By Vaughan O’Grady
Omani service provider Omantel has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global two-way radio manufacturing company Hytera to launch what is described as mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT).
This is a communications solution where enterprise customers can send instant voice, video, and multimedia messages and many more additional supporting services. As well as instant communication between individuals and among groups, MCPTT can include a command and control centre to manage the whole operation from a single panel.
Traditionally, says Omantel, MCPTT has been in use in mission-critical settings where operations cannot be interrupted under any circumstances, such as public safety, transportation, government, and 24/7 operations such as oil and gas, mining and utilities. The same technology can be used for generic non-mission-critical group communications by shopping centres, stadiums, hospitality, event management agencies, and security staff.
In fact VP Enterprise Business Unit at Omantel, Eng. Baha Al Lawati hinted at some of the target markets for the service when he said: “This service will help nearly all industries such as oil and gas, ports, airports, municipalities, hospitality, retailers, construction, and many more.”
Modern PTT has gone beyond voice-only communication, offering advanced features for increased productivity and safety, including location features, emergency and priority communication, private calls, ambient calls, media sharing, SDS (short data service), status messages, multimedia messaging, video communication, recording and a ‘man down detection’ feature.
