Blog

How much exactly would the calls over PTT over IP technology actually cost?

It depends. You are the only person who can give yourself an exact answer. Where do the team members get their internet connectivity from? If they are inside the premises where they can use company internet, then their calling cost can be virtually nothing. If they are on the road they will usually use 3G/4G data connectivity from their phone service provider data plan with a limit. Where do they get their data plan for, for how much, how many Megabytes? Let’s go back to the phone users example from the previous article.

Table 3. Phone calls cost comparison to PTT over IP

Exact cost would depend on a case to case basis, but as a rule of thumb, we can say that PTT over IP service cost can be as little as 100 to 1000 times less from mobile phone calls cost. So, try it out and do the math for what it can do for you?

How much data from a phone service provider does the PTT over IP service require?

PTT over IP technology uses small data packets to send and receive calls. PTT over IP technology is using most advanced OPUS codec, with high compression algorithms minimizing the network bandwidth usage in the 3G/4G data plan. The amount of data needed is very small per call, which should not significantly affect anyone’s data usage pattern per month. An estimated talk time of 1.5 hour over PTT over IP per working day can translate to up about 250 MB of data usage per month.

Potential users are encouraged to do their own math based on the best data plan in their own environment, to get a better answer what kind of saving the PTT over IP technology can introduce in their business model. Users should optimize their PTT over IP designs and try for themselves. Savings for even a small group, can be very substantial.

What Internet connectivity speed is needed for PTT over IP technology to work?

Almost any modern connectivity method 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 4G and LTE networks, Wi-Fi, home and business broadband internet are more than sufficient to provide data and speed required to connect to PTT over IP services and use them, with an excellent voice quality. Just like with other VoIP technologies, when it comes to quality, there are other factors much more important from “speed”, such as jitter and packet loss.

What other benefits the PTT over IP technology brings?

PTT over IP technology is nearly 100 % secure, unlike the traditional phone calls which are inherently insecure. How secure are you going to be, depends primarily on your design. A variety of methods exist today allowing anyone friendly or unfriendly to you to listen to your phone calls over public networks. GSM encryption is notorious for its flaws, and no one with a right mind is seriously expecting GSM phone calls to be secure any more. PTT over IP communication,  on the other hand is protected, with secure Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) which still represents a powerful method for protecting communications. With talKKonnect PTT design, a company can own the entire communication loop for PTT over IP communication, making the communication as secure as needed and virtually impenetrable. If the company’s own supporting IT infrastructure is made secure and impenetrable to attacks, particularly if “man-in-the-middle” scenarios can be ruled out, then the PTT over IP communication can be considered highly secure, between the parties communicating.

Can PTT over IP technology be blocked? How secure is it? Is my communication private?

In many parts of the world, Internet Service Providers and governments are making restrictive actions to block phone communication protocols like SIP or restrict public access to communication services like Skype, Whatsapp, Viber, Telegram, Zello, Facebook, Signal, Discord, Google Voice. They do so, to protect national communication monopolies and prevent anyone from using the communication services based on standards which can not be easily monitored at will. If you are basing your communication model on any such public communication services and expect them to work everywhere in the world, you may be unpleasantly surprised when they fail in some countries where you may operate, due to the service providers or government’s deliberately restricting them.

Blocking by third parties of any communication protocol, including Mumble is certainly possible. It can happen, but without a “man-in-the-middle” or physical access to the Mumble server, a decryption of Mumble communication is not possible. If the end user operates and controls Mumble servers, then communication can be considered secure and private.

Do we need a dedicated talKKonnect device? Can BYOD smartphones be used?

Dedicated talKKonnect device or other PTT over IP (PTT over Cellular) devices (Inrico, Anysecu, Hytera)  are recommended for main offices, operations centers, desk settings. Android PTT applications like Plumble or Mumla can be used with smartphones. Mumble for Windows or Linux can be used on PC’s and laptops. Dedicated PTT over IP communication devices are more robust from consumer electronics smart devices and will offer much higher battery autonomy with better energy saving from most smartphones.

TRADITIONAL CELLULAR PHONE CALLS COMPARISON TO “PTT Over IP” COMMUNICATION

PTT over IP is a promising new communication technology. It may become an important standard once it can be formulated and standardized. However, the big communication monopolies and interest groups, in most countries, do not seem to favor the PTT concept. They are not too keen, to allow an average consumer of their often overpriced and quality inferior services to enjoy more freedom in communicating for a tiny fraction of a cost of what they squeeze out from customers every month through their standard packages. There are many challenges in having the big “global” players in communication business and technologies, sit down together to agree on a common PTT standard in their products and services.  Such efforts had been largely unsuccessful. PTT in public communication networks may be adopted at one point as “Mission Critical PTT” (MCPTT). However, the progress in bringing PTT technology to an average consumer and making it affordable, has been painstakingly slow. Do not expect it to happen any time soon. Still, this should not discourage anyone from trying out some of the PTT solutions, either OpenSource or paid and designing private PTT communications network. Most commercial PTT solutions are available as SaaS (Software as a Service) or PaaS (Platform as a Service).

It is estimated that over 300 million people are using PTT over IP technologies today, subscribed to some form of commercial or free PTT service for smart devices, for instance Zello being one of the most successful PTT services. The number of users of PTT services is on the constant rise, year after year as more and more people are discovering how the PTT logic is helping them communicate more efficiently, privately or for work within their business teams. 

However, if you are not totally satisfied with what the existing commercial PTT products, applications or SaaS / PaaS PTT & RoIP solutions are offering, take some time to familiarize yourself with open source talKKonnect project as a powerful framework for designing and building PTT systems, which can be customized to follow your own communications plan and logic and give you an unprecedented freedom in communicating.

PTT over IP Communications – Part 4

PTT Logic – Why it beats the phone calls?

PTT over IP guarantees an increased focus in communications. Some recent studies about how the cellular phones were used for work, were showing that an average employee could spend as much as 56 minutes per day, in using a cell phone at work, for non-work related activity. Employees aged 18 to 34, were usually spending an average of 70 minutes on the phone, mostly for personal email and social media access.

Smartphones can no doubt, make everybody’s life and work easier, but they can also create unwanted distractions, from the primary focus to work.

Communication professionals know, that Push-to-Talk (PTT) devices are almost ideal primary communication means, especially for “hands-on” industries, such as construction, transport and security. When communicating for safety and security, there are simply no other viable alternatives, to a proven PTT logic. Devices with PTT logic enable users to establish communication instantly and talk directly without – dialing, routing calls, ringing and without having to wait for calls to be answered – the steps required in a traditional phone call.

When PTT technology is used in the IP networks, it’s logic greatly improves the communication efficiency within the teams. A single PTT button helps establish instant communication with other team members. Team members can stay connected anywhere over most diverse connectivity means and communicate with clear audio or sometimes text and other signaling methods. Teams can also benefit from GPS location tracking, where the GPS functionality is integrated with a PTT platform.

PTT technology guarantees an improved focus to communication, without distracting touch screens or unrelated functions, that can get in a way of efficient communication. With well-designed PTT devices, there are no Facebook, Twitter, Google or annoying social media, when the efficient work-related communication is a high priority.

PTT is a great productivity tool. PTT over IP communication system for teams can be set-up and launched much faster from any other method. Teams can communicate locally, within a region, in a country or globally. PTT networks and groups can be created and reorganized as needed, within minutes. PTT over IP devices can be interfaced with almost any two-way radios.

If the radios are already used for communication within the project or organization, PTT over IP devices and applications can help extend the existing radio networks for a much smaller cost, compared to investing in new radio equipment. With PTT technology, there is usually no need to keep building and maintaining costly radio infrastructure to increase communication capacity and range.

Number of required radios in the networks can be greatly decreased. An easy linking of two-way radio systems and smartphones is a great benefit, the  PTT technology brings to the communications world.

With PTT over IP technology, there are no costly or time-consuming frequency licensing procedures, no radio programming skills required and no radio interference coming from other users of the radio spectrum.

PTT over IP technology can improve network coverage inside the buildings and other urban environments where the conventional radios or cellular coverage can be limited. PTT solutions can work over the building LAN or WiFi for sending and receiving PTT calls.

PTT over IP technology is extremely cost efficient. PTT solutions can be quickly scaled up or scaled down and customized to closely match almost any project need. Large or small.

PTT Logic for Safety

Not only does the PTT logic saves time, money and lead to increased productivity, but it also enhances safety of the team members. This is important in projects where the team members need to quickly build a common situational awareness.

GPS tracking helps manage the workforce movements for an increased safety. Project and team member’s status can be checked easily. Optimal routes can be identified for mobile teams, tasks can be modified to adapt to the situation and the position of the team members can be quickly adjusted to where they are needed the most, every time.

talKKonnect devices have a “panic button” functionality and security audio “eavesdropping”. At the press of a button from a team member, the main office can be immediately notified of a security incident in progress. Main office can be provided with  GPS coordinates of the incident and then start receiving a live ambient audio stream from the incident area, to help assess the situation and coordinate a response action. An “incident” can be a robbery, hijacking, carjacking, car accident, physical assault or any kind of an event where a team member is in danger and requires an immediate assistance.

Balance between group and private communications

When planning the communications, we assumed the information workflow between the main office and team members or between the members of the team can be freely shared between all of them equally, without a limitation, throughout most of the communication effort.

But what if individual calls need to be made with PTT over IP logic and some information needs to be kept private between the selected team members?

Mumble protocol that talKKonnect is using can do that also. Calls can be made from “one-to-many” team members by using a “shout” option or they can be private calls from “one-to-another” member by using a “whisper” option. Or the users can revert to phone calls or other more or less secure means of communication, where they require “one-to-one” line privacy. If you can call phone calls in GSM networks private nowadays anywhere?

Dedicated talk groups in PTT over IP system, can be restricted with passwords or “tokens”, with only the specific members granted access. Access rights are highly configurable. Talk groups can be linked, un-linked or kept completely isolated from each other, as needed.

In other words, it’s all about planning your PTT over IP system, for an effective balance between all of the group communication advantages and “one-to-one” privacy.

What about the phone calls cost compared to PTT over IP?

In many cases,  phone users can benefit from discounts from GSM phone providers, for calls within the same phone users group or a service contract. But at the end of the day, phone calls will always cost somebody money. Even if no calls are made, the postpaid service subscription fees will be charged monthly. If prepaid SIM’s are used, the providers will often force their expiry,  annul the user credits and force the users to keep buying more credits to keep the service active. There are often “hidden” costs and “fine prints”, the users are unaware of and phone companies are often not straightforward about their policies and prices. Bottom line, if the phone contract is too good to be true, it probably isn’t!

Let’s assume the team members generate the same volume of phone calls, from the previous phone users example – 30 calls a day by each member of the team. Let’s also assume that each call is lasting 3 minutes, at a cost of $ 0.05 / minute. This means that each team member talks for 90 minutes a day, costing the company $4.5 / day. This is not much. It translates to $ 67.5 /day of phone costs for the whole team, or $ 1485 of monthly phone bills for the team. That is a team phone billing of $ 17,820 a year.  Now, this is not so little any more? For simplicity we are not counting any other costs, like service management costs or time and effort to process the phone billing, etc.

Perhaps, members of your team talk much less, or your phone service providers discounts are truly amazing and your phone bills are ten times smaller? Still, you just won’t be nowhere near the cost efficiency of any PTT over IP solution.

There is money to be saved with PTT over IP technology, while giving the team members much more efficient communication technology, allowing them to be more productive in day-to-day work. Why not use the savings on phone calls to improve the well-being of the team members and motivate them to perform even better? By saving the phone cost from previous example, team members can be given a bonus in the amount of $1188 each at the end of the year? Or the savings can be used for training of the team members, improving their working conditions? You name it, be creative.

PTT over IP technology gives you so much more freedom to communicate than any other method of communication and it brings you the money savings too. Not bad?

PTT over IP Communications – Part 3

What is PTT over IP?

Push-to-talk (PTT) logic has been around ever-since the emergence of early radios and phone “intercoms”, over a century ago. But PTT over IP solutions are still in their “infancy” today. Many organizations and projects that could greatly benefit from applying a PTT logic in their communications do not even know the solutions exist or they do not fully understand how they work or that PTT technology can easily be integrated with legacy radio and VoIP technologies to create highly scalable, affordable and efficient PTT communications system.

There is no universally accepted terminology for describing systems and products that deliver PTT experience in the IP networks. Product flavors, designs and purposes will greatly vary. You will come across terms such as PTT over Cellular (PoC), Radio over IP (RoIP), PTT over IP or wireless, IP intercoms, etc. We shall try to stay with “PTT over IP” throughout the text.

Modern PTT communication technologies, coming from a variety of sources, can deliver innovative IP based VoIP communication solutions with PTT logic to the end users. 

Such products are built around PTT (Push-to-Talk) logic, micro-computers and micro-controllers, highly efficient audio codecs (Opus) and modern VoIP communication protocols. They are applicable in projects and organizations of any size.

Using PTT communication devices brings numerous advantages, starting with lowering costs and making communication more efficient. At the same time, conventional legacy communication devices, like land mobile radios and modern “smart” communication devices can seamlessly inter-operate in the same communication network with other IP devices, thus creating a “hybrid” communication system. 

PTT over IP technology can help organizations lower their overall communication costs significantly and improve communication freedom by facilitating easy interconnection methods between diverse, otherwise incompatible communication means (radio networks, phones or third party applications), making the communication more universal. Such system can be made truly “global”, overcoming the range limitations of radios.

There aren’t many companies that can deliver a “hybrid” communications solution with PTT, to the end users at an affordable price, without creating a price shock or “breaking the bank”.

Let’s take a look at what PTT over IP communication system is all about and why your organization or project may be able to benefit from such a system?

In this document, we shall try to explore the key benefits of PTT over IP technology for small and medium size projects and give you an overview of unique possibilities of this communication concept.

What is Group Communication and why use it?

Group communication matrix

Group communication

Simply, this is a mode of interpersonal communications, where more than 2 people are involved in the exchange of information.

Group

A group can be defined, as a number of people with some common goal, who interact with each other to accomplish their objectives. Group members recognize each other’s roles and see themselves as a part of functional team. They are assigned functions. A group needs to have a minimum of three members, otherwise the two persons, just working together would simply be referred to as a “pair” or “dyad”. In a project or organization, there could be many different groups, created many different reasons and they can change all the time.

“Group communication” method is often a primary mode of communication in most modern organizations, between employers and employees and among the employees within their functional teams.

Small groups can have 3 to 20 or more members. And larger group can consist of 100 , 200… or even more members.

A group…

Group communication can only be effective, when there is a specific purpose for the communication, when proper means for timely communication are available and the content of communication is useful to all of the team members for accomplishing their goals.

One person or functional level within a group will usually have a role of a coordinator, manager, moderator… a dispatcher. This level drives and directs group communication effort and group activities from a central point, like the main office or “operations center” for the entire group. The choice of the means of communication can depend on factors like the target audience, the means and availability of the communication methods and the cost implications for making the communication effort.

Enough with theory?

PTT – Why is it an ideal logic for group communication?

Use PTT technology or make a phone call?

Communicating with PTT logic within a small or medium size group can be much more efficient from making phone calls all day long. Communication professionals and people using the radios fore work know this. They don’t need to be convinced. Combine the “radio-like” PTT logic with phone GSM/ 3G/ 4G/ LTE and soon the 5G networks increasing the connectivity everywhere globally and you can harvest all the benefits of both technologies while mitigating the weaknesses of each. It is a “winning strategy” for efficient group communication.

Let’s look at a following practical example…

Phone users example

A team of 15 members is making 30 mobile phone calls each, to the main office and each other, during a regular working day. Some team members talk more, some less, but we can assume they make 30 shorter or longer phone calls every day, in average, to coordinate every-day activities within their small team or with the main office.

The time to establish a call is estimated to take 20-30 seconds per call. This means unlocking a phone, finding a number in the phone-book, dialing the number, the ringing time, answering call by the other party, hanging up, redialing sometimes, etc.

Table 1. Group call establishment time loss when making phone calls

Estimate shows, that each member of the team can easily spend 10-15 minutes on the phone every day, just dialing and waiting for the calls to be answered.

The group of 15 members, basing their communications on mobile phone calls to coordinate their actions, is wasting anywhere between 2.5 – 3.75 hours every day, in unproductive communication due to the needed call establishment times. This amounts to 55 – 82.5 hours a month of inefficient communication. The bigger the team, the more time is wasted in call establishment times. Did you think about this? Do you have a choice?

Let’s compare mobile phone calls to more efficient PTT logic?

Table 2. PTT over IP technology. Practically no time is wasted for call establishment.

Why PTT over IP communication is more efficient from phone calls for small and medium size groups?

How else does the PTT over IP communication model compare to phone calls? We learned that establishing calls with PTT logic, at a press of a button is almost instantaneous. Practically, no time is wasted. Just press a button and talk to the group. All that time wasted in establishing traditional phone calls can now be used more productively by each of the team members. At the same time, important group relevant information, does not have to be relayed anymore by either of the team members making multiple phone calls to other team members, in order to share the information.

Sending emails and waiting for response from other team members to coordinate activities can be greatly reduced too. Group relevant information can be shared in real time, between all of the team members.

PTT over IP Communications – Part 2