RoIP is Not Concerned with a Clear Line of Sight

When it comes to using two way radios, the most common question we get from users would be how far can they communicate? To answer that question, one must be familiar how two way radios work.

Analog Radios Require a Clear Line Of Sight

Simply put, two way radios can transmit and receive radio waves carried over certain radio frequencies. 

The range where communication will be effective will depend on factors such as frequencies used, the power output of the radio, and most importantly, radio waves that travel via line of sight.

It is important to understand what is meant be a clear line of sight. Effective radio transmissions for years required an unobstructed path between receiving and transmitting antennas. To illustrate, imagine a person pointing a flashlight from the top of a hill to a person watching from an open window. With a clear line of sight, the radio waves will travel unobstructed and will result in a clear transmission. 

A clear line of sight is the ideal situation but in the real world, some obstructions may result in something that’s referred to as a near line of sight. Perhaps not the best clarity but it still works ok. It’s just like someone pointing a flashlight from the top of the hill but the light goes through treetops and the signal somehow gets scattered through the leaves, but the recipient is able to get the transmission.  

Then, there is the non-line of sight where the obstructions would highly impact the quality of the signal and may work or fail depending on the situation. In these situations, you would benefit from converting analog signals to digital radio packets and transmit these packets via digital networks.

Why Radio over IP (RoIP) Makes Life So Much Easier

Radio over Internet Protocol or RoIP has paved the way for a more effective and efficient communication pathways regardless of any obstructions such as buildings, mountains and dense forests. RoIP makes full use of digital mobile radio communications. Instead of using antenna to receiver devices, it sends voice and data via an existing Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure. 

Vocoders are used to convert analog voice signals into digital voice packets prior to transmission over IP networks such as a wide area network, local area networks and broadband IP networks. Routers and firewalls are used to secure a client’s network and the digital voice packets. Today a fleet of utility workers dealing with a power outage and downed phone networks for example can tap into other digital networks wirelessly. 

RoIP for utility fleets no longer have to depend on line of sight because it uses existing IP networks found in their vehicles, 3rd party infrastructures and the main command and control hub. This also translates to better reliability with much less downtime.

The flexibility of using RoIP for your fleet of service vehicles also means having better coverage through multiple sites, easily expanding your network, and interoperability between different types of communication devices. This, of course, leads to improved overall productivity and efficiency of organizations.