14 DAY TRIAL // Verizon Wireless has unveiled its expanded national test lab, where all the devices used on the mobile operator's network are tested to ensure that they meet the required standards of reliability. The result of a project which lasted one year, the new 11,000 square foot facility is four times bigger than its original size and provides new areas for rigorous testing, evaluation of new applications and technologies and confidential collaborations with manufacturers and software vendors.
"The work that's done here is key to Verizon Wireless' industry leadership - it's the crown jewel of the company's research and testing facilities," said Dick Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon Communications. "It's one of the reasons more people use our brand than any other wireless brand."
The new facility, located in Bedminster, comprises more than a dozen individual laboratories, where various tests are performed, ranging from handset durability and voice call quality to data throughput, camera phone picture resolution and on-demand multimedia services. Many of the test rooms are lined with metal screening to shield devices from external live radio waves, keeping unwanted signals out and test signals in. A life-like test mannequin, known as "Mr. Head," sits in a soundproof booth and is equipped with $5,000-worth artificial ears that perceive sound just like human ears do, to test handset microphone volume and clarity. Additional tests are performed in the field, outside the Bedminster lab, where engineers test devices in real-life situations across Verizon Wireless' national network.
"The phone or device we test is the customer's window to our network and must equal the network's reliability and quality to ensure the very best customer experience," said Lou LaMedica, Verizon Wireless Test Lab director and a 40-year veteran of the telecommunications industry. "Our job is to verify that manufacturers' devices and applications perform as advertised before they are released for sale to our customers."
Other facilities used for testing by Verizon Wireless are located in Walnut Creek, CA, where wireless software applications such as games, over-the-air music downloads and GPS-based services are tested, and in Southlake, TX, where software and hardware compatibilities are verified on a simulated Verizon Wireless network.