Copyright ©1996, RF Specialties Group.
These days, broadcasters need only to access Internet address http://www.rfspec.com for detailed product specifications, photographs and even technical suggestions on hundreds of audio and RF products. Entire product brochures and specification sheets can be instantaneously downloaded to computer or printed out whenever broadcasters need.
The electronic catalog replaces RF Specialties' weighty paper catalog of over 1,000 products, supplanting it with current technical information that isn't several generations removed through the process of printing and mailing.
It is believed to be the first of its kind to be posted on the Internet's World Wide Web, surpassing anything broadcasters have seen thus far.
"We went far beyond what others are doing on the Internet because it has become apparent over the past few years that broadcast engineers are busier than they've ever been," noted RF Specialist and Webmaster John Schneider of the RF Specialties office in Washington. "The idea from the beginning was to allow broadcasters to get product information directly at any hour of day or night, and give them a convenient way to communicate with us."
Within weeks of its online debut, the RF Specialties Web catalog was being used by a number of broadcasters, including one who used it to research and source products for a large, complex engineering project!
The online catalog is indexed by both product type and manufacturer, with substantive information on product application, specifications and pricing.
An Internet special of the month is posted, for below market values on inventory or promotional items.
The e-mailboxes of RF Specialties members are accessible from the Web catalog for immediate inquiries into various technologies and products. Communicating online, says Stevan White of the RF Specialties Washington office, "has made access to us quicker and easier. They waste less time searching and we waste less time qualifying their needs."
For Spanish speaking visitors, information is available in Spanish with a simple click of an icon bar. For engineers wanting an updated version of RF Specialties' popular computer program for calculating STL path attenuation, figuring out geographic coordinates, designing an AM T-matching network, and more, they can download the program from the Web page with just a few simple keystrokes.
As of the last census, the RF Specialties site gets more than 1,000 visits a month, with the number doubling every month. Says Bill Newbrough of the RF Specialties office in San Francisco: "A growing number of engineers are very much in tune with the Internet and appreciate the ability to call up spec sheets and pricing. In the San Francisco chapter of SBE, almost all the members have e-mail addresses now."
The catalog has also become an ideal source for those broadcasters who have a need, but aren't sure of the products available to meet that need, says Bill Turney with the RF Specialties office in Florida.
But most important, sums up Schneider, "This catalog never gets misplaced, and you can't spill coffee on it."