Broadband Push-to-Talk (PTT) services are offered by a diverse group of vendors and are being used on multiple cellular carriers in the US and internationally. These PTT services provide important communication services for the first responder community during public safety incidents and events. U.S. State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial governments are using different PTT services which can result in obstacles to interoperable communications, which can in turn endanger life and property. This Phase I project researches the feasibility of a broadband PTT interface solution that will provide a method to combine these diverse communication platforms while maintaining critical meta data that is needed to insure that first responders maintain interoperable communications during critical incidents and planned events, while protecting the confidentiality of that information. It also investigates an approach to successfully implement a solution despite conflicting commercial interests from various companies that have created and offer these disparate services. Once technical feasibility is proven, Catalyst plans to develop, through a Phase II project, a prototype interface which enables interoperable communications between broadband push-to-talk services from diverse vendors and service providers.Catalyst is a leader in the Mission Critical Communications industry and will leverage its extensive technology and expertise creating commercial products for SLTT agencies to expediently provide solutions to this pressing problem.
