Business two-way radios on a managed push-to-talk service cost from $29.95 per radio per month, or from $14.95 per user per month if your team runs the Zello app on rugged phones. That price includes the wireless service, the dispatch screen, GPS location and 24/7 US-based support. There is no minimum order and no contract lock-in. This guide explains what is inside that number, what is quoted separately, and how it compares with buying and licensing a conventional radio system.
The two prices, and what each one covers
Radios for your team starts at $29.95 per radio per month. That covers the rugged IR-series radio itself, the cellular service that carries the calls, the web-based dispatch screen for the office, GPS location and history, talk-group setup before delivery, and ongoing administration: adding people, changing groups, swapping units. The radios arrive charged, labeled and already grouped.
Zello on tough phones starts at $14.95 per user per month. That covers the Zello Work platform, account and channel setup, remote management of the phones and support. The Sonim phones themselves are quoted separately, because some customers already own compatible devices and some need them supplied.
Both plans include dispatch console access and wide-area push-to-talk wherever supported cellular or Wi-Fi coverage is available. Enterprise plans with priority data, backup connections, a written service agreement and a named engineer are priced on request.
What is quoted separately
Four things sit outside the monthly price, and it is worth knowing them before you compare quotes.
Vehicle installation. The IR-50 and IR-80 vehicle units run on truck power and need a bracket and a power connection. Fitting is quoted separately where you want us to do it; many fleets have their own shop do it.
Phones for the Zello service, as above.
Next-day advanced replacement, available as an add-on subscription for teams that cannot afford to be a radio down.
Interoperability with an existing radio system, which needs a gateway and depends on the equipment you already run.
Coverage depends on the sites you operate, so every quote starts with a coverage check against your actual addresses rather than a national map. That check is free and happens before you spend anything.
How this compares with buying a conventional radio system
A licensed UHF or VHF fleet is priced very differently, and the sticker price of the handhelds is the smallest part. A conventional system that covers more than one building or a wide site needs a repeater and an antenna installed somewhere high, a licensed frequency from the FCC with a frequency-coordination fee on top, programming for every radio, and someone to look after all of it. The license runs on a ten-year cycle and the repeater is a capital purchase with its own maintenance. When the business moves, adds a site, or needs to reach a truck across town, the system has to be extended or it simply does not reach.
Managed push-to-talk swaps that capital project for a monthly line. There is nothing to license and nothing to install on a roof, because the calls travel over the carrier networks that already hold the spectrum. Coverage follows the network rather than the range of a tower you own, so a new site or a truck on the highway is a configuration change, not a construction job. The trade-off is that the radios need cellular or Wi-Fi coverage where your people work, which is why the coverage check comes first.
What changes the price
The monthly number moves with three things: how many radios, which devices, and which add-ons. Fleet size does not change the per-radio price, but larger deployments tend to include vehicle units and installation. Device choice matters at the edges: a screen-free IR-65Y and a rugged IR-700Y sit on the same plan, while the IR-80 touch terminal and the intrinsically safe IR-700UL are specified per order. Add-ons such as advanced replacement and enterprise support are the only recurring items beyond the base plan.
Renting for an event
For a conference, a festival or a shutdown that only lasts a few weeks, event radio rentals are priced for the weeks you need them rather than by the month, and the radios arrive already grouped for your crew.
How to get a real number
Send us your site list, roughly how many people need a radio, and whether any of them work in vehicles. We come back with coverage, hardware and pricing in one document. The comparison of the two service lines is a useful read first if you are not sure whether radios or the app is the better fit, and the FAQs cover the questions most buyers ask before requesting a quote.
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