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Verizon PTT (Push To Talk) vs Nextel's Direct Connect?

Posted by Cliff on from the cell-phones-become-walkie-talkies dept.

Amp300 asks: "I am currently a Verizon Wireless customer in the Detroit area. I am thinking about getting a Motorola v60p and upgrading to the Verizon's new PTT (Push To Talk) service. Is anyone familiar with the v60p? I have heard the battery life leaves a little to be desired. I am familiar with Nextel's Direct Connect, but I have been told that the two services are slightly different. I was wondering if someone could make an educated comparison of the two services?"

6 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's a Phone. It is *not* a CB by aberson · · Score: 4, Informative

    EVERY NEXTEL has a button whose SOLE purpose is to turn OFF the speaker and allow you to use the PTT functionality by holding the phone to your ear. The button icon looks like a speaker. Learn it, Live it, Love it.

    People either just don't know about it, or want you to hear their conversation. If you have a vibrate feature and the phone is on your belt, there are few reasons why the speaker should EVER be on.

    If you don't have vibrate, you're forced to leave the speaker on if you want to receive the initial call, but it's still quite annoying when people connect to you and immediately talk. Instead, how about you just "beep-beep" them and give them a second (if they're even free) to turn off the damn speaker and then answer you.

    same as with phones in movie theaters, it's not the technology that needs adjustment - it's the user.

  2. I hate these things by SoCalChris · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Am I the only one who hates these things? I can't even go to a restraunt without some idiot sitting on the other side of the place talking into one of these and broadcasting thier conversation across the whole room.

    And besides, what is the point? If you are talking to someone on one of these things, you both obviously have a cell phone that is getting service, why not just call? Will the extra few seconds of ring time and saying "Hello?" really take that much longer?

    1. Re:I hate these things by Zack · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I was on Nextel using an i85s which has "Direct Connect" until I switched to a Treo on Sprint.

      Anyway, PTT is one thing I miss terribly. A good number of my friends and family are on Nextel. The ability to be able to buzz someone and speak and then turn off is very convienent. It's sorta like IM in that respect. You can say something and not have to wait on the line until the other person responds. My brother and I used this feature when we were setting up a wifi run that was two miles long. We could have sat there with the phone on all the time, but instead we just got to push give the information we needed and wait without keeping the phone up to our ears.

      Oh, and Direct Connect doesn't HAVE to be on a speaker system.... I never had mine do that unless I was by myself (apartment, car, etc)

      --Z

  3. Different services by mrscott · · Score: 4, Informative

    While they achieve the same goal, Verizon's service was shoehorned into their existing network while Nextel's was designed differently from the ground up. Nextel uses a separate frequency/signal for PTT stuff. http://www.howstuffworks.com/question530.htm.

  4. Re:From what I hear... by cyan · · Score: 4, Informative

    I just wanted to note, as someone who used to work for Nextel, that there's a common misconception that Nextel's 'Direct Connect' service is a real radio or walkie-talkie. Naturally, all cell phones are just complex radios, but DC doesn't magically turn your cell phone into a traditional simplex radio.

    The difference is that the iDEN protocol was built from the ground up for DC, so Nextel's DC service will always be faster. You should still consider a 'Nextel DC' to be the same as a 'Verizon DC' insofar that they're both still cell phone calls, but with a little higher priority in navigating through the network.

  5. I use nextel all day by Beowulf_Boy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I work at a Very large landscaping company, until friday when I move to college.

    Anyways, I'm the yard boy, I load everything from bags of mulch and sod, to running the bobcat or loader and loading trucks and trailers with soil or mulch.
    My company uses Nextel radios. Basically, any one who is a not a laborer(the guys who do nothing but sit on their ass all day and drive dumptrucks, they don't get one, they use a motorola CB type setup) gets one, that means every foreman, equipment operator, and everyone on up to the owner has one, and is on my list.

    It works incredibly well.

    A typical conversation goes as such
    BEEP BEEP
    "Logan, copy"
    "No, STFU"
    "I need 3 bags of mulch and 20 pieces of sod loaded"
    "Bitch say what" (this must be said very quickly and quietly)
    "what?, repeat that please"
    "copy that, 3 mulch, 20 sod"

    The only problem I have with them is
    1. The batteries barely make it through a 12 hour day, sometimes, and sometimes they are fine. It could be because I have an older phone and battery though, about 1.5 years old.
    2. Its to easy to accidently call someone, I bump the button while in the bobcat all the time, cause the seat belt is right there. There should be two buttons to hold down to initiate a call.
    3. Sometimes the voice is garbled, even though I have full tower.
    4. The plastic belt clips are prone to breakage, but I do beat them quite a bit, I jump off the loader all the time, and always hit the damn phone up against stuff. But I've had to replace the clip 4 times this summer.

    Other than that, its awsome to be able to quickly talk to anyone I need to right then and there.