Cell Phones versus Two-Way Radios

These days people are more apt to use a cell phones instead of a two-way radio. For most applications this makes sense, however, there are still advantages of using a two-way radio. Here are several:

1. When you want to call someone on a cell phone at a minimum you have to press a speed dial button and wait for the connection. Between the dialing and the time delay of the person on the other end answering, thirty seconds can go by (if they answer at all). With a two-way radio you simply press a button and start talking. In emergency situations this speed could be critical.
2. If you want to broadcast a message to a group, you cant do that with a cell phone. You would have to call everyone individually. When you start getting over three people in a group, the time it takes becomes very significant, not only in the time it takes to dial and connect with people, but also in the idle chatter that goes along with phone calls. In an emergency, a cell phone would waste critical time.
3. Two-way radios can connect with accessory products that cell phones cant. You can set up wireless public address systems that can receive broadcasts from two-way radios. So no matter where you are you can make an announcement. You can also set up customer assist call boxes throughout your store that customers can use to contact you wirelessly. There are wireless outdoor call boxes that can communicate with two-way radios so you can put these devices wherever emergency assistance may be needed.
4. You can get two-way radios that pick up weather alerts from NOAA weather radio so youll be instantly notified when bad weather is approaching.
5. The Emergency Call or man down feature enable the radio user to immediately notify all other radios on the same channel. For example, if the radio user should become injured, trapped or is in danger, a simple push of a button will call everyone and the microphone on the radio is automatically activated for a brief period so the user can call out a message. The user may not be able to even dial a phone number on a cell phone.
6. Two-way radios continue working in natural disasters or even snowstorms. Even if cell phones do work, the cell phone towers are overloaded with everyone trying to make calls so your call may not go through.
7. Some two-way radios are built to military standards, which means they will work in wet environments or even after they are dropped on concrete. Most cell phones are delicate devices.
8. There may be places at your business where cell phones dont work. Two-way radios can reach all areas of your business, especially when repeaters are installed.
9. There is no monthly contract with two-way radios. You never have to worry about exceeding your allotted minutes with a two-way radio like you do with a cell phone.