PUSH TO TALK SERVICES? (discussion/debate)

[Guest kingdom master]

push to talk world summit took place recently and a version of the pocket pc and smartphone version was also trial'd looks very good. however the service isnt due to be active on all networks til end of the year.

the next possible problem is ptt cross network as the standard for x net ptt has not been agreed and may fall into the same problem as sms did when it first launched where u couldnt send x net.

i need peoples thoughts on ptt. its usefulness. prefered costing, tarrifs etc.. remember it works on a data enabled line not voice line although uses voice service across data.

look forward to responses.

tom

[Guest chucky.egg]

Tried it on my P900 with a guy from the forums who was in Australia.

On the whole it was OK, but the implementation we used wasn't too great. Having said that neither of us bothered with the manual and we worked it all out pretty quickly.

Time delay in getting a voice message was too long IMO. Even taking into account that it's not supposed to rival a direct voice connection, it was confusingly slow.

If you spoke for 5 seconds say (which is a longish voice message), it would take another couple of seconds to record and compact, then a few seconds to get to the other person, then a few seconds to unpack and then finally they get to hear it some 20 seconds after you started. It's like the bad old days of time-lag on satellite phone calls.

I was more interested in the combined PTT, Picture- and text-messaging. The app we tried (can't recall the name) included all of those things, so you could talk, text and send pictures as part of the conversation.

I think the FastChat or FastText (whatever its called) also includes MSN IM which would add another dimension to it.

PTT on it's own is OK, but it's not going to set the world alight. It doesn't have the immediacy of a conversation, the longevity of written word, or the impact of a photo. It's only selling points are cost savings on long distance friends, but I would say that it's not significantly better than SMS for that.

[Guest SystemicAnomaly]

Ah ha! A topic that really floats my boat! I used CB radios a lot a few years back and am excited about this technology. And how many of you had walkie talkies high up there on your xmas list? Orange will undoubtably charge an arm and a leg for their implementation of Orange Talk Now (although why? surely its talking like a voice call!?) but i'm sure developers can come up with a small VoIP app to allow smartphones to do it cheaper.

PTT on it's own is OK, but it's not going to set the world alight. It doesn't have the immediacy of a conversation, the longevity of written word, or the impact of a photo.

I think we can all find a use for push to talk and it shouldn't be underestimated. By next year i would be surprised if we're not all using it on a daily basis and wondering how we ever lived without it!

[Guest chucky.egg]

I think we can all find a use for push to talk and it shouldn't be underestimated.  By next year i would be surprised if we're not all using it on a daily basis and wondering how we ever lived without it!

Don't get me wrong, it does have potential. Off the top of my head I can't think of many uses though.

I think it's closer to IM or SMS than it is to a voice call, so maybe when people get their heads around that PTT will start to replace SMS.

That would make some sense to me - increasing use of other data services (such as email) leads to more people with GPRS allowances on their tariff. Being able to use "spare" Mb of those allowances for PTT means less "wasted" Mb.

The mobile tariffs aren't right for that at the moment though, because almost all tariffs (in the UK) now include some free voice call minutes and free SMS. People wont save money by not using bundled voice minutes or SMS allowances, and I think saving money on the historically high price of mobile calls was what kick-started the SMS craze.

From a practical point of view, what happens if somebody sends you a PTT message when you are outof coverage? Is that a question of implementation perhaps? Orange Scribble for example doesn't alert you to "messages" so you might never get them.

[Guest chucky.egg]

Just a thought - I'm not sure my "PTT" is the same as your "PTT".

When I talk about PTT I'm referring to a service which allows me to send a text/voice/picture message to another PTT client using a data connection from my device (phone/PC/lawn-mower).

Is that how everyone else understands it?

I'm not referring to a standard that allows all PTT clients to understand each other necessarily, more to the concept or creating a message and transmitting it to another client.

[Guest kingdom master]

yeh thats the same, similar to the nextel services in the states. i think it will become as successful as sms but the take up will be as slow as wap. more due to costs than lack of interest.

[Guest londonlad]

I seriously believe its gonna be big. would be decent, if you can have msn, send voice, send text, send pics and be able to do it, for example when your playing a game of chess with em, 'check mate'.

But it all depends on what it can do. I mean, if you can compile a list of close mates. It shows you what there up to. Tom? work, bob? Pub. send tom a message 'after work, meet us down the pub'. Would be cool :D

personally, im just dreading the: 'get some bread and milk, we're out' :roll: , 5 mins later, 'oh, and some sugar' :roll: 'oh, and some cheerios, since you're there' :roll:

[Guest chucky.egg]

FastChat (or FastText, must find out what it's called!) gives you access to MSN IM as well, and it can show you as being mobile. I don't know if you can show your status as "Pub" instead of "Busy", "Free" etc...