Push-to-Talk (PTT) Solutions refer to two way communications solutions that operate over a broadband network as opposed to traditional land mobile radio which relies on much smaller discrete networks. The major differences in the Land Mobile Radio networks and the Broadband networks are the incredible speeds, capacities and coverage that broadband networks offer.
Push-to-Talk (PTT) allow customers to continue to grow and evolve their mobile work force requirements by integrating the functionality of Land Mobile Radio into a broadband environment which removes the limitations found in Land Mobile Systems such as limited coverage, limited data capabilities, limited or not available spectrum while adding high speed voice and data with fully IP compliant platforms that mean customers can integrate PTT into their enterprise solutions achieving the vision of true device integration
PTT Solutions have been around for some time and more recently have emerged as the natural next step for any Land Mobile Radio user. Not only does a PTT choice put you on the correct current technology trend, it represents the only future proof option. Land Mobile Radios are wide and varied in suppliers, protocols and compatibility challenges, most Land Mobile users do not mix fleets of devices or infrastructure due to training, feature compatibility and support issues. Land Mobile networks have been constant in what they offer, largely limited by the nature of a narrow band solution, there is only so much voice and data that can be moved through a narrow band solution thus the need for a high speed broadband future. What these PTT Solutions offer is high speed data capability, unprecedented coverage access to the mass market, ability for easy integration into existing enterprise systems and devices.
There has been various approaches to developing Push to Talk (PTT) Solutions, the most easiest to develop solutions were built using a SIP (session initiation protocol), while allowing a developer a quick low cost way to get started SIP was not created as a protocol to use in a Two Way Radio mobile environment. The readily available amount of software available to develop these SIP based solutions means they represented the early options in the market. They were often characterised by slow initial connectivity which is apparent to users when pushing a PTT button and taking longer than expected to set up a call and often limited in fleet or group sizes where the delays were magnified as scale grew.
For the limitations of SIP based solutions to be overcome, development of new technology was required, that from design to implementation was focused on Two Way Radio users requirements. IRP, Intelligent Radio Protocol, was developed to deliver the important characteristics of two way radio but do so in a broadband environment. IRP® enables high speed voice with no set up time required in the protocol and is not impacted by fleet or group size, is has an “always on” architecture.
Rapid is a PTT Solution developed using IRP® technology. Like IRP the technology is fully Australian developed, owned and supported. The integrity of the solution is backed up with the solution being domicile in the Australian legal environment with IP protection being paramount to ensure security for users of the protocol. Rapid also utilises Google API’s to deliver rich mapping and location services and provides an easy to use and familiar environment for users.
Rapid has a powerful management interface called Rapid Provisioning which allows a deep level of setting customisation and fully over the air update and upgrades allowing quick and cost-effective management of a fleet.
Built on IRP technology Rapid delivers exceptional high speed instant voice and data without the inherent issues found in earlier SIP systems. Rapid delivers increased coverage by leveraging the massive data speeds and capacities of today’s broadband networks, which are expanding in all aspects exponentially compared to the land mobile solutions of the past. RAPID is secure, fast and simple to deploy and operate.