You can call the Fire Department or local Fire Marshall the local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) to get a free evaluation of your building or leased space, but this is a double-edged sword. They will show you where Public safety coverage fails, if it does. The real issue is if you fail the check, you may have just started a timeline to fix the issues(s) that can’t be stopped.
While these are contacts are not your enemy, they are charged with fixing what they know is wrong with the Public Safety coverage that everyone depends on in an emergency. Most AHJs will work with you and give you time to address the issues(s) because you sought out their help and guidance.
Major building structures that block RF signals include:
- Thick 18-30 inch thick concrete foundation walls and support pylons (each 4″ of concrete is 6dBi of loss, that 200%!)
- A great example is concrete walls in stairwells
- Metal Walls and Ceilings – These types of structure block all RF bands
- E-Glass – It impacts Public Safety coverage, just like cellphones, starting with a 11x signal loss and worse.
We can come to your site and check your coverage. We can even build you a report, which is actually a good thing to do once every 2-3 years. If your local public safety official(s) visits you, you can share it with him/her and show them you’re serious about public safety too.