Just like phones are able to use the Voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, to function and provide telecommunication connections, Radio over Internet protocol, or RoIP, does similar to radio tools. And, even more interesting, RoIP doesn’t need its own dedicated architecture. It can run through satellite grids, private networks, public networks, or LTE. This is critical. Most radio users know that when standard grids go down during a disaster or blackout, radio is the go-to communication tool for connecting when nothing else works. To be able to add Internet grids to the same radio devices exponentially increases their capability when everything else isn’t working.
The advantages of RoIP tend to be multiple, with some variation from client to client. First, RoIP allows the ability to operate when and where other grids have practical gaps. This can be particularly powerful in areas where standard grids have gone down, such as tower vaults being destroyed or being located in geographic boxes such as canyons. It marries the ruggedness of two way communication devices with radio capability for extreme conditions with a wide reach of the Internet that normal radio bandwidths can’t compete with.
Traditional radio did have its limitations. They were capped by their range as well as being out of direct line with transmitters. However, they perform incredibly well when all hell is blowing around in the form of storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and conventional structure failures that would otherwise knock out traditional communication resources such as phones, wired connections, and similar.
When RoIP is coupled with the radio network, the physicality issue fades away. The radio can alternate between traditional radio signals and RoIP nodes, taking advantage of whichever network is up and running and available for connection at the time. That in effect solves the line of sight challenge that has blocked existing radios for decades. And, because of this new opportunity, the reach of connected workers goes well beyond developed grids. Instead, workers and personnel can easily stay connected in areas that have no development at all, such as extreme rural zones or wilderness. RoIP is a literal game-changer in this regard.
Of course, there is a fulcrum that allows everything to join and connect. That would be a RoIP gateway resource. Normally, such resources demand a significant amount of physical infrastructure to be in place. For example, the original phones needed phone lines, and then the Internet rode on those until significantly expanded with their replacement via fiber optics. Now, today, RoIP needs a similar approach to hook up, but fortunately, it doesn’t require a billionaire’s investment to make it happen.
Remember, because RoIP utilizes networks and communications infrastructure that already exists with the Internet, the cost of implementing RoIP for a company or agency is very affordable. Add in the expanding satellite capabilities that are already robust, and entrants are literally able to revolutionize their field operations and their related connections via radio devices. The world of communication is transforming year by year, month by month. RoIP opens another door into what’s possible, bringing people farther away and closer than ever.
