How to recognize a professional push-to-talk application

When an app offers Push-to-talk, or PTT, the speaker simply presses the PTT button to talk to the group – and keeps the button pressed while they are speaking. Segments MobileNetworkOperators ServiceOperators PMRoperators Police Healthcareandhospitals Fireandrescue Energyindustry Transportation Airports Crisismanagement Productsandsolutions Productsandsolutions Broadband ServiceOperators Hybridsolutions Tairaforbroadband TactilonManagement TactilonAgnet Hybriddevices TactilonDabat TactilonDabatSC Appsandgear TB4hybridbasestation ViewcorEvolution Devicesandaccessories Hybriddevices TactilonDabat TactilonDabatSC TETRAradios AboutTETRAradios Devices TH9handheld TH1nslimline THR9ExATEXradio THR880iplushandheld TMR880imobileradio TactilonDabat TactilonDabatSC Managementtools Taqtoterminalmanager Accessoriesanddatadevices TETRAradioaccessories TW1mmodem Specialfeatures HybridRoaming NightVision Lifeguard Positioningtheradio Personalsafetyfeatures Whereareyou? 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YouwillhaveseenPTTapplicationsclaimingto“turnyoursmartphoneintoawalkie-talkie”.ThesearegenericPTTappsandtheyseemtopromisemuch:near-instantcommunicationswithapushofabutton,groupcalling,andevenprioritiesandemergencycalls.Yet,theydeliververylittle,certainlynowherenearwhataprofessionaluserneeds. Don’tbefooledbysmartphonewalkie-talkieapps.AstrongPTTappdoesmuchmoretokeepyousafe.Makesureyougetanappthatdoesdeliveronthekeyrequirementsandletsyoudothese17vitalthings.YoucanalsodownloadahandychecklisttousebeforeyoudecideonyourPTTapp!   17vitalcapabilities 1.Talktoagroupwithoutlookingatthedevice:YourfingershouldfindthePTTbuttonorkeyeasily,evenwhenyoureyesareontheaction.Itshouldalsobeeasytokeepitpressedforaslongasyouneedit. 2.Instantconnection:Connectingeveryoneintothegroupcallshouldtakelessthan0.5seconds.Anylongerthanthat,andthebeginningofyoursentencecouldbecutoff.Justthinkaboutthedifferencebetween “Don’tstarttheengines”and“-starttheengines”or“Don’tshoot”and“-shoot”! 3.Keepyourplaceinthequeue:Ifyoucan’tspeakstraightawaybecausesomeoneelseisspeaking,youneedanappthatletsyouqueueforyourturntospeak. 4.Talktoonepersonaswell:Aprofessionalpush-to-talkappwillallowyoutoPTTcallasingleperson(withanindividualorone-to-onecall).Youdon’twanttohavetoclosetheapptomakeaphonecall. 5.Makesureyoudon’tmissimportantcommunications:Ifyoucan’tmakeaone-to-onecallwithinthePTTapp,youwillmissgroupcommunicationswhileyouareonthephone.Yourbestchoicewouldbeapush-to-talkappwhichnotonlyletsyoumakeaone-to-onecall,butcanalsoinviteyoutoagroupcallsoyoudon’tmissathing. 6.Ensureyoudon’tmissimportantcommunications:Theso-calledLateEntryfeatureisamust.Itmeansthatauserwhohasjustswitchedonthedevice,orhasjustfinishedanothercallwillbeinvitedintoanongoinggroupcallifhe/sheisamemberofthatgroup. 7.Nofalserecipients:AstrongPTTappwillhavereliable,controlleduserandgroupmanagement.Youcantrustthatthemembersinyourconversationgroupareastheyshould.Thisway,youwon’thaveinformationleaks. 8.Gethelp–fast:Ifyourworktakesyouintodangeroussituations,youneedaPTTappthatletsyoucallforhelpwithaspecialemergencycall.Butmakesureitwon’tletyoumakeoneaccidentally.Andifyouareunabletomakethecall,theappshoulddoitforyou– 9.Detecta“man-down”andsendanalarm:AstrongPTTappcanmonitoryourmovementsandsendanalarmtoapredefinedlistofrecipientswhenyouremainstationaryfortoolong,forexample. 10.DoesthePTTappincludeanemergencycallora“redkeycall”? Thencheckitalsomeetsthefollowingcriteria: 11.Youshouldn’thavetoselectanumbertocallinanemergency–noteven112or911.Theappshouldautomaticallysendtheemergencycalltotherightplace. 12.Theappshouldallowtheemergencycalltogoanywherethatyourorganizationneedsittogo–toyourdispatcher,yourteammate,oragroupofpeople.And,ifyourfirstchoiceofrecipientdoesn’tanswer,willthecallgotosomeoneelse?Itshould! 13.Domorethantalk:Push-to-talkisofcourseassociatedwithspeaking,butastrongpush-to-talkappismissioncritical-aMCPTTapp-andcandelivermore.Youcantalk,andaseasilyandsecurelysendtextandsharedocuments,multimediainformationandstreamingvideowithintheapp,forexample–toagrouportooneperson,andatthepushofasinglebuttonorkey.Youcanalsoshareyourscreenwithyourteam(s)tobettersupportthemintheirmissions. Handpickedrelatedcontent DoyouhavequestionsaboutMCPTT?Learnmorefromtheblogpost"Answered:23ofyourmostburningquestionsaboutpush-to-talkandmissioncriticalPTT". 14.Takeadvantageofmorethanoneapp:AstrongPTTappcanbecomplementedwithotherspecialapps,andtogether,theywilldeliverevenmoreoomph. 15.Keeptrackofwhereeveryoneis:CanthePTTapptrackthedevices’location?Wouldn’titbehandyifyourexactlocationindoorsandoutdoorscouldbetracked,withnoneedforGPSoranyfixedinfrastructure?Youwouldbeabletoseeadisplayofyourteammembers’locations,andtheappwouldputthesameoverviewonthedispatcher’sscreenaswell,keepingyouallsafer. 16.Keepyourcommunicationsprivate:ArethePTTappcommunications–bothvoiceanddata–encrypted? 17.Complementyourcurrentradios:AstrongPTTappwillletsmartphone-carryingpeoplecommunicatesmoothlywithradio-carryingteams.Ideally,PTTappuserswouldbeabletojoinexistingtalkgroupsandcommunicatewithradiosandwiththecontrolroom. Inotherwords,peoplevitaltoanoperationwouldbeconnectedevenwhentheyusedifferentdevicesandtechnologies. JoiningPMR/LMRgroupcallswiththesmartphonePTTapp DoesyourorganizationneedthePTTappstoworkwithradiocommunications?Itcanbedone.SmartphoneswithastrongPTTappcanjointheestablishedPMR/LMRgroupsforeasy,yetcontrolledcommunication. UsingthePTTappseamlesslywithTETRA Ideally,smartphoneswithastrongPTTappwillbeabletojointhesameestablishedtalkgroupsthatareusedinTETRAradios.Userscanrelyoneasyandsecurecommunicationbothwithradiosandsmartphonesaswiththecontrolroom.  HowtomakesureyourPTTappworksasneeded TogainthefullcapabilitiesofprofessionalPTTtechnology,severalkeyrequirementsneedtobemet. Securityandcontrol SettingupthePTTapplicationneedstobeprofessionallymanaged.Downloadingacommercial(oftenfree)appfromagenericappstoredoesnotmeetthisrequirement.Theseappsmaybealrightforoff-dutypurposes,buttheydon’thackitforprofessionaluse. Instead,youneedtoadoptappsinacontrolledandsystematicway.Thisway,theappwon’tbeanoveltyusedonlybyafewstaff.Instead,itcansupportthegoalsofyourwholeorganization.Evenwhenoptingforcontrolledadoption,youshouldpreferanappthatiseasytosetupinyourdevices.Set-upoveraremoteconnectionwillmakeyourlifealoteasier! Managinggroups Forsmoothcommunicationinworkingteams,youneedtalkgroups.Onceagain,adhocgroupsarefineforoffdutytime,butprofessionalsneedacontrolledsolution.Ifuserscansetuptheirtalk(chat)groupsthemselves,onemis-typedphonenumbercouldmeanthegroupcommunicationsbecomingopentooutsiders. Incontrast,settinguptalkgroupsaccordingtoanorganizationalhierarchyshouldbeeasy.YouwillalsoappreciateitifthePTTappcanhandlelocation-basedgroupsandallocatepeopleintogroupsaccordingtotheirlocation–inotherwords,includethemingroupcommunicationswhentheyarewithinacertaingeographicalarea. Handpickedrelatedcontent: Wanttoknowmoreaboutprofessionalapps-push-to-talkaswellasothers?Learnwhatarethelatesttrendsinprofessionalapps,whatuserslookforinprofessionalapps,howtheyuseapps,andthebiggestconcernsthattheyhave.Downloadnow:Fingertipaccesstothelatesttrendsinprofessionalapps-reportonAirbus'annualsurvey2020 Needtocompareyouroptions? WhenlookingatPTTappsforprofessionaluse,don’tsettlejustforturningyoursmartphoneintoasimplewalkie-talkie!(Thisisoneofthemostimportanttipsforbuyingaprofessionalapp.)Astrongpush-to-talkappcoulddosomuchmore. Handpickedrelatedcontent: Astrongpush-to-talkappcandeliver-anditcanevensaveyoumoney.Here'saneBookthattellsyouhow:downloadtheeBook"5waysthatstrongPTTservicescansaveyoumoney". Youmayalsobeasking,doessuchanappactuallyexist?Isthereonethatmeetsalltheseneeds?Theanswerisyes–it’scalledTactilonAgnet.   Whenevaluatingyouroptions,usethishandy,interactivechecklist.Itwillhelpyouidentifythepush-to-talkappthatmeetsyourprofessionalrequirements.Todownload,clickonthecoverimage: Editor'snote:ThisblogpostwaspublishedinOctober2019andhassincebeenupdatedtoincludelinkstonew,helpfulcontent. Submitacomment Categories AllCriticalcommunicationsPublicsafetyappsProfessionalappsTETRAand5GTETRAradiosPush-to-talkserviceCommsformedicalteamsEventsHybriddevicesAirportcommsTetrapolPaging MostPopular 5Jun2020Howtouse7communicationsecuritystrategieslikethepros» 16Feb2021Howtorecognizeaprofessionalpush-to-talkapplication» 14Jul2020DoyouknowthesecretaboutWattsandTETRAradiopower?(Nobodyelsewilltellyou)» 28Aug202015thingsyourbossexpectsyoutoknowaboutRFID,NFCandIoT» Nevermissasingleblogpost!Getthenewpostsdeliveredtoyouremailaddress.   TheMissionIsCriticalbloggivesyouinsightsintoprofessionalandpublicsafetybroadband,missioncriticaluserexperience,secureandcriticalcommunications,hybridnarrowband-broadbandsolutionsanddual-modedevices,andTetrapolandTETRAradios. Readmoreaboutthistopic TETRAto4G/5Gbroadbandmigration-14waystoensuresuccess» Criticalcommunicationscontinuetomigratetobroadband,andthepaceisgettingquicker.Howshouldyougoaboutadoptingbroadbandcapabilities?AndhowcanyoumakesurethatyourTETRAto... 25Feb2022 byNiklasLagerblom  | 10minread Publicsafetyapps, Criticalcommunications, Professionalapps, Push-to-talkservice Howprofessionalappsareessentialtoyoursuccess» OrganizationsareincreasinglylookingatprofessionalappsandtheCovid-19pandemichasforcedthemtocreatenewwaysofworking–thesetwofindingsarefromtheAirbusmobileappssurveyin... 11Nov2021 byHans-MartinZimmermann  | 10minread Publicsafetyapps, Criticalcommunications, Professionalapps, Push-to-talkservice 5factsyoumustknowaboutsavingmoneywithstrongPTTservices» StrongPTTservicesareadvanced,intelligentpush-to-talkservicesthatcanbeconnectedtoITsystemsandsensors.Ofcourse,theyallowuserstotalk,andalsoshareimages,video,andlocation... 30Sep2021 byMikaMyllymäki  | 10minread Publicsafetyapps, Criticalcommunications, Professionalapps, Push-to-talkservice Aboutus Officelocations Pressreleases Events Sustainability Privacypolicy Cookiepreferences Contactus Careers Openpositions TraineeprogrammeinFinland Resources Blog Documentlibrary KeyTouchmagazine Declarationsofconformity UserguidesforTETRAradios SLCStore Followus