Field notes on managed push-to-talk

Every carrier map says nationwide. That word describes population, not geography, and the three Tier-1 networks do not cover the same ground. Here is what actually varies, why it matters more for push-to-talk than for a phone, and how we handle it.

Nextel’s Direct Connect was push-to-talk over a cellular network years before the industry had a name for it. Here is what actually happened to the network, why the idea outlived the technology, and what the modern equivalent looks like.