Saturday, May 31, 2008

Speak from your mobile while sailing.

I was on the dot for my appointment with a BPO provider. I was there to inquire about the possibility of renewing a contract for my online contact. The original contract with a Swedish company was about to expire.
The BPO company is housed in a high rise building in a sprawling campus consisting of more than 15 giant towers.
I sat facing an imposing man who showed indifference to me. May be my diminutive stature didn’t seem to go well with him. But as the discussion progressed, he became more attentive to me. My in depth knowledge about the topic must have made him to look at me with some respect.
In between our meeting, he kept receiving intermittent calls on his mobile. Suddenly I realized that I am a witness to a technology that was new to me. I am aware that cell phones either go silent or they are reluctant to give uninterrupted signal in high rise buildings or wherever there is a concrete jungle.
I took up the courage to ask him how come he is able to talk freely on his mobile phone when sitting in his office on 7th floor. He was suddenly pleased. With a look of pride, he informed me that cell phone repeaters are installed in all the buildings in the campus.
He explained that a cell phone repeater works like an amplifier that picks up the radio signal from the base tower and amplifies the signal in such a way that signal is clear even inside the building or deep underground.
“Does it mean that the battery power lasts longer because it need not have to strain itself to pick up the radio signal”?-I asked.
His face lit up with appreciation and affirmed my guess.






Wireless cell phone repeater

Image courtesy: Google Images.

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2 comments:

Praveen Ratna Deepak said...

I took a course on Wireless n Cellular networks this semester. I think improper placement of the repeaters is the culprit in those intermittent calls.

Cheers,
Praveen
rDeepak.net

Rangan Badri said...

Thank you Deepak. I hope the technicians take a note of your point.