Coping with the end of AMPS

Remember the TV ads that had a man strolling through cornfields, talking on his cell phone, and asking, “Can you hear me now?” It was funny, mainly because cell phone users were in constant bondage to the nearby ‘tower’ to process their calls over thin air. As more and more towers were built—often little more than leased space on a farmer’s silo to install transmitting equipment—the number of ‘dropped calls’’ and ‘no service’ areas decreased. Also helpful, for voice calls, was the gradual change from analog systems to digital. Cellular carriers began changing over to digital. However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required them to support the older technology, Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) because so many customers still owned equipment compatible with that standard.

Recently, the FCC realized that analog cell phone signals were a relic of our electronic past, and decreed that, as of February 18, 2008, those few individuals and organizations still using AMPS—which stands for Advanced Mobile Phone Service—may be out of luck. On that date, cellular service providers will no longer be required to support AMPS technologies.

Of course, most individual cell phone users will not be affected, as the carriers have by and large all made the shift to digital networks. There is, however, one segment of the population—a very important segment—that may find itself unable to communicate by voice or by fax over the cellular networks in place when they purchased their mobile communications equipment. That population is First Responders—police, fire, and ambulance services. Other current users of AMPS include truckers and barge operators as well. While their communications are not generally critical, like that of First Responders, there could be a significant economic impact when the changeover happens, unless they have found a way to make their current systems compatible with the new standards. The First Responders and truckers and barge operators have depended on the sturdy, reliable “bagphone” to conduct their mobile voice and fax communications.

The reason for the reluctance of these populations to give up the bulky, and expensive equipment, is simple: fax. The digital networks available when they purchased their equipment could not reliably transmit information by fax. EMTs often need to receive faxes from doctors regarding patients in transit; police officers frequently request copies of warrants and so on by their mobile fax. Barge operators and truckers need to get bills of lading and other documentation regarding their cargo.

There’s no doubt that AMPS is a relic of an earlier communications age. It was first proposed by AT&T in 1971, back when “Ma Bell” was virtually the only telephone company in the United States. AMPS allowed a single standard to dominate cellular communications throughout the 1980s, and is credited with helping the U.S. cellular industry capture enormous market share. Cell phone use grew faster in Europe than in the United States because it was actually cheaper for users to communicate by cell phone than by expensive land-line phones service.

With virtually all U.S. wireless carriers poised to shut down their AMPS services in February, 2008, many organizations whose work depends on reliable voice and fax wireless communications are faced with purchasing or leasing expensive new equipment suites, or retrofitting what they have with extra pieces of equipment that will compromise essential space in the vehicles. Until October 30, 2007, there was no better solution on the horizon. That day, however, a relatively small electronics firm in Chantilly, Virginia, announced the availability of its Bag-Fax system. The system includes up to four ports that can connect to analog fax machines and traditional telephone handsets for fax and voice calls, and to an organization’s current carrier’s wireless network.

NSGDatacom CEO Rich Yalen said, “We are excited about this technology. BagFax provides an ideal solution for AMPS fax and voice applications. It is easy to deploy and requires no change to current operational procedures, after the cutover to your carrier’s wireless data service.”

NSGDatacom’s patented technology overcomes the problem of reliability for fax transmission that has long plagued digital wireless. Yalen notes that BagFax is rugged, tolerating vehicle vibration, wide temperature ranges, and dust.

BagFax systems were recently deployed on river barges in the Midwest, and performed admirably in connecting legacy communications voice and data equipment installed on the barges with the local cellular networks.

In effect, it would seem that the BagFax technology offers the best of two worlds, the ability to retain current equipment, and to continue to communicate using all the same protocols the teams and crews are used to using, and to achieve compatibility with digital wireless that could otherwise only be achieved at significant expense in equipment and retraining of personnel, with resulting loss of productivity and performance, as well.

References

NSGDatacom, Ltd.

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