Private 5G push-to-talk: a mission-critical communications technology

Push-to-talk (PTT) is a proven communications technology that is considered to be ‘mission-critical’ in many environments. Use-cases include airports, public safety, manufacturing plants, warehouses, mining and construction sites, hotel and hospitality venues, restaurants/retail and assisted-living centers.

Many of the popular phone manufacturers and models including Apple, Motorola, Samsung and LG already support cellular connectivity on the private spectrum, such as CBRS in the United States, with many more models slated to be compatible soon.

Optimizing push-to-talk technology

The importance of reliable and guaranteed wireless communications transport cannot be understated in the large, complex campus with respect to critical remote mobility services. The flexibility of device options as part of the PTT service and low-cost connectivity options using devices that employees already use while at work opens the door for a much wider range of use-cases for the service.

Business departments and teams will see the low-cost entry point of push-to-talk services and will find use-cases that take advantage of a reliable and convenient communications system with PTT devices.

This means that an organization must start thinking about how they can ensure their wireless infrastructure is capable of handling:

• An increased number of simultaneous PTT users
• Areas where carrier LTE/5G service is poor or not available
• Locations where Wi-Fi has challenges to offer predictable latency for PTT voice

Business-critical PTT communications platforms are only as good as the wireless network the service travels over. In many cases, relying on a public LTE or 5G carrier is neither cost-effective nor provides the necessary coverage in areas where businesses need connectivity the most.

While Wi-Fi infrastructure could be deployed to provide a localized stop-gap solution, they can sometimes be overly challenging to deploy, might be subject to unpredictable wireless interference and lack the ability to enforce service level agreements (SLA) on latency and packet error rate metrics beyond wireless quality of service (QoS).

While PTT technologies are technically not real-time streaming communications platforms, they operate in wireless environments far more effectively when traffic latency and packet error rates (PER) can be kept to a minimum. This is where our Private 5G solution is the perfect match for many enterprise deployment scenarios where predictable performance is required.

To find out more, contact one of our Private 5G specialists today.

5G is the fifth generation of cellular wireless technology and the new standard for mobile communications. It offers lower latency, higher data-transfer speed, higher reliability – and more capacity to carry a larger number of connections – than previous standards.

Private 5G networking will be a true enabler for business growth as it was designed to address various use cases across verticals, all within the same network, using the respective enhancements of that network.

Our Private 5G solution’s innovative, industrial-grade wireless network connects your onsite and remote teams and devices from the edge to the cloud. Empower your employees with the speed, control, security and complete coverage needed to transform your customer, digital and employee experience.