https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

content


The Times They Are A-Changin’

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Educate your customer and be ready to back up your product or service. Hello. My name is Roger. I have a couple of confessions to make. It is time for
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 1st July 2001

Educate your customer and be ready to back up your product or service.

Hello. My name is Roger. I have a couple of confessions to make. It is time for me to be honest with you. In my last column I told you a bit about myself. Now, I must offer you an insight into the inner Roger.

Confession #1 — When I was in college I played in a rock band. It was the ’60s, and my life revolved around my 1964 vintage Fender Stratocaster guitar. So, my public admission to you is (drum roll): I’m an old rocker who just never grew up. No long hair then. No hair now.

Confession #2 — When I was in the U.S. Air Force, I once had the nickname “The Whistler.” I never realized it, but often a situation would remind me of a song. And before I knew it, I would whistle it. I was even known to play the air guitar when I thought no one was watching. I was caught more than I care to admit.

Why do I need to mention this? Well, you see I want to learn more about what is important to you, the reader of Mobile Radio Technology. So, I invited three highly respected members of the mobile radio community to lunch. Although my purpose was to ask questions, I ended up becoming the “fly on the wall.” My guests conversed as friends who haven’t seen each other in some time. The “war” stories flew. I sat there, entranced, listening to them discuss what the mobile radio world used to be and what it is today. I asked a few questions, but I didn’t need to. I felt like “Grasshopper” in the old TV show Kung Fu.

No ponytails, then or now

As I listened, I noticed that two of my guests had ponytails. My envy, I hope, wasn’t too obvious. I had wanted to grow a ponytail when I was in the rock band. But my dad thought that “only hippies” grew them. I guess my clothes didn’t send the message, “Hey, Dad I am a hippie.” So, because I was a poor musician and student living at home, I acquiesced to no ponytail. Today, I couldn’t grow a ponytail if I started off as Secretariat.

After a highly enjoyable and educational lunch, I found myself whistling Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” No air guitar. Heck, I had to keep my hands free to drive the car and be ready to answer my cellphone.

(OK. Confession #3 — My pet peeve, besides people who haven’t figured out how to use a turn signal, is people driving their cars attempting to use cellphones at the same time.)

The times, they did change

The discussion of my three co-lunchers made it clear that the mobile radio industry has undergone tremendous change. Of the many changes they discussed, the one that stuck out the most was how people do business today compared to 10, and even five, years ago. The same can be said for just about any industry that deals with technology. The creation of need drives the change in other technology markets. That need could be for a new application or capability, or the need to be “now.” (As in, “It’s new. I have to have it now.”)

In the mobile radio market, the need is much the same now as it was 10 years ago. Technology always has an impact, but not to the degree, say, that mobile telephony has seen. The real change is how people do business.

Roger’s quiz

Do you do business differently today than in the past?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Can’t remember that far back

Do you offer the same product lines and/or services that you did in the past?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Still waiting for the tubes to warm up

Are your clients as technically oriented as they were in the past?

  • Yes
  • Sort of
  • Can’t tell a gigahertz from a megahertz

This is a short quiz, but I think you can catch where I’m going. Of course you do not do business the way you used to. No matter whether you are a dealer or an operator (or both), to survive, you have had to change.

At IWCE 2001, I talked with a number of folks about their businesses and how they are approaching them. A few appeared to have stayed the course with little change. As one individual put it, “It’s a good ol’ boys network, anyhow.” This individual was in the minority. Most have had to deal with what technological changes have occurred and the level of experience and expertise their clients have.

The magic answer

No matter the problem, I suppose it’s human nature to look for the path of least resistance or the easy answer. Well, I’m here to offer Roger’s rule for doing business: Educate your customer and be ready to back up your product or service.

Is this too obvious? Most answers are. Yet, there are those, and you’ve met them, who take the “They have to come to us because where else are they going to go?” approach. Use this approach, and one day the customer will tell you where to go. Well, I feel a song coming on.

Come gather ’round people

Wherever you roam …

Tags: content

Most Recent


  • The Times They Are A-Changin’
    Newscan: Securing the Internet of Things is quite a challenge
    Also: EWA requests dismissal of 900 MHz applications; TIA names tech and policy priorities for 2014; IJIS Institute names Shumate Award winner; App makes bus waits more tolerable; a Blackberry comeback may be in the offing.
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’
    Newscan: FCC certifies Carlson Wireless's white-space radio
    Also: Congress looks to revamp telecom law; Obama to place some restraints on surveillance; IEEE to study spectrum-occupancy sensing for white-spaces broadband; Major Swedish transport operator opts for Sepura TETRA radios; RFMD to partner on $70 million next-generation power grid project; NENA opens registratiuon for "911 Goes to Washington."
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’
    Newscan: A look at the critical job of 911 dispatchers
    Also: NYC launches website for tracking 911 response times; Oregon implements 911 on pre-paid cell phones; LightSquared wants to keep spectrum assets; Harris receives multiple government orders; FCC extends rebanding financial reconciliation deadline; Zetron gear at core of communications system upgrade; Ritron debuts wireless access control system; EWA seeks policy review of VHF vehicular repeater system deployments.
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’
    Newscan: Average peak data rates of 144 MB/s average realized in tests with CAT 4 LTE device
    Also: Verizon, T-Mobile to swap unused spectrum to improve coverage; Internet giants oppose surveillance--but only when the government does it; FCC Chairman says incentive auction will be delayed until middle of 2015; FCC chair announces staff appointments; Alcatel-Lucent names Tim Krause as chief marketing officer; New Jersey county deploys TriTech CAD system; Toronto airport deploys 26-position Zetron console system;

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • RugGear: Contributing to the future of mission-critical broadband communication review and market vision
  • Photo gallery: 2014 Communications Marketing Conference (CMC) in Tucson
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’
    Top 5 Stories - Week of Sept. 22
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’
    RCA plans to expand this year's Technical Symposium

Commentary


LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command

  • 2
6th May 2022

Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications

18th April 2022

FirstNet success means no hypothetical ‘shots’ need to be fired, Swenson says

22nd February 2022
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Newscan: Japanese carrier outage lasts multiple days dlvr.it/STS9JJ

6th July 2022
UrgentComm

Criminals use deepfake videos to interview for remote work dlvr.it/STRjZM

6th July 2022
UrgentComm

Tesla recalls 59,000 vehicles over emergency-call software glitch dlvr.it/STRcgT

6th July 2022
UrgentComm

Report: Reforming emergency dispatch won’t be easy, but it’s necessary dlvr.it/STRYNP

6th July 2022
UrgentComm

FCC clears SpaceX to connect Starlink to boats, planes, other moving vehicles dlvr.it/STRXGB

6th July 2022
UrgentComm

Judge orders Hytera to make large royalty payment this month to Motorola Solutions dlvr.it/STRRQc

6th July 2022
UrgentComm

Sesame Solar leverages mobile solar, hydrogen to power efforts beyond the grid dlvr.it/ST8m3K

1st July 2022
UrgentComm

Newscan: On front lines, communications breakdowns prove costly for Ukraine dlvr.it/ST7fnC

30th June 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X