Enhanced push-to-talk and rugged phones from AT&T

Nov. 13, 2012
DALLAS — AT&T recently announced that its enhanced push-to-talk (PTT) service is available for businesses and organizations of all sizes. With enhanced PTT, AT&T customers can communicate faster, to larger talk groups, and across more types of handsets than ever before.  

DALLAS — AT&T recently announced that its enhanced push-to-talk (PTT) service is available for businesses and organizations of all sizes. With enhanced PTT, AT&T customers can communicate faster, to larger talk groups, and across more types of handsets than ever before.

AT&T Enhanced PTT is designed for 4G LTE. The device lineup for Enhanced PTT provides the right device for the job. Some of the newest devices in the line-up include: Samsung Rugby III: starting soon organizations can pick up the Samsung Rugby III for free with a two-year AT&T Enhanced PTT services agreement. The Rugby III is a rugged flip phone that features a 2.4-inch QVGA display and a three megapixel camera. It includes a dedicated PTT button on the phone for easy access, is built to military specifications (810G specifications) and is waterproof, dust proof and shock resistant.

In addition, AT&T offers Enhanced PTT on the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro, an Android smartphone that is built to military specifications (810G specifications) and comes with full device encryption and corporate email support. Organizations using Enhanced PTT can also choose the Samsung Galaxy S III or Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and download the Enhanced PTT service onto those devices.

AT&T is also working with Sonim Technologies to offer the Sonim XP5560 BOLT, which just might be the world’s toughest phone. This ultra-rugged device comes with a comprehensive three year warranty and will cost $199 for Enhanced PTT customers. The Sonim XP5560 BOLT features a dedicated PTT button and can stand up to many challenges, including drops from more than six feet onto concrete and submersion in water for 30 minutes. Businesses that operate in the most extreme environments will be able to count on the Sonim XP5560 BOLT with AT&T Enhanced PTT to keep employees in touch.

“For workers in industries like construction, manufacturing and public safety, mobile devices that can withstand harsh conditions are essential. We’re offering AT&T Enhanced PTT on a variety of rugged devices to give our customers the performance and durability they need to get in touch quickly on the job, no matter what conditions they face,” said Chris Hill, senior vice president, Advanced Solutions, AT&T Business Solutions.

AT&T Enhanced PTT is currently the only cellular PTT solution that runs on both the BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry® Bold 9900. AT&T is offering several of these devices for free through AT&T Business Solutions with an AT&T Enhanced PTT two-year contract.

Features of AT&T Enhanced PTT include: larger contact lists and talk groups than competitive PTT solutions; ability to combine PTT services and mobile applications, with help from AT&T’s team of mobility consulting and integration experts; access to the nation’s largest 4G network; supervisory override and talk group scanning, features that were previously available only for two-way radio users; and sub-second call setup.

Priority Dispatch Inc., a leader in delivery and logistics services across the Midwest, signed up for AT&T Enhanced PTT through the early access program. According to John Pohlman, Network Manager for Priority Dispatch, “We evaluated lots of other push-to-talk solutions using enterprise-grade Wi-Fi as well as 3G/4G data connections, and the others did not perform as well as AT&T Enhanced PTT.”

Organizations interested in AT&T Enhanced PTT can choose from two different rate plans: $5 per month when added to existing AT&T voice and data plans and    $30 per month for a PTT-only rate plan (no voice or non-PTT data included). Both plans include unlimited PTT, and data used by the Enhanced PTT application will not count against the customer’s monthly data totals or incur pay-per-use charges.

Click here for more information on AT&T Enhanced PTT.

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