hands up When the school year starts in the Fall, you’ll have way too much on your plate with new students, parents, teachers and staff — that’s no time to be fretting over the health of your wireless communications network. That’s why you need life-cycle management for your school’s two-way radio (walkie-talkie) fleet, and you need to do some planning in the spring to ensure your network operates at peak effectiveness in the Autumn. Any equipment-management program will have one factor that’s beyond your control: the availability of technicians to cure what ails your gear. If you wait till September to deal with network maintenance and repair, you could end up in line behind all the people who planned ahead, leaving critical gaps in your network when you can least afford it. Weighing your wireless network’s repair/replacement needs How can you tell if a two-way radio is due to be replaced? You can start with the purchase date. On average, a radio lasts about five to seven years, according to Hugh Johnston, BearCom’s product and purchasing manager, who says knobs and antennas are the most likely parts of a radio that will require repair. But averages are only a rough guideline — a lot depends on how hard your staff is on the equipment. Radios that get dropped or bumped frequently are bound to need repairs quicker than those which are handled with kid gloves. And the more a radio gets used, the greater the likelihood it will become an accident victim. The radio that sits on a classroom shelf most of the time obviously won’t require as much work as the radios carried by security and maintenance people who handle them frequently. Also, the batteries that power your radios have a finite number recharge cycles — some could very well be on the verge of giving up the ghost while others can be rescued by reconditioning. And there’s the matter of software/firmware upgrades. Manufacturers are constantly tweaking the programming of the internal electronics in two-way radios to get rid of minor bugs and enable new features. These upgrades really need to be done by professional technicians who know what to do when an upgrade fixes one problem but creates another one. Four most common radio service needs A page on the Motorola Solutions website illustrates the most common service and maintenance requirements for two-way radio networks:
  •  Diagnostics: Software scans a radio to ensure everything is operating as it should and identifies problems before breakdowns occur.
  •  Repair: Technicians trained to deal with the peculiarities of your specific radios, repeaters and network infrastructure make sure they get restored to proper operating condition.
  •  On-site services: Depending on the complexity of your network, technicians might come to your campus and diagnose/repair any problematic gear.
  • Parts: Knobs and antennas aren’t the only parts prone to damage or wear. Circuit boards, connection ports and critical accessories like headsets all might need to be repaired.
The whole idea of equipping your staff with handheld radios is to keep kids safe. That all falls apart if you don’t maintain your radio fleet properly, fixing and replacing as needed. It’s always safer to plan ahead. More on two-way radios in schools

About BearCom

BearCom provides a broad line of high-performance wireless communications products, services, and complete mobility solutions. Founded in 1981, BearCom is America’s only nationwide dealer and integrator of wireless communications equipment, serves customers from 29 branch offices located throughout the U.S., and employs approximately 360 people. BearCom is headquartered in the Dallas, Texas area. Contact BearCom at: 800.527.1670.   motorolasolutions MOTOROLA, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC and are used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2015 Motorola Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.