the office of a subcontractor or sup plier while in their vehicles or on the jobsite? Does your project manager, while in his company truck, need to Pagers provide a portable, inexpensive way to send simple messages and even data relay specifications to the site fore- to field personnel. man? Does your CEO often get caught January 1987/Construction Dimensions 37 “Even contractors who are already using this equipment can benefit by exploring new innovations in communications technology.” in meetings at clients’ offices with no pagers, radios, and radio-telephones, According to Karahalios, some of way for you, at the corporate office, the vast majority of which are cellular the basic types of pagers on the market to get him on the phone? telephones. today include: display, tone only, tone All of these are basic examples of “A pager is the simplest method of and voice, and vibrator pagers. Some the main situations in which mobile contacting someone, when you don’t tone pagers produce more than one communications would be effective. need that person to respond in voice tone, each one indicating a different The primary location interactions right away,” explains Dino Karahalios, response, such as calling vs. returning suitable for this type of equipment in- public relations specialist for to the office. Most vibrator pagers pro- clude: site trailer or office to jobsite; Motorola, a leader in mobile com- duce a vibration instead of a tone, to company vehicle to vehicle, office or munications equipment. Most paging avoid disruptive beeping during a site; within the jobsite; and from your systems consist of a terminal from meeting, or to signal a person in a office to another firm’s office. which any number of pagers can be noisy environment who might not hear signalled using radio frequencies. The a tone. With voice pagers, the sender Equipment . pagers themselves are easily portable; is able to relay a short verbal message, small enough to clip on a belt or carry such as “call the ABC Supply Com- There are different types of mobile in the hand or pocket. Most pagers pany.” As with all pagers, however, the communications equipment to answer operate within a local range, although recipient cannot answer back. each different need. The equipment regional— and even nationwide— Display pagers are the new wave in can be divided into three main types: paging systems are emerging. the pager market. These devices usual- written information coast to coast: the firm has 40 domestic and inter- national company offices. Yet, says Facsimile Machines Pankratz, computer-to-computer communication or electronic mail weren’t the sole answers to their A Communications Solution transmission problems. The com- pany’s array of paper traffic includes not only engineering drawings and Mobile Communications is one “were slow, provided inconsistent hand-written memoranda, but pro- way that many businessmen, in- copy quality, and had to be operator posal information, letters to clients, cluding contractors, can save money attended at both stations to transmit time sheets, and accounting data. and time. But in the construction and receive documents.” With the These materials “had to be rushed to business, words aren’t the only things old analog “fax,” a typical page took our offices, our vendors, and our that need to be exchanged rapidly; six minutes to transmit. Poor copy clients-even to our project sites.” changes in site plans or design legibility necessitated resending The answer: new technology in specifications also have to be documents, reading them over the facsimile equipment. “Today’s digital transmitted quickly and accurately, phone, or sending documents equipment transmits documents in often under tight deadline schedules. through overnight package delivery. less than 30 seconds per page to “In the past if a contractor was anywhere in the world,” says working with an engineer in another CH2M HILL experienced all the Sheehan. “These machines operate state, the only means of sending usual difficulties with traditional fax unattended and have features that blueprints, contracts, or site plans machines. “Frankly, we were down make them not only reliable, with was through overnight courier or on ‘fax,’ ” says Diane Pankratz, of- consistent copy quality, but also less U.S. mail,” says John Sheehan, fice systems director for the Oregon- labor intensive and extremely cost senior vice president for the com- based engineering firm. “Many of effective in the office environment.” munication products group of the our people were disappointed with Patrick Householder, a sales Ricoh Corporation, a manufacturer the performance and relatively poor manager of Telautograph Corpora- of office communications equipment. copy quality delivered by the fac- tion, set out to convince skeptics at Although facsimile machines have simile equipment we had used since CH2M HILL that the new genera- also been available since 1930, the early 1970s.” tion of ‘fax’ machines could meet Sheehan explains that until a few CH2M HILL has an especially their demands. He says that the ma- years ago, analog facsimile machines great need to rapidly transmit hand- jor reason for using facsimile equip- 38 Construction Dimensions/January 1987 ly use sophisticated microprocessor sion of the Electronic Industry technology to send small amounts of Association explains that a private data-such as a material cost or re- system is one in which “a business en- vised specifications in the case of tity goes to an equipment manufac- construction industry users-from a turer to purchase radio equipment, terminal located in an office to the then obtains a license from the FCC pager. The information is shown on a to operate that equipment for his own small LED display similar to those on business purposes.” Construction digital watches, and the devices usually firms may want to operate a closed have a limited memory capacity, up to radio system to provide communica- about 120 characters. tion between employees of the com- pany. “Most industries and businesses Private Versus operate on these private systems,” Common Carrier . Schimmel says. A common carrier, on the other How you go about purchasing—or hand is “a system operated by a pro- leasing the use of—a paging system fessional provider of a communica- will depend upon your needs. This tions service,” says Schimmel. “This brings up a basic operating distinction provider buys the equipment and ob- in the industry which applies to all tains a license to sell his service to types of mobile communications subscribers or customers.” Radio- equipment: private versus common telephone and paging systems are the Paging systems can be operated carriers. primary systems operated by common either privately or through a common Eric Schimmel, staff vice president carriers; radio systems are, for the carrier. “A doctor or a lawyer of the Mobile Communications Divi- most part, privately licensed. wouldn’t want to pay for a private ment is ease of operation-most the company expects a great increase ample, the main office needs to com- modern machines can operate unat- in the number of satisfied customers municate with its regional branches. tended. Sheehan agrees, saying that in the future. “As the market con- • Speed — Generally, the faster the new fax units are “as easy to use tinues to expand,” he says, “we the machine, the higher the initial as regular paper copiers and push- believe that you will find digital fax purchase cost. With high-speed button telephones, and are less ex- machines sprouting in the marketing machines, the money you save on pensive than many desktop copiers.” executive’s office, the personnel of- phone line usage can usually justify Householder explains that trans- fice, even the CEO’s office—any- the initial expenditure. mitting through facsimile also elim- where that rapid and flexible com- • Image Quality — This is especially inates the time-consuming keyboard- munication is needed.” important when sending graphs, ing necessary for computer network- “For those businesses,” says artwork, drawings, photos, etc.