satphones in lieu of no comms - disasters

[TheShooter]

Hi All,
New to forum. Searched and did not find much on this , so here goes...

Looking for feedback on satellite phones for use in disaster situations. I'm a global business continuity manager and am doing research for the viability of using satphones as communication tools between major offices. Offices in Australia, Canada, UK, Japan and US (West Coast).

Looking for solid feedback from folks who have experience (medium to heavy) with satphones in one or more of these regions.

My punch list (add to it if you think I missed anything MAJOR)
1. smallest, totally mobile satphones (no antenna setups, bases, etc. These need to be able to be carried in a standard laptop bag like a cell phone might typically be carried...)
2. service providers (I understand that different regions may need different providers based on satellites, exposure, etc.)
3. vendors that you have dealt with that can provide hardware to more than one region, no more than 20 phones per region. Preference is to work with as few vendors as possible, so ones that you have had experience with globally, or at least multi-continent is desirable.
4. accessories - besides the phones, and possibly spare batteries, what other accessories or necessary hardware would you consider mandatory for such a setup as descried above?
5. lessons learned --- any feedback on any part of your experience will be helpful.

Thanks in advance!!!
TheShooter

[Will.Spencer]

If price is not a significant concern, I would go with Iridium, because it is a truly global network. It can provide service for you users in Australia, Canada, UK, Japan and the US.

The Iridium 9505A is 158mm long x 62mm wide x 59mm deep. That's not bad for a sat phone.



Here is a list of Iridium resellers. You'll see some big name companies there.

I am not big into accessories, because I don't like the weight.

Lessons learned? This stuff is nice, but expensive.

[TheShooter]

Good info! I have been scrounging around and it seems Iridium would be the right choice overall. Cost is not an issue in this case. Most important it to be able to establish calls to our other offices when there is a disaster that takes most or all of the "standard" comms out.

As far as I can tell, and from what I know of satellite signals in general, there are no indoor phones unless you have an outdoor antenna attached, correct? This is not a big deal, but with the assumption of a disaster that takes out major chunks of the power grid, thereby affecting landlines and cellular services, an indoor option for satphones is desireable especially during standard business hours. This is making a lot of assumptions, but that is what I do - make assumptions, guess, hope, pray and PLAN for it all!!! :p

So, what indoor configurations/options does anyone know of? (IF any...)

Also, wondering if there is any info on performance/signal reliability in a major downtown area with 40+ story buildings - do the buildings tend to degrade signal to ground levels using these phones?

Thanks,
TheShooter

[Will.Spencer]

There are external antennas for the Iridium 9505A, but you do need to purchase an antenna adapter. The antennas can either be permanently mounted or they can be magnetically mounted.

Check out these Iridium antennas.

Satellite is essentially a line-of-site proposition, so you're good unless the skyscraper next door blocks your view of the part of the sky that just happens to contain the satellite that you want to talk to.

So, you theoretically might have to walk a bit to get to an area with a decent view up and to the North or South. Iridium's satellites are not geostationary, they are in low-earth orbit and are constantly moving in a polar orbit.