Push to Talk Everywhere

Cisco IPICS creates communications interoperability by joining radio systems with IP networks.

Two-way radios, also known as push-to-talk radios, have been a steady fixture in public safety, utilities, manufacturing, recreation, and warehousing industries for more than 50 years. From public agencies to emergency operations to global businesses, many workers depend on these ubiquitous devices to enable communications among their field and mobile workforces.

Until recently, however, two-way radio systems have been isolated. Based on proprietary technologies, push-to-talk radios, which include Land Mobile Radio (LMR), cellular, and wireless LAN, have been unable to connect outside their own networks. Not only do these networks lack interoperability with other voice networks, they are also incapable of handling new communications modes such as messaging, presence, and video. Such lack of interoperability greatly limits the usefulness of these crucial communications tools—exemplified most dramatically during catastrophic events when fire, police, and local emergency workers are unable to share critical information due to radio incompatibilities.