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If your commercial building is one of the thousands plagued by poor cellular signal, the task of solving the issue can seem daunting. Especially when you get into spaces that are in the realm of hundreds of thousands of square feet in size.
Nonetheless, poor cell signal is an issue than needs to be solved. Whether you’re the building owner, manager, or a tenant, you know that reliable cellular signal is essential to carrying out a number of important tasks. Although the number of commercial buildings equipped with landlines has dropped in recent years, even those that do have landlines for basic calling communication also need strong and reliable cellular connectivity. The reality is, we’re doing far more than calling and texting with our cellular devices these days.
The good news is that reliable solutions exist to help improve cellular connectivity in all types of buildings, and capitalizing on these solutions can improve call quality and upload and download speeds, positively impacting all types of communications within your building. Thanks to passive distributed antenna system (passive DAS) technology, cellular signal amplification has become an attainable — and affordable — solution. While hardwired active distributed antenna systems (active DAS) can cost between $2-$4 per square feet to install, passive DAS brings that cost down as low as 30 cents to 70 cents per square foot.
Still, when it comes to large buildings, it often makes more sense — economically and otherwise — to determine the area or areas where cellular signal is weakest rather than trying to boost signal throughout an entire massive space. There are many considerations when deciding where it will be most beneficial to amplify the cell signal in your commercial building.
Here are some criteria for deciding where to boost cell signal in your commercial building:
1. Areas with high call volume
If you have a team of employees that need to communicate with outside clients, within a call center for example, it may no longer be enough to rely on landlines. And with the popularity of smartphones, a number of companies have instituted a “bring your own device policy,” which means employees are taking calls and conducting various other tasks on their mobile devices. It’s also important to have connectivity in the event that landlines go down for any reason. This is an area you’ll definitely want to amplify cell signal if it is weak.
2. Areas where internal communication is essential
It’s important to consider the level of coverage in any area where employee-to-employee communications are necessary. For example, if a call center and fulfillment center are both located in the building, it will be important that each of those areas have strong signal to facilitate internal communication needs. Your employees aren’t just communicating on calls internally either, so consider the importance of a strong and reliable signal for all types of communication exchanges, including text and email.
3. Any areas where data exchanges take place
It’s important to consider the level of data needs in a particular area. Not only do you need to be equipped to facilitate the exchange of data, but you must do so securely. With a growing number of data breaches, it’s imperative to provide a secure connection when documents are being uploaded and downloaded. Many businesses rely on Wi-Fi in areas where signal is weak or non-existent, but if you’re dealing with customer data — particularly sensitive personal or financial information — you can’t afford to risk that information being compromised. If you have purchase/transaction information exchanges happening in a particular area, that will be an area you’ll definitely want to amplify your cellular signal.
4. Any area where cloud/mobile computing is in use
Even if your business is one which hasn’t traditionally been plagued by cybercrime, there is no longer any industry that is exempt from this threat. For example, U.S. manufacturers have become a prime target for cyber attacks and cyber espionage based on the amount of business being conducted in the cloud. In all industries, it’s imperative to establish secure connections and reliable redundancy plans. Keep that in mind, too, when determining where in your commercial building to amplify signal.
These are just some of the main areas where strong cell signal is paramount to your commercial facility. Your facility is unique and there will likely be additional areas where boosting signal makes sense.
No matter how many, or how few areas you identify for amplifying signal, WilsonPro can help. We offer a zonal approach to cellular signal amplification by deploying multiple signal boosters in a single large area so that you can focus on improving signal where you need it most. And because our cell signal amplifiers are carrier-agnostic, they will boost signal for all cellular users, including Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, US Cellular and others.
To learn more about our commercial cellular signal boosting solutions, including our new Pro 1000C with WilsonPro Cloud service integration, contact WilsonPro today.
