4 ms·

What is "Programmable PTT Button"? I assume it's "Push to Talk". What's the use case for it? Who uses it?

tener 4y ago
I can imagine it being used as a walkie-talkie replacement.
Thoreandan 4y ago
An example I've seen is a dozen construction workers on a big job site whose phones push-to-talk goes to the speakerphones of everyone on their team. This functionality was big with Nextel phones/service in the early cellular era.
- serf 4y ago
  >This functionality was big with Nextel phones/service in the early cellular era. as one of the fossils who was a subscriber to Nextel, I feel compelled to mention that the Motorola TAC phones were like 30 years earlier; the 'early cellular era' had been underway for some time before Nextel.
stusmall 4y ago
I used to work on another ruggedized Android smartphone that focused on large commercial deployments. We focused more on hospitals than industrial. The PTT feature was a big selling feature. It was really popular with nurses communicating with the rest of their team on the floor. Think of it like a walkie talkie you can easily integrate tons of other daily work tasks with. Instead of just talking to your team you could also pull up charts, check emails, etc all on one device. Built into the PTT was also a panic button to sound an alarm for an emergency. It's just a handy flexible tool and from my understanding our customers found different useful ways to apply it to their needs.
- Pxtl 4y ago
  Do these go through an app/wifi or do they use conventional radio?
  - stusmall 4y ago
    For the model I worked on, it was multicast on WiFi. I don't know about all models though. Not everything we sold had WiFi.
c22 4y ago
If it's like the extra button on my phone (Cat S61) you should be able to set it up to do whatever you like. I have mine set to toggle the flashlight on long press which is super convenient.
saalweachter 4y ago
There's a physical button you can program -- you can use it for PTT, or to turn on the flashlight, open your to-do list, etc.

I can imagine it being used as a walkie-talkie replacement.

An example I've seen is a dozen construction workers on a big job site whose phones push-to-talk goes to the speakerphones of everyone on their team. This functionality was big with Nextel phones/service in the early cellular era.

serf 4y ago
>This functionality was big with Nextel phones/service in the early cellular era. as one of the fossils who was a subscriber to Nextel, I feel compelled to mention that the Motorola TAC phones were like 30 years earlier; the 'early cellular era' had been underway for some time before Nextel.

stusmall 4y ago

I used to work on another ruggedized Android smartphone that focused on large commercial deployments. We focused more on hospitals than industrial. The PTT feature was a big selling feature. It was really popular with nurses communicating with the rest of their team on the floor. Think of it like a walkie talkie you can easily integrate tons of other daily work tasks with. Instead of just talking to your team you could also pull up charts, check emails, etc all on one device. Built into the PTT was also a panic button to sound an alarm for an emergency. It's just a handy flexible tool and from my understanding our customers found different useful ways to apply it to their needs.

Pxtl 4y ago
Do these go through an app/wifi or do they use conventional radio?
- stusmall 4y ago
  For the model I worked on, it was multicast on WiFi. I don't know about all models though. Not everything we sold had WiFi.

c22 4y ago

If it's like the extra button on my phone (Cat S61) you should be able to set it up to do whatever you like. I have mine set to toggle the flashlight on long press which is super convenient.

saalweachter 4y ago

There's a physical button you can program -- you can use it for PTT, or to turn on the flashlight, open your to-do list, etc.