About DECT
Cordless phones are an attractive proposition for many areas of application including office, warehouses, factories, schools, universities, hospitals, hotels and many more.
There are several options for connecting the cordless phones including GSM (personal mobiles), WiFi and DECT.
“DECT” stands for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications and is a wireless standard developed specifically for telephones. As with all types of un-wired phones, the handsets talk to base stations. If the area to be covered is large, then more than one base will be needed – connected together in some sort of mesh network.
In the case of DECT, this would be called a Multi-cell DECT installation.
Multi-cell DECT has the following advantages over the other cordless methods
- High quality voice
- Managed bases, rather than dumb repeaters
- Elegant roaming – the handovers from one base to another are managed to avoid the issue with WiFi networks where the phones tend to cling on too long before moving to the next access point
- Low bandwidth, low power requirements
- Designed specifically for portable telephones
- Low-cost handsets
- Secure radio-based communication
Implementation
it’s usually necessary to carry out a site survey to find out the number of bases needed
Why? Because the area a base can cover is totally dependent on what’s around it. Walls, floors, ceilings, partitions, storage systems, machines and office furniture all obstruct the signal and different materials used in their construction can radically affect coverage.
To carry out a survey requires specialised, calibrated equipment plus training & experience on the survey techniques to design a scheme where all required areas are covered, with overlaps so that handsets can roam.
Dect Survey – Base 1 coverage
Dect Survey – All bases showing overlaps