Communication is key to maintaining relationships either with family, friends, or colleagues. Effective communication is also crucial in business to achieve productivity and maintain strong working relationships. A good communication medium is needed to connect with people, and phones are a primary communication device for that.
Going mobile
Connecting with people is now easier with mobile phones. More people are using it to talk to their family and friends. Mobile phones are handy and are capable of a lot of things that can be done from a computer. But what if you are assigned to a distant land with poor cellular connection? How can you stay in touch with your family, friends, and work? The solution is to buy a satellite phone.
A mobile phone only uses cellular networks and is reliant on how strong or how weak that signal is. There are still remote places on Earth where there are no networks so using the roaming feature on mobile phones may not work all the time. Getting a satellite phone is advantageous, and it can be a lifesaver if ever you get stuck on a location. It’s good for long trips, hunting, vacation. It can connect you to your business partners and colleagues acroass the ocean, and not missing a single detail from meetings at work.
History of satellite phones
Satellite phones are a type of mobile phone that connects to a telephone network by radio through orbiting satellites. Also known as terminal, these phones are slightly bulkier than a mobile phone. It has a retractable microwave antenna that automatically tracks overhead satellites.
Over 50 years ago, the first satellite phone call happened between Lyndon Johnson and Fred Kappel. Fred Kappel was the chairman of AT&T, while Lyndon Johnson was the Vice-president of the United States at that time. It was the first phone call routed through a commercial satellite Telstar 1.
Satellite phone features
Satellite phones are useful in disaster response because most mobile networks can be down during or after natural disasters. Also, mobile phone call volumes largely spike during those times, and it can be difficult to get through. Using satellite phones can avoid this problem.
Satellite phones can be used for rugged environments. Some phones have water, shock, and dust resistance. Some phones have GSM compatibility, which enables it to be used as a cellular phone. They can be charged through solar power, so using them in remote places without network and power is an advantage.
A sat phone is used for basic communication as compared with today’s smartphones. That capability though makes battery consumption less, as it only displays signal strength, voicemail, phonebook, call forwarding, and text messaging. Some has added features like paging, data transmission, and faxing.
Satellite phones have bigger advantage than your regular cellular dependent phone. It has uniform performance wherever you are on the planet. It is very useful in disaster response and it has minimum to none installation required from your end. All you need is a network provider to be able to connect to the satellite communication systems.