[BARC-List] Commercial radios

[Ethan Maass]

I'm not sure where to look, so I'm turning to the nearest community of 
radio folks I can think of: the BARC list.

My employer is in the market for acquiring or leasing radios to 
replace/augment our Nextel phones. The Nextel service has not proven to 
be reliable enough out on the water (where we do all of our work) and 
we would like a two-way radio setup which is not peer-to-peer (Private 
Calling on Nextel). Nextel does have the Group Call feature but its use 
is billed at a much higher rate than the Private Calling. Not to 
mention the terrible coverage we've experienced around the Boston 
Harbor area.

The ideas I've had are along the lines of leasing time on a commercial 
repeater. I'm not sure what bands are used for this kind of stuff 
(GMRS, 800, 900?), nor am I familiar with what equipment is available. 
Can anyone help me with this kind of information or contact info for 
someone who can help?

Thanks,

Ethan
KB1GXW
Boston, MA