You’ve been on the road or in structures where you’ve experienced poor cell signal. In most cases, solving this problem is a simple fix. You keep driving until you have a signal or you leave the building. But what about when the issue happens in your office building?
Bad cell signal is a common concern in older office buildings. When they were built, there wasn’t a major need for cell phone tower clearance. This signal disruption is also typical in structures with metal roofs if the signal around the building isn’t at least at three bars.
Since you’re there every working day, leaving to make a phone call isn’t feasible. Instead, you could invest in a short or long-range cell phone booster for office buildings. But if you’re the owner and your staff, tenants, and customers complain, you may need to find the reason behind the disruption. We’ll review why this is essential and what your options are here.
The Dangers of No Signal in an Office
Some might roll their eyes and claim that “no cell signal” is a first-world problem. However, owning a business and working in an office is dangerous to your livelihood.
When there is little to no signal, it’s difficult, if not impossible, for staff to do their job and customers to connect with them as needed. Instead, those consumers will turn to businesses that are more easily reachable with instant communication, particularly those with online access.
Recent studies show that nearly 80% of consumers expect to have access to a business through online means, either via messaging, email, or an instant ChatBox. If the office building housing your business representatives struggles to allow a strong signal, you may lose potential and current customers.
Your building may be in a cell phone dead zone, which happens when it isn’t located close enough to at least one cell tower or if the material used to construct the building is too thick to let the signal through (such as concrete, insulated glass, steel, or other metal). In some cases, an outside obstruction like a mountain, a thicket of trees, or another large building can reduce signal strength.
Improving Cell Signal
Depending on the reason behind your building’s signal (or lack of it), you may have simple solutions. Take a stroll through the structure with your phone in “field test mode” (found in Settings in iOS and Android), and watch the bars to find the strongest areas. Research the cell phone providers of those who do and don’t have a signal to determine if there’s a particular network that is creating the problem. If that’s the case, it could be fixed with a simple memo to anyone in the office to let them know the issue is with a particular provider, not the building.
But if the signal disruption is caused by the building, and there is strength in a certain area, you can use a signal booster to improve the reception within range of that booster. For a wider range, you’ll need a professional cell-boosting company to help.
Until then, there are a few short-term solutions. You can have your staff reset their devices to force a reconnect or use them in a room where the signal is stronger. Some offices use Bluetooth technology to leave their electronics in one location and talk to the customer in another spot. Finally, if your device has Wi-Fi calling, you can enable that. These temporary fixes will likely get frustrating over time, requiring a more permanent solution, like a cell booster.
