Speaker-mic with PTT for cellphones
Zello and Motorola Wave are two popular PTT (push to talk) instant group voice communications apps. These apps are used by neighborhood watch groups, citizen rescue groups, and more. Note that these apps require internet connectivity via cellular or WiFi.
To make group voice PTT apps more convenient, consider a speaker-mic with PTT button to hear much louder audio than with the cell phone. The key advantage of speaker mics include loud audio output and not needing to fumble around with a phone or radio in the hand, perhaps clipping the speaker-mic to one’s outer garment. The speaker is several times larger than the internal smartphone speaker, meaning the fidelity and sound level can be much improved.
Pryme Radio Products makes several models of Bluetooth PrymeMAX PTT phone speaker mics. Most Bluetooth Speaker-Mics are “open”, meaning they can work with any app suited to accept them. However, some Bluetooth Speaker-Mic are “proprietary”, meaning they work only with their specific app. The problem with proprietary Speaker-Mics is that if the manufacturer goes away, you lose service.
Consider a speaker-mic with rotary volume control as it allows changing volume with gloves or inside a pocket without looking at it. Among the key specifications to consider are speaker output (should be at least 1 watt) and battery life.
Bluetooth PTT for LTE
Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT) over 5G
Public safety and critical infrastructure may use MCPTT (Mission Critical Push to Talk) solutions over 5G networks, in contrast to the PTToC used for commercial and personal applications. These work at a lower network layer than typical apps like Zello and Wave. The Open Mobile Alliance help define specifications for release as ETSI standards that network carriers and OEMs (infrastructure and devices) can comply with. MCPTT works at a lower network layer to provide QoS and prioritization with high reliability. This may also includes “talkaround” via 5G sidelink, where devices can communicate directly without other wireless infrastructure. These capabilities are NOT directly present in Wave, Zello and similar apps freely available.
For Bluetooth speaker mics that connect to traditional walkie-talkies, note that some radio manufacturers have proprietary Bluetooth aspects that make generic Bluetooth Speaker-Mics incompatible. In those cases, an external radio Bluetooth adapter like PrymeBlu may be needed to make the connection.
Related: Install Zello on Linux