How Does Push To Talk Work

The Push to Talk feature on cell phones is just like using a walkie-talkie but over the cellular network. One major benefit of using the Push to Talk feature over actually calling someone is that Push to Talk connects instantaneously. Push to Talk or walkie-talkie communication only provides half duplex communications.

Communicating Through Push to Talk

Half duplex communications means only one party can talk at any moment while others listen. For example, when you call someone and you are having a conversation, both parties can listen and talk simultaneously and have full duplex communication. This is not the case with Push to Talk, with Push to Talk one person connects with another person or a group and speaks then those who were listening can respond back, but not at the same time simultaneously.

Push to Talk Saves Time

Push to Talk also saves a great amount of time when communicating. Imagine you have to coordinate plans between 5 different people and you call each one, dial their number, wait for the call, letting it ring a few times and finally communicating where with Push to Talk, you can connect instantaneously with just a push of a button and communicate.

Not All Phones Have Push to Talk

Nextel originally started the walkie-talkie or Push to Talk service and all their cell phones came with this feature built in. Later on, other carriers such as Cingular/AT&T and Verizon Wireless also started implementing and selling this useful feature. The major difference between all these carriers is all Nextel devices had this feature whereas with other carriers only certain phones were Push to Talk enabled, which meant in order for Verizon or Cingular/AT&T customers to use Push to Talk communication, other customers had to have a device with this capability built in. For this reason, Push to Talk never really got as popular with other carriers as it did and is with Nextel/Sprint now.

When looking to purchase a cell phone with this feature, look for Push to Talk/PTT/Walkie-Talkie features in the phone's description or feature list. In addition, expect to pay for an extra add-on plan to use the Push to Talk feature.