Among the range of wireless topics covered by different panels at the New York State Wireless Association conference in Saratoga Springs, NY, on Friday, the ability to communicate wirelessly from inside buildings received special attention. This topic was addressed by panelists that included Tom Marciano, Chief Growth Officer and partner at InRange Solutions and Azimuth Engineering Group; John Foley, Director of the Safer Buildings Coalition; and Dominic Villecco, President and Founder, V-COMM Telecommunications Engineering.
Foley pointed out that an estimated 80 percent of cell phone calls originate from and terminate inside buildings, As such, it becomes imperative that building occupants and especially police, fire and EMT personnel can communicate via voice or text with wireless devices. He said that the Safer Buildings Coalition advocates for enhanced in-building wireless public safety communications on three strategic pillars: 1) the ability to dial 911, 2) the ability for all devices to receive mass notification texts, and 3) that all wireless devices have to work, either for push-to-talk land mobile radio units or cell phones.
Marciano said the first step is defining the problem by identifying wireless dead zones or where wireless coverage is spotty. Villecco suggests that wireless dead zones can arise because cellular signals using higher frequencies don’t have the ability to penetrate structures as do lower frequencies. He added that energy efficient windows used on new buildings tend to block cellular signals. The challenge is figuring out ways to get wireless signals into interior dead zones.
Technical solutions are available to solve for wireless dead zones, particularly for first responders. The Emergency Responder Communications Enhancement System (ERCES) is a Building Code Required life safety system that helps emergency responders communicate with each other during an emergency. These systems ensure that communications between firefighters, police and emergency medical services are not impaired. The radio signal from a responder’s two-way radio reaches an antenna inside a building and is amplified and transmitted by an antenna on the roof to the closest public safety radio system antenna. The system also ensures radio signals from the public safety antenna reach responders inside the building through the same method in reverse.
A more elaborate scheme is an in-building distributed antenna system that will serve all callers inside the building, although such DAS installations may not reach parking garages or elevators. So an ERCES is still needed. In New York, fire and building codes require in-building wireless capabilities to serve LMR PTT that provide voice-only, and smart phones that operate on FirstNet and mobile network operators that handle voice, text, and data. Fire codes have evolved but now compel building owners to invest in wireless infrastructure for public safety communications.
The panel pointed out that first responders take a “belt and suspenders” approach that utilizes both LMR and cellular phones to ensure that they can communicate from anywhere inside a building, especially when it comes to getting people out of the building in an emergency. So, in-building public safety communications systems must handle both types of phones.
The panel issued a call to action for New York State that involves: education and advocacy at the state and local levels; prioritizing buildings for in-building wireless communications such as schools, and hospitals; and utilizing available funding, and helping property owners and managers to implement in-building systems that meet building codes.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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