December 2008

In a new bid to raise the profile of 'push to talk' communications (PTT) over mobile phone networks, InTechnology (one of the prime movers behind this technology in the UK) has launched a service that it is calling PTX, or 'Push to Experience'.

Initially the company is targeting the lone worker market, where it reckons the concept has wide appeal. Not only does it mean the worker need only carry one device for all communications, the company says; it also allows one-to-many conversations and provides unlimited geographical coverage.

The company's PTX range combines three main functions, which it is branding Push to Talk, Push to Locate and Push to Alert. Product marketing manager Daniel Reeves says it represents 'a radically new way to manage your field workforce at a fraction of the cost of existing systems'.

Push to talk allows mobile phones to be used like traditional two-way private mobile radio (PMR) systems. You hold down a button and can speak to one or several colleagues at once. The difference is that PTT transmits the conversation via VoIP (voice over Internet) technology, using the phone's GPRS capability. So in theory users can contact anyone within reach of a GPRS-enabled phone.

 

For its lone worker launch, InTechnology is taking advantage of GPS-enabled phones to provide an automatic location service. It says that with its Push to Locate system, users can track the location of a GPS-enabled PTT phone in real time anywhere in the world to within a few metres. The company also claims that its PTX service offers a greater level of security than existing PMR systems because it can take advantage of GSM-based encryption.

InTechnology has been a major investor in IP voice telephony infrastructure in recent years, and bought into US-based Mobile Tornado, whose internet packet radio system (IPRS) platform is the basis for PTX. The system is said to work with all the major mobile networks.

Up to now, PTT comms have arguably not been as popular as originally anticipated, but initiatives like this could help give them wider appeal. Other suppliers have also supported the concept in recent times, including for instance Intermec, which struck a pan-EMEA partnership agreement with Mobile Tornado to offer PTT on its equipment earlier this year. And not long afterwards MobileWorxs announced plans to sell a network-agnostic PTT system throughout Europe.