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Any educational facility across the country needs a solution in place where staff can communicate effectively – and live safe in the knowledge that its impact is positive from a safety, productivity, and efficiency perspective, especially for students. 

But the bigger the scale in terms of grounds, building space, and students, the bigger the task you have on your hands to have good communication coverage. 

And by good communication coverage we mean having the ability to have a two-way conversation without losing signal to physical and virtual obstacles or experiencing interference due to poor infrastructure. 

We continue our Education Pain Points series by focusing on why good coverage is vital for staff and students – with a closer look at UK universities and how they need an ultra-smart solution in place to boost efficiency and combat the size and scale of their operation. 

Finding the right coverage

Coverage and capacity is essential for creating a safe and efficient environment for both staff and students. But when you have multiple sites, multi-storey buildings, and some people operating on their own, it can become a complex situation. Not to mention the fact that you may not be aware of some of the physical and virtual obstacles that prevent you from having seamless, uninterrupted two-way communication coverage.  

Having the right seamless network infrastructure in place will give you right coverage and capacity for your university, college, or even school. Dead air and blind spots will be removed and the vast space you operate across will be taken into account one when one staff member wants to contact another instantly, but they're at opposite sides of a building or facility. 

Coverage solutions come in many forms, so that’s why we have a team of experts who visit your site to a complete a comprehensive survey that is conducted to show you the best solution possible for your individual requirements . Head to our infrastructure page now for more information on the solutions we offer.

Here's a summary of the infrastructure options we provide and how they can help you experience uninterrupted two-way communication: 

Direct Mode

Direct Mode is a solution that connects up to 200 users and allows radio-to-radio transmission. It offers basic voice, data, text, and applications support. This is suitable for end users who are in range of each other and no complex infrastructure is needed for good coverage to become a reality. 

Single Site Conventional

Again, available for up to 200 users, Single Site Conventional uses a repeater to ensure coverage covers all bases. If coverage is still problematic for end users, a network of repeaters can be used to ensure that more complex building structures can be accounted for. 

IP Site Connect

We now enter the realm of solutions that utilise IP networks. IP Site Connect enhances voice and data capabilities thanks to a series of repeaters being connected to an IP network. Designed for up to 200 users, the system can be used across 15 independent geographical locations - which is suitable for many universities who operate across multiple sites but still need to stay in touch with each other on a day-to-day basis. 

Capacity Plus for Single Sites

Capacity Plus is a cost-effective solution that gives a single site wide ranging, quality coverage. Just one digital trunking system is used to achieve this. 

Capacity Plus for Multiple Sites

If you operate on multiple sites, the digital trunking system can connect 15 independent sites, each with up to eight voice repeaters, and up to 12 dedicated data repeaters to provide cost effective, quality coverage.

Capacity Max

Capacity Max is connected using IP architecture, which integrated with our unique combination of hardware and software applications, gives you access to the latest digital software and features. The best way to boost efficiency, productivity, and safety for your organisation. 

Capacity Max also helps you save a significant amount of money without the need for hefty expenditure radio infrastructure. It also reduces administration requirements in obtaining Ofcom licences. With built-in diagnostics, no failure will bring the system down, meaning an uninterrupted service is always provided.

The need for good coverage

As we've discussed, every educational facility needs good communication coverage so staff can benefit from instant, reliable two-way communication to boost efficiency, productivity, and safety. Good coverage is a challenge in particular for universities, due to the size of their grounds, how many sites and buildings they have, and how many students study there. Here's a visual overview of exactly what we mean.

Let's put into perspective from a statistical point of view. 

543 hectares

The University of Nottingham has a total grounds area of 543 hectares. That's over 58 million square feet and a vast amount of space to cover in terms of ensuring two-way communication is instant and reliable for staff across all of their sites and spaces.  

For the students of Nottingham, it's essential that when they're in such vast surroundings, that the everyday running of facilities isn't hampered by a lack of coverage in key areas. 

467 buildings

Building spaces cause more coverage challenges than you might think. Radio signal has to battle with building structures from a material point of view and a height point of view (multi-storey). The University of Warwick has 467 buildings across four sites, and welcomes around 26,500 full-time students each year to its campuses. With so much building space though, there's plenty of obstacles to overcome for good, reliable coverage from a two-way communication perspective.

24 sites

Newcastle University has 24 sites under its wing, each offering unique learning opportunities for students, but all with something in common - the need for good two-way communication between staff. This is a lot of different departments and elements of the university that potentially need to come together on a daily basis to discuss important matters, that require something quicker than an email or a missed phone call. 

2.4 million students

There's roughly 2.4 million students who attend universities across the UK - with their education at this point just a step away from their chosen career path. It's essential that universities have efficiency at the heart of how their building space and grounds are operated and maintained. 

A big part of this is good coverage when staff need to communicate across vast space, in multi-storey buildings, and across different sites. 

Book a FREE Demonstration 

Want to find out more about having the right infrastructure in place for your educational facility? 

Book a FREE demonstration of our award-winning TRBOCALL system and we’ll show you how indoor and outdoor positioning works and how it will benefit your facility going forward. 

Complete our online enquiry form, via our contact us page, and we’ll arrange a demonstration at a time that suits you.