By Terry Staff, Senior Account Manager.

In this month’s additional services focus, we are looking at how your radio communications systems life cycle can be supported with extended warranties. Part one gives an insight into what considerations should be made.

Manufacturers Standard Warranties

Regardless of your industry, the uptime and availability of your two-way radio communication system is critical. Dependent upon the manufacturer, an average in-box warranty can vary between 12-24 months.

Extended warranty options can be activated either at the time of purchase or in some cases before the expiration date of the original warranty. Whilst on the surface an extended warranty may sometimes seem expensive addition to your initial investment when compared to the cost of equipment failures and subsequent breakdowns, an extended warranty may end up saving you money in the long run.

What level of extended warranty would I require?

When deciding what level of extended warranty you require, you must have a clear understanding of what performance levels you can expect from your two-way radios’ lifespan. This decision can be supported by the industry you are utilising them in, for example, harsh operating environments such as a construction site or fireground will significantly impact a two-way radio’s lifecycle but within an educational setting, the physical & environmental impacts lessen.

By analysing the warranty programs available for your devices another essential consideration will be your current expenditure on ad hoc maintenance and repairs. Make sure your analysis includes not just the hard costs such as labour and parts but also the soft costs like the inconvenience of hardware failures, loss of productivity or impacts on health & safety processes.

What are the parameters of an extended warranty?

Understanding the parameters of the agreement you are entering is vital and if the warranty can be customised to meet your business’s requirements. An Extended Warranty for a hand portable radio can provide access to essential software features & updates and hardware repairs (with optional Accidental Damage) whilst infrastructure such as repeaters can also benefit from onsite and technical expert support from an engineer, securing your uptime and investment.

When was the last time you compared your existing radio equipment specifications to the current firmware?

Some radio manufacturers will not support free firmware, or software upgrades once the warranty period has ceased. This can affect your radio systems compatibility when new equipment is purchased for your fleet and software features have been adjusted/added.

Why should you invest in an extended warranty?

Over time, equipment and components can fail, an extended warranty provides you with an essential support extension for your radio system infrastructure and hand portable radios lifecycle ensuring:

• Equipment is protected at a fixed cost – Accurately forecast your equipment expenses and avoid unplanned costs with fixed-cost and fixed-term protection.
• Improved business productivity – An extended warranty gives you peace of mind by offering a predictable operating cost model and performance guarantees, saving on unplanned maintenance, decreasing downtime and increasing productivity.
• A 360 view of your radio fleet – Some manufacturers also offer the option to access a portal which provides you with a single-source view of your system and data with access to performance reports, radio fleet status and service case history, this can be beneficial to larger fleets.
• Expert advice & support is always on hand – Supported by Radiocoms highly trained technical experts you can feel confident that you will minimise down-time with effective troubleshooting.

To conclude, purchasing a proactive extended warranty with your product ensures your critical systems’ availability, but also provides cost-saving over time and guarantees any unwanted expenses during the first five years of ownership. 

Coming up in part 2

In part 2 of this series of additional services focuses we will explore the considerations and benefits of maintenance packages for both small and larger radio communication system deployments, and how they can ensure continuity of service and back up when you need it, especially when the network is critical to your organisation.

Working with organisations throughout the world, Radiocoms support clients with varied maintenance and support services. Learn more about our support services here, or get in touch today to discuss your options.