Installation…in a Hurricane!

One of my clients made cell-phone repeaters. These little boxes installed on rooftops and telephone poles, and carried cell phone signals forward to the next repeater, so that as people traveled by car, train, or bus, their cell phone signal would no be lost and calls would not be dropped.

I helped develop and implement a customer survey to determine the documentation needs of the field staff at our customers, who install these repeaters. Managers and purchasing agents at their customer sites ordered the repeaters, but they had no first-hand experience with the challenges of repeater installations.

The existing repeater installation manual was 3-hole punched and provided in a big binder. Our customer survey of professional installers revealed that it was more than a little awkward to flip through a thick binder while on a rooftop, or worse, while up a telephone pole.

Further talks with the actual installers revealed that most of them had already installed many repeaters, so they didn’t need to read through that thick binder every time they installed another repeater. But they did need a checklist to make sure they didn’t forget a step in the installation process. My suggestion--providing a pocket-sized quick reference guide, summarizing the key steps—was met with great enthusiasm among the installers.

The result was a single card, printed on both sides, and laminated. The lamination protected the card from rain, mud, food spills, and wearing out with frequent use.

This quick summary card passed the most severe test that could be thrown at it—far more severe than anyone thought of, planned, or expected.. A severe hurricane hit Florida, and the .installers had to put more repeaters on more rooftops, so that emergency services would not lose cell-phone communication during the disaster. Installing electrical equipment during an electrical storm is challenging enough, without having to deal with thick stacks of documentation blowing in the severe winds or getting too wet to read. The installers wrote to us, how much they appreciated my little laminated, pocket-size quick reference card while installing rooftop repeaters in that hurricane.