OK, what is the solution for me that won't run afoul with the law? Would a
CB radio be the one? What type of radios can I use for a two way
communications, conducted occasionally with high degree of reliability on
demand? As I mentioned, The two points are five blocks apart downtown a
Midwestern city with a lot of structures in between. The conversations will
(or rather, may) be done during business hours between 9:00 and 4:00 EST. I
want to make sure that when I turned that radio on: (1) I can contact my
partner immediately (2) in any weather (3) there is minimal interference. As
I mentioned, it is a back up system for me. I am using VoIP phone lines most
of the time but my office on the other end of the communication line has to
have at least one line landbased. In any event, on a few occasions because
of construction nearby the lines have been interrupted recently. I need a
backup to fall onto in case of future problems.

Try MURS, a Part 95 VHF radio service. It allows 2 watts, gain antennas,
and VHF works better in the simplex mode then UHF. The allowed freqs a

151.820
151.880
151.940
154.570
154.600

The last 2 are used by fast food drive thru's but are wider bandwidth
frequencies allowing more equipment to be compatable.

More info can be found at http://www.provide.net/~prsg/
just don't believe all Stewart's BS.