My best friend in high school drove a van no soccer mom would dare step into. It had front bucket seats, side dual exhaust and a “Keep On Truckin’ “ sticker plastered on the rear bumper. Inside, War’s “Low Rider” shook the windows thanks to a power-boosted 8-track stereo.

Of course, the van also featured one of the oddest technological fads to emerge in the 1970s — the CB radio. For some strange reason the country experienced a brief, but intense fascination with truckers and trucker culture. And, “good buddy,” nothing said trucker chic like the CB. In the years before the advent of mobile phones, we rationalized that a CB radio was a good thing for emergencies. What we needed to learn about talking on the CB, we learned from watching The Dukes of Hazard on Friday nights. Thankfully, the CB-craze faded like Peter Frampton’s career.

Or at least that’s what we thought. The new “push-to-talk” technology, made popular by Nextel, is reminiscent of the CB and appears to be the craze of the moment among wireless service providers eager to attract business users.

Connecting directly
Nextel has been on the forefront of the push-to talk technology, carving out a niche for itself as the wireless-service provider best known for catering to businesses where instant communication is useful. Nextel’s phones include a feature it calls Direct Connect, which lets users push a button, like the CB radios of the ’70s, and talk instantly, walkie-talkie style, with selected users who have similar phones.

This how it works: A normal cell phone call uses two separate frequencies for each call — one to send and one to receive. A Direct Connect call uses one frequency. Direct Connect relies on the same technology commonly used in law-enforcement dispatch radio systems. Push-to-talk requires the person speaking to press a button while talking and then release it when done. This way, the system knows which direction the signal should travel. To enable Direct Connect, Nextel configures each phone to use the dispatch call service to reach the person or persons the user specifies. This person (or group) has to use Nextel’s service as well.

Verizon Wireless, likewise targeting business users needing quick contact with co-workers, recently jointed the push-to-talk fray with its own service. The move by Verizon, the largest mobile operator in the United States, created one of the biggest buzzes in the telecom industry in some time. More than anything, the action seems to endorse the notion that push-to-talk is the next big thing in the mobile telecom industry.

Push-to-talk allows customers to connect directly with other push-to-talk users on the same network by pressing a button on their handset. Business customers can set up and manage group-calling lists on Verizon Wireless’ Contact Management Web site without going through costumer service or a Verizon Wireless retail store. This feature supports groups of up to 10 participants. Users can create up to 50 group lists and store 150 individual push-to-talk contacts.

“The move addresses an emerging market that combines convenient connectivity with dependable wireless voice and data services,” says Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless chief operating officer.

The service also shows users (via an icon on their handset) whether a user on their calling list is available, a popular feature borrowed from instant messaging platforms.

A growing trend
Connecting without dialing a full number has proven popular with many users, especially contractors and others in the trades who see it as a time-saver. Nextel claims 13 million users for the service. A recently completed national rollout lets Nextel subscribers have the equivalent of a walkie-talkie conversation with someone 3,000 miles away. Previously, the service was only available regionally.

The push-to-talk waters promise to get even more crowded with Sprint PCS poised to make a splash with its own venture by the end of 2003. Others will soon follow suit. All of which means that, unlike leisure suits, mood rings and pet rocks, this is a fad that should have some staying power.

Now, Instant Message At Work
In order to meet the demands of businesses that want their employees to communicate in real time without the security concerns of an open, public network, Yahoo Inc. launched an instant messaging product for corporations. The product integrates the WebEx virtual meeting software, according to a Reuters article.

Features of the product, available to subscribers, include the ability to set up accounts that let their users launch per-minute meetings and application-sharing windows with WebEx.

Paul Kennedy is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including USA TODAY.




POSTED ON: 10/1/2003