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Industrial radios have, traditionally, not been available to every worker in the facility, and to us, that’s an issue.
How are workers expected to work smarter, faster and more agile without having the proper tools needed to get their jobs done? Well, they can’t, and studies show that 35 percent is the industry standard for workforce efficiency, according to a study by Prometheus Group. We can do better, and we can start with digital transformation efforts that improve workforce communication in the field.
There’s no question that the frontline’s tools, like wrenches and screwdrivers, are necessary to get their tasks done on time, but industrial radios are just as important. At weavix™, we provide connectivity and digital communication across your entire facility, for every worker. Some facilities might think giving every worker a radio is overkill and well outside of their budget, but it’s completely necessary to holistically improve efficiency, support enterprise initiatives and keep your workers safe. weavix™, the Internet of Workers™ (IoW) platform gives your workers access to the limitless digital communication they deserve, and here are our top 10 reasons why.
1. Receive Mass Alerts
Safety is a top concern for every industrial facility, and rightfully so. When there’s an emergency anywhere in the facility, that emergency and the safety of your workers needs to take priority. But, when only a few within the workforce have any form of communication, keeping every worker protected and informed during a dire situation becomes much more difficult.
Old emergency mass alert systems rely a lot on hope: hope that your workers hear the sirens in their area, and hope your workers remember what sound and rhythm indicates what emergency is going on. While hope is good to have, it’s not a guarantee to keep your workers safe. That’s where walt™ comes in.
walt™ smart radios are your frontline’s guarantee to receiving and then responding to alerts. After giving every worker a walt™, not only can they communicate with supervisors and crew members, but an alert is instantly sent to every device. With our three-tiered approach, all alerts can be classified depending on severity: Informational, Warning and Danger. These alerts will continuously go off as an alarm on their smart radio, vibrate and take over the entire screen, indicating an emergency, until each individual worker acknowledges it.
Our alerts override all weavix™ devices within the facility, even if they’re asleep, guaranteeing everyone is informed. We connect every worker, and in an emergency, having a reliable walt™ smart industrial radio keeps them safe.
2. Stay in Touch with Their Co-workers
One of the most obvious reasons that every worker needs a walt™ on their person is the ability to communicate with the rest of their crews. Whether it’s a small request from one co-crew member to another or a change in responsibilities or priority of tasks, being able to convey that message quickly allows your crews to adjust and act fast. With weavix™ smart radios, every worker now has PT3 or Push-to-3. Combining push-to-talk, push-to-picture and push-to-video communication, PT3 puts the most advanced capabilities at your frontline’s fingertips to share information quickly and efficiently.
Aside from communicating back and forth to respond fast to changes for certain tasks, communicating with co-workers also develops your workforce within their jobs. For some, it’s easier to ask a fellow peer for clarification or understanding on an unfamiliar task than it is to ask a manager. Some might think they should already know it, even if they haven’t run across a certain task before. Instead of delaying the responsibility due to not wanting to embarrass themselves or feel as though they’re wasting their manager’s time, they can just as quickly ask their more seasoned co-workers.
3. Contact Their Direct Supervisors When the Time Calls
There are many instances that field crews need to reach their supervisor, but only few can. Supervisors and managers are just as busy as their field workers, but they have the added challenge of balancing time completing tasks and being accessible to crews. With every worker having a walt™ smart radio, there’s always the perceived notion that workers will talk to their supervisor too often, keeping them from completing their tasks.
Establishing permission-based channels and two-way invitations, weavix™ accounts for this, allowing your field crews and supervisors to be both connected and productive. Supervisors can choose who is able to reach out to them, reinforcing the chain of command throughout the frontline. With these invitations, it keeps supervisors from being bombarded with messages and keeps workers from reaching out to the wrong supervisor.
On the frontline, there are things that workers do that isn’t so vital that their supervisor needs to know about. But what about the things workers experience? Concerning the facility as a whole, there are certain instances that management should know about. weavix™ allows workers to communicate issues to those who can resolve them. Not only does this practice help drive efficiency, but it keeps management more aware of what’s going on throughout the entire facility so they can act fast for their workers.
4. Immediate Access to Subject Matter Experts
Similar to having instant access to co-workers and managers, giving every worker a walt™ smart radio also connects them to the subject matter experts as needed. They might be somewhere else within the facility or a state or two away, but with weavix™, it’s just as though the subject matter expert were right there with them to assist. With this connection between your frontline workers and your subject matter experts, all through our IoW platform, any specialized issues your crews run into can be accounted for and be resolved faster.
5. Stay Focused on Tasks, without Unnecessary Chatter
For the workers that are currently supplied with a radio, they’ll be the first to tell you that there can be many conversations going on that they have no involvement with. It’s distracting, especially for tasks that require more focus. When every worker has a walt™, you might think that the problem would get worse since more people having radios would lead to more radio chatter and more distractions, but that’s not the case.
With weavix™, our walt™ industrial radios come with unlimited channels and radio silencing options. In the event of an emergency, however, any silencing features are overridden to effectively deliver emergency alerts. For your workers, this can lead to their communications being more targeted and purposeful since they can talk directly with whom they need to. As a receiver, they would know the message was intended for them to hear, letting them concentrate on the task at hand and only get information that’s pertinent to them. For less urgent messages, workers can instead text each other from their walt™, allowing them to focus on the task and respond when it’s convenient.
6. Productivity is Proven to Skyrocket
Many studies have been conducted by workplace productivity software platforms, namely SalesForce™ and CMSWire, showing how digital transformation drives productivity levels up, especially in the frontline. walt™ radios are designed to enhance your frontline workforce, expand their communication capabilities and extend it to everyone. A study conducted by Expert Market reveals there’s a link between communication and productivity in the workplace, where people are better able to hold themselves and their crews more accountable.
7. Language Barriers Become Obsolete
Language can be a challenge in communicating on the frontline: overcome it with weavix™. Our walt™ smart radios optimize and connect your workforce with integrated language translation and dictation capabilities. Rest assured your crews are working together effectively. Sporting a 90 percent translation accuracy rate, language barriers are no match for weavix™.
Allowing workers to communicate in their preferred language allows them to concentrate on the task at hand, rather than trying to understand what is being said or sent to them.
8. Receive Critical Facility Information Daily, or Anytime it’s Needed
When a crane moves, a unit shuts down temporarily or an area gets closed off due to safety concerns, your frontline workers need to know. Not having this information can drastically slow down operations or even pose a safety risk to the workers out in the field. However, without every worker having a radio, ensuring that everyone who needs this information actually receives it is a challenge many facilities face.
To overcome this challenge, weavix™ connects every worker in our IoW platform. Every worker, from the frontline, to contractors, to office employees and everyone in between, can communicate digitally. From one platform, you can guarantee that everyone receives the same message, information and instructions regarding these safety concerns. walt™ allows you to reach the deskless workforce at any time and as often as necessary.
9. Promote Teamwork and Trust Throughout your Workforce
We’ve discussed the operational benefits that expanding communications to everyone in your facility provides, but now many facilities are wanting to keep productivity up while also promoting workplace culture. Without ways to communicate and connect with their crew, many workers can feel secluded or not fully invested in their work. But with walt™, your crews know they can rely on and trust each other more.
If a worker is having an issue and needs an extra pair of hands, they can find out who they need to communicate with using their walt™, and know that people on the other end are able to help. Yes, you’re keeping your operations running, but from the worker’s perspective, they know their crew has their back whenever they need it. With more communication and opportunities to bring your workforce together, weavix™ builds teamwork and trust among your frontline. And it all started by giving everyone a walt™ smart radio.
10. Build a Connected Workforce
A connected workforce is a productive workforce, and weavix™ is dedicated to driving productivity. Physically, each of your field workers can see, feel, hold their walt™ smart radio and then actually use them on a daily basis. So many connected worker platforms go largely unused by the frontline because they weren’t designed to cater to the work environment or their needs. weavix™ is the opposite.
With more innovative tools your crews are already used to working with, plus guaranteed connectivity across the entire facility and multimedia communication capabilities available for every worker, weavix™ builds a truly connected worker experience. By giving every worker a walt™, we’re giving them a voice and empowering them to use it with their co-workers and management.
Having walt™ available for every worker benefits everyone within your facility. Managers get more transparency into the frontline, field crews can freely communicate with their co-workers and stay safe while in the facility and contractors are included and informed as needed. While some industrial radios are deemed as “too expensive” to give to every worker, they are just as necessary as other tools in your field crews’ toolbelt.
weavix™ offers the industry’s most advanced smart radio at an affordable rate, with a managed service to cover any ongoing repairs, maintenance and upgrades at no additional cost. We can fit almost any budget to give every worker the ability to communicate, enhance efficiency and increase safety throughout your entire facility. With an average worker efficiency rate of only 35 percent, we know weavix™ is the solution to optimize your workforce and drive those numbers up.
To see how giving everyone on your frontline a walt™ can positively impact your crews, contact a weavix™ specialist today.
