ESChat and Siyata enable IoT push-to-talk services
- January 26, 2022
- Steve Rogerson
California-based ESChat is working with Canada’s Siyata Mobile to bring broadband IoT radio push-to-talk (PTT) service to US markets.
The integration provides businesses and government with an option for reliable high quality PTT communication over the US broadband carrier networks.
The integrated Siyata SD-7 operates within the ESChat ecosystem and can communicate with other SD-7 devices, as well as with all other existing elements of the ESChat ecosystem including Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, land mobile radios (LMRs), dispatch and CAD consoles, and logging recorders.
ESChat is FirstNet certified and used throughout numerous markets, including public safety, transportation, education, utilities and logistics. The Siyata SD-7 is a FirstNet approved IoT radio that leverages a Qualcomm chipset and has been certified for use on the AT&T and Verizon networks. It is expected to receive certification from T-Mobile within the coming months.
The integration provides a walkie-talkie experience with global reach. The SD-7 operates on wireless carriers and wifi and, along with the ESChat application, providing an easy-to-use PTT experience with good voice quality. The SD-7 is a rugged device with a two-line OLED display, PTT button, SOS key, volume rockers and a speaker loud enough to operate in challenging environments. It is LTE, wifi, and Bluetooth-enabled and uses the Android operating system.
As an IoT device, the SD-7 requires a minimal data plan for monthly PTT service. Typical PTT users require approximately 0.6Gbyte of data per month.
ESChat is also approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for US military operational use. It operates on and across all wireless carriers, providing intercarrier interoperability. It supports quality of service (QoS), radio access network (RAN) priority, and pre-emption enhancements available to FirstNet subscribers, as well as QoS and RAN priority enhancements on the Verizon Wireless and AT&T commercial networks. In North America, ESChat is the primary PTT offering by T-Mobile and Telus.
ESChat includes AES-256 encrypted PTT voice and multimedia messaging. It also provides live and historical (bread crumb) tracking and mapping. Used by all branches of the US military, as well as federal, state and local public safety agencies, it can operate over and across any wireless network, including all commercial carriers, private 3G, 4G and 5G networks, and wifi. ESChat supports standards-based interoperability with LMR networks, including P25 via the native ISSI inter RF subsystem interface protocol and DMR via the native AIS protocol. It also supports interoperability via RoIP to all LMR networks, regardless of radio technology or operating frequency band.