Last updated on September 7th, 2022 at 12:42 pm
The modern world is largely cordless. That’s a good thing for businesses, especially when it comes to telephony. A cordless phone offers great advantages in office and other commercial situations – as it does in the home – allowing the user to move around while taking or making a call. Then there’s the benefit of use outdoors, where a corded phone would be useless The question is: are long-range cordless phones really what they say? Let’s look at this in greater detail.
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What is the Range of a Long-Range Cordless Phone?
Let’s consider your average indoor-use cordless phone. You’ll find it comes with a promised range of perhaps 50 metres. That’s pretty good for a medium sized office use, but you have to factor in obstacles. Thick walls will obstruct the signal – which is transmitting to the handset from a static base unit – as might electrical signals from devices in and around the room. Thus, you’ll find the actual range might be somewhat shorter.
Why You Might Need a Repeater
One answer to this is to install a DECT repeater. This is a device that is placed a distance away from the base unit, within the range but close to the outer perimeter. The repeater takes the signal from the base unit, boost it back to 100% or as close to, and therefore extends the range of the device. However, this is still only good for indoor or close to home outdoor use (note that the outdoor range will be exaggerated as there are no walls to deal with). What about phones for use in agricultural situations, or industrial plants, where a greater range is needed? This is where the more powerful genuinely long-range cordless phones come into play.
The Long-Range Cordless Phone Explained
Cordless phones are not a new technology, but there have been advances in their design. This has enabled some manufacturers to produce genuine long-range cordless phones suitable for use in situations where the caller may be a long way from the base unit, and where a repeater may not be convenient. This those in the agricultural sector who may spend a lot of time working outdoors, operatives in large factories and industrial units, or where an office building or retail unit covers a large floor area.
Cordless phones use radio frequency technology, and it is the power of this function along with the frequency used that enables considerable distances between the handset and base unit to be achieved. For example, the manufacturer EnGenius is a leading specialist in long-range cordless technology and has a wide selection of long-range cordless phones to offer.
The EnGenius EP800 range of long-range cordless phones represents a good example of what these devices are all about. Take the EP800 Robust Extreme Range Cordless Phone package. This set comes with a single base unit and seven handsets – there are options for fewer or more – and has a range of up to 2 kilometres.
Using a narrow frequency band of 863 to 865MHz and with RF Power at a very useful 10mW, the range is not only colossal, but interference is kept to a minimum.
The EP800, and others in the EnGenius range, is also equipped with digital technology that minimises the possibility of dropped signals, and has advanced features including intercom broadcast usage and multi-channel durability. Ideal for industrial sites or the likes of car sales showrooms where large distances need covering, for use in agricultural situations and in very large department stores, and anywhere that requires telecoms on the move over a large area, the technology developed in the EnGenius cordless phones and in a number of other brands takes cordless telephones to a new level.
Choosing a Long-Range Cordless Telephone
The long-range cordless phone package you choose will depend upon the usage, in terms of the area that needs to be covered and the number of handsets you need. The model mentioned above, for example, can be expanded to 4 base units with a maximum of 9 handsets per unit, giving a total of 36 handsets. The options start at just a couple of handsets, so you will be able to fit your budget to the package you need.
Genuine long-range cordless handsets do cover large distances and are very versatile in industrial, commercial, agricultural and retail situations, and allow for seamless communication while on the move and a long way from the base. If you think this is the solution for you, have a closer look and talk to the experts about how best to cover the area your work within.