Are Department Store Walkie Talkies Hurting Your Business?

Businesses Shouldn't Rely on Radios Built for Families

You can find them in almost any department store: walkie talkies that claim clear, communication over long distances at a price that's hard to beat.

It's an enticing proposition for any business owner looking for an economical way to communicate. But what's often the case with these walkie talkies, also known as Family Radio Service (FRS), is that they fail to live up to expectations, costing businesses time and money in the process.

Disadvantages of Department Store Walkie Talkies

• Limited distance and reliability of the communications signal
• No privacy because many users use the same channel
• Accidents occur by wrong communications being transmitted to workers on job sites
• Very easy to break and are not durable
• Low battery life and are not made to work full 8 hour days
  

Businesses that have experienced any of these issues should look at commercial grade two-way radios.  Manufactures like Motorola manufacture inexpensive commercial grade equipment that are meant for business applications.

Commercial radios start at a price in the low $200/unit, and can cost as much as several thousand dollars for waterproof digital radios.

FRS History 101

The Family Radio Service (FRS) is an improved walkie talkie radio system authorized in the United States since 1996. This personal radio service uses channelized frequencies in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band. It does not suffer the interference effects found on citizens' band (CB) at 27 MHz, or the 49 MHz band also used by cordless phones, toys, and baby monitors.

FRS uses frequency modulation (FM) instead of amplitude modulation (AM). Since the UHF band has different radio propagation characteristics, short range use of FRS may be more reliable than license-free radios operating in the HF CB band.

American-standard FRS radios have been approved for use in Canada since April 2000. The revised technical standard RSS 210 has essentially the same technical requirements as in the United States. Since September 2004, low-power GMRS radios and dual-standard FRS/GMRS radios have also been approved for use in Canada, giving additional channels. In Canada, no license is required and no restrictions are imposed on the GMRS channels.

FRS radios by design were made to be disposable and inexpensive for families to use on vacations, picnics, or days at the beach.  FRS was not designed for business communications were time, money and safety are critical to business success and worker safety and health.