When we think of communication, an image that conjures itself almost immediately is a phone. It is rare when we think of two-way radios as a viable mode of communication; especially when it comes to serious matters. What is even more rare, is finding a business that uses radio communication. Imagine having a business where each member has their own transceiver set to a certain frequency, and fully depending on such a method for the majority of intra-firm communications. Some might think it’s too radical of an idea; or too absurd. The truth is, it is one of the great ideas that have not yet been fully explored; a relatively untapped well efficient form of communication. Two-way radios, also known by their more fun name, walkie-talkies, have been shown to greatly improve business communication; here is how they manage to do it:
1. Increase employee efficiency
With mobile phones, you get a lot of distractions from sending and receiving personal calls and messages, to internet access, as well as, social media platforms, games, and applications. As you can see, the list just keeps growing.
If your business makes the switch to two-way radios, you will notice a change almost immediately; since, radios do not offer any of these distractions. It allows employees to direct the majority of their focus on performing tasks rather than multitasking; between a business related tasks and a private conversation, for example.
2. Improve morale
If you have never used a walkie-talkie before, you can guarantee that you are missing out on a great deal of fun. There is so much to do with radio transceivers. Not only can you re-enact millions of scenes from your favorite movies, but you also get to create cool code names, make funny noises, and most importantly, you get to say “over” every time you finish a sentence.
Now imagine all that light-hearted humor being incorporated within your intra-group communications. One thing for sure is that in addition to taking some of the edge off of a work-oriented environment, it will definitely strengthen ties between employees. After all, it has been proven by several researches that healthy, balanced relationships between employees; especially those involved in the same work group, tend to dramatically increase productivity.
3. Increase communication efficiency
As seen in the event planning industry, when dealing with large teams, using transceivers is the most optimal way to deliver information on such a large scale. Two-way radios are always connected, meaning that anyone who decides to speak through a device is fully guaranteed to be heard across all other devices connected to the same frequency.
Unlike chat groups that are mostly used nowadays, walkie-talkies demand prompt replies which means team leaders will be able to get confirmations a lot sooner than if using a messaging platform.
Moreover, a feature of 2 way radios is the ability to allow one operator to either talk, or listen. With groups, radio channels won’t really allow heavy communication between group members. Through experience, team members will understand that in order to not miss out on the instructions, it would be better not to obstruct channels with unnecessary chatter. In other words, group communication will be more streamlined from team heads to group members by keeping the channels clear through taking as little time as possible to communicate information.
4. They save costs
Companies providing their employees with phones are usually burdened with paying several expenses that do nothing but add to the overhead already paid by the company. With company-issued smartphones, the company has to pay regular fees. A monthly subscription to internet packages, enough minutes for unlimited communication between their employees, and such.
On the contrary, radios do not support internet usage, and they do not require a subscription to a service provider either. Once you buy a device, that is it for the expenses. All that you need to do next is to find an empty frequency and set all your devices to it; a simple process that will not cost you anything at all.
Also, like we mentioned before, phones come with a lot of features. Ones that, when used, completely deplete battery life. Now, since walkie-talkies are designed for the sole purpose of enhancing communication, it is safe to say that they don’t really have any downloaded apps or fancy features. Therefore, battery life in two-way radios is known to last a lot longer than mobile phone batteries.
The reason battery life is included under this section is that constantly charging a device, not only uses up a lot of electricity which is bad for the environment and expensive for the company. It wastes time that could potentially be used in something other than waiting for a phone to charge. Needless to say, in the business world, time is money.
5. Prevent security breaches
This point is pretty self-explanatory. There is a reason why two-way radios are the first choice for all organizations that rely heavily on immediate communication, fast responses and confidentiality. The most prominent example would be police departments all around the world.
Radios, however, are exceptionally hard to hack. They are not connected to the information superhighway which makes it easier for hackers to infiltrate a device and extract any information they need. With radios, other than being highly secure, tapping into a specific frequency is a tedious, complicated job.
To sum everything up, two-way radios are quite an interesting choice when it comes to business communication. They have several benefits that make them an item that is worth considering, seriously. Walkie-talkies are a cost-effective way to streamline communication and manage large teams. In addition, they eliminate distractions leading to an increased efficiency on several levels. Taking all of the above into consideration, a piece of final advice would be that while radios may indeed be a far superior option for some, they may turn out to be a complete disaster for others. This is why you need to thoroughly consider the idea of altering the main method of information exchange within your business.