WZC Networking Marks 20 Years of Engineering Emergency Responder Radio Coverage

NOVI, Mich., Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- WZC Networking marks its 20th anniversary this year, reflecting two decades of designing, installing, and testing the in-building radio systems that keep firefighters and EMS crews connected when they move inside a structure. When a radio goes silent inside a building, a crew loses contact with command at the moment communication matters most. That's the gap WZC was built to close.

In 2006, RF engineer John Wierzgac founded WZC around an uncomplicated truth: concrete and steel might block a fire, but they shouldn't choke out a distress call. Twenty years later, WZC has become Michigan's benchmark for Emergency Responder Communication Enhancement Systems (ERCES) and Public Safety DAS. We don't sit back and wait for signal drops to expose a blind spot. Instead, we pull up a chair with developers, fire chiefs, and inspectors long before the first antenna hits the roof, wiring absolute reliability directly into the blueprint.

Buildings have radically evolved since 2006. Thick concrete and low-E glass save energy, but they block radio signals, creating dead zones in stairwells, basements, and interior corridors where portable radios lose contact with the outside. Where a building cannot meet the coverage thresholds required under NFPA 1225 and IFC Section 510, as adopted locally, an ERCES is required. WZC treats that coverage as a life-safety system rather than a permit item, and looks for blind spots in design rather than at the certificate-of-occupancy inspection.

A Building Days from Opening, and a Signal That Wasn't There

Days before the Corewell Health Endoscopy Center was set to open, acceptance testing identified insufficient in-building radio coverage, putting the fire marshal's sign-off and the facility's certificate of occupancy at risk with a fixed opening date approaching.

The Christman Group brought in WZC Networking. The team designed a compliant solution, expedited equipment procurement, and produced documented test results that satisfied the fire marshal and supported the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy, allowing the facility to open on schedule while the permanent system was completed.

It's the kind of save that never makes headlines because it isn't supposed to happen at all. A healthcare facility opened on time. A general contractor learned who to call before groundbreaking on the next project, not after a failed test threatens the finish line. That's why Christman looks to WZC first now: not because of a sales pitch, but because the work held up when the schedule had no room left.

Fifty-One Percent, Not Even Close to Enough

At Clawson Manor Co-op, a 15-story senior living complex, energy-efficient glazing and heavy exterior cladding were severely attenuating public safety radio frequencies. A WZC Networking survey found that only 51 percent of the property met required signal thresholds. In the egress corridors, where reliable communication is critical during an emergency, that figure dropped to just 34 percent. For hundreds of elderly residents who cannot evacuate rapidly during a crisis, those gaps could have left arriving crews without reliable communications.

WZC engineered and installed a signal booster and distributed antenna system sized for the building's envelope. On re-test, the property passed in 100 percent of tested grid areas, exceeding the thresholds required under NFPA 1225 and IFC Section 510 as adopted locally. Clawson Fire Department Battalion Chief and Fire Marshal John Ruthenbeck noted, "The City of Clawson was more than satisfied with the design and installation of the system by WZC Networking and the professional service provided to both the residents of the Clawson Manor and the Clawson Fire/Police and EMS Agencies."

Nobody on the Other End of That Radio Is Replaceable

Behind each of these projects are people who aren't statistics. At Clawson Manor, there are several hundred residents who cannot evacuate quickly on their own. At Corewell Health, there are patients under sedation and the staff responsible for getting them out.

When fire marshals deny an occupancy permit, the code is not the end goal. Protecting the people inside the building is. WZC operates on one inviolable principle: no contractor's deadline and no construction budget is worth a human life. A wall should only ever shelter people, never cut them off from the communication that could save them.

Passing Once Is Not Compliance

WZC makes one point clear to owners and facility managers: an ERCES is not finished at commissioning. NFPA 1225 requires ongoing inspection and testing of these systems, covering donor signal, amplifier gain, alarm reporting, and battery backup performance, along with periodic verification of in-building coverage. Buildings and the RF environment around them change over time, and a system that passed when it was commissioned may not perform the same way years later. Responsibility for maintaining that compliance sits with the building owner.

In practice, a system that passed at turnover and has not been touched in four years is a system nobody can vouch for. WZC provides ongoing ERCES inspection, testing, and documentation programs so owners maintain current, AHJ-ready records rather than discovering a lapse during an inspection or, worse, during an incident.

Twenty Years, One Principle

Earlier this year, WZC hosted fire chiefs and fire marshals for an open workshop on ERCES field conditions, focused on education rather than a product pitch. "Twenty years in, it still comes down to the same thing," says founder John Wierzgac. "A radio has to work on every floor and in every stairwell, not just in the lobby. If it doesn't, the system isn't finished, whether or not anyone is inspecting it that day."

That principle drives every project WZC takes on, from healthcare clinics to senior living centers. First responders don't view emergency communication as code compliance; they see equipment they have to be able to depend on. That focus has not changed as WZC has expanded. "Most of the buildings we walk into were never designed with radio coverage in mind," says Nate Wierzgac, Chief Operating Officer. "Nobody asks the question early, so it surfaces at the end, when it is expensive to fix. We would rather be in that conversation during design, and we would rather owners know the testing obligation doesn't stop at turnover."

From a Novi startup to a multi-state partner, WZC Networking has built its practice one building, one grid test, and one clear channel at a time, so that when the call comes, it carries.

WZC Networking is an RF engineering and technology integration firm founded in 2006 in Novi, Michigan. WZC designs, installs, tests, and maintains Emergency Responder Communication Enhancement Systems (ERCES), public safety and cellular DAS, structured cabling, Wi-Fi, security and CCTV, and audiovisual systems. The company also delivers ongoing managed and compliance services for multi-site clients across the United States.

Learn more at https://www.wzcnetworking.com

SOURCE WZC Networking