BigPhoneDaddy

There use to be the companion which was very good. Currently Spectra Link makes them that is compatible with most PBX's.

http://www.spectralink.com

erhatch

Thank you for the info. this system is very similar to our Ericsson FreeSet system. I am looking for something with greater coverage area per base station (antenna). To cover a campus type of environment.

slagburn

Might have to step back from the whiteboard for a few minutes. (Gotten a few headaches there myself)

Things have probably changed since I was a tech in commercial cellular but trying to run a commercial cell site on a campus tied to a PBX would probably not be very cost effective when all was said and done. Not that I have any recommendations... (Wireless IP stuff maybe? If you have the infrastructure for wireless data) but cell sites are simple things backed up by a very complicated network of equipment that just doesn't come in small sizes that I'm aware of. Not to mention the frequency and licensing issues / costs you would face since cellular bandwidth ain’t cheap.

Any options for your existing system? How well designed is the layout? All the antennas and base stations in the world don't do any good if they are in the wrong places.

Back to the whiteboard.

mark@stjoes

Just installed the newest Spectralink SVP system, phones are built as a I2004's so users can have there DN on both there wireless and desk sets, we currently have 60 on line, they also have Push to talk radio functions with 8 available channels, we use the current wireless network for access points, and have also added the OAI gateway to incorporate the Nurse call system so they can also be used as Alpha-Numeric pagers. I have heard that this is also Nortels new 802.11 solution. Seems to work good for a wireless system. :wink:

HCJes

The director of our department recently visited a college that went completley cellular. I believe they integrated with Nextel. They did this mainly with there student as standard long distance via a phone was not longer profitable for the college. They have further integrated the phones where you get your meals, snacks, and breverage just by having your phone on you. It automatically charges to there student account using an ID chip in the phone. Way high tech. We refer to this as the bleeding edge of technology.

ER, on extremely large sites like ours we already have a private radio infrastruture in place so we are testing the concept of digital trunked radios. These can be tied directly into the PBX so that a radio can then become a wireless phone and/or a pager. Lots of large industrial facilities do this with Digital Trunked Radios. Our former publically owned utility has gone this route but ina different manner. They have paired with a company called Telus - Mike (http://www.telusmobility.com/on/mike/index.shtml). Telus Mike provides them with both cellular and trunked radio services on their campus; they even put a cellular tower on the site to boost coverage. The nice thing about this is that the company has nothing invested in the infrastructure and the technical problems are all on the cellular provider. BTW - like your situation they had a lot of radios and cell phones so this did allow them to combine things.

Note: Our nuclear sites have played with large scale (huge) Companion systems and Ericsson's Freeset but no no one was truly happy with those (performance/reliability on Freesets and obsolescence on Companions).

Hope that helps.


SD

erhatch

This is exactly what i am talking about. combining out trunked radio system with our cell phones. And like you said very few people are satisfied with the freeset system.

Where can I get more info on tying the digital trunked radios into the PBX?

thanks

slagburn

SD - That's way cool and makes a lot of sense.

I have been considering your question. The reply depends on what you want to do. If it is a tie-in to a system like Telus-Mike then you should talk to the service providers; I think Nextel does this kind of thing in the USA but I am not sure. I have not confirmed but I suspect that they are using the SimRing feature to have their phone and cell/radio ring together. The most impressive thing to me is that they use these things inside the reactor vaults which are like ten feet of concrete, lead and steel!!!!!

If I can get more details on this I will let you know. Currently, the Engineer who has the plant radio systems is looking into something similar for this site and I am letting him run with the ball. He used to be a PBX dude so I trust him to get the interface straight.


SD