I good source told me today that PTT will be around for a long time. Also, a hybrid phone is soon to come for the Sprint/Nextel network. That means IDEN will be around longer than many of us expect.

Phone just came out. Nextel i880 Hybrid Phone, CDMA/Iden PTT.

hxxp://nextelonline.nextel.com/NASApp/onlinestore/en/Action/DisplayPhones?phoneSKU=I880&id12=NEXTEL_DemoArea_1 02306_i880]Nextel]Nextel - Define Region[/url] - Define Region

PTT is a flash in the pan. Yea, you can connect directly to another user without having to dial, but oh wait, YOU HAVE TO HAVE SERVICE TO DO IT! And with Nextel, this is easier said than done.

The i880 is an IDEN only phone, not a hybrid. The hybrids all start with ic (IDEN/CDMA), as in ic502 or ic902.

Flash in the pan? Hardly. Many industries use PTT as quick, efficient communication. Construction would probably be number one. Nextel has the areas where I work covered, which is all that matters to me. Our company uses them from the warehouses and delivery drivers to the corporate office. We used to be all Cingular and switched to Nextel. Overall, it works well for us.

I think PTT is good in its place, like for construction or the warehouse. However, when I am in a business environment, at a restaurant or other non-work environment, I think it is quite annoying.

I couldn't agree more. That's why we encourage employees to use the handset, not speaker, in quiet environments. A push of a button switches the speaker off and the Direct Connect call continues without being heard by others. I do it all the time.

I believe the reason why most, not all, nextel users (excluding people using it in work environments) with the PTT on speakerphone rather than using the ear piece like a regular cell is they think they have the "coolness" factor. When I was with nextel and using ptt, I never had it on speakers in public where everyone could hear my conversation, its just plain annoying.

I am a dc user and mine stays on vibrate 90% of the time. I feel the same way about all cell phones nothing worse than damn cell phones ringing during my dinner of movie time.

Totally agree. In a public area, turn the speaker off

Unless you are chewing a vendor out because they cut through all your trunk lines then left.... I like sharing those stories... hehehe

At my place of employement, they just added two iden and two sprint towers with rev-a.
Soon, we will be going full on nextel company wide to replace an aged radio repeater and pager system.
Doesn't seem like it will be going away anytime soon, which i am fine with.

and a little OT in this particular thread, when will RIM come out with a sprint BB with REV-A

A few weeks ago I had a chance to use an ic502 for four days. I though it was a very nice phone. A few bugs that need to be worked out, for example the recent calls button on the top of the phone does not bring up the recent calls list in the front window of the phone (when you have the flip closed) and the PTT speaker is not very loud. But I like the fact that the phone is on the sprint network and the DC is on the IDEN network. The phone worked in places that Nextel had been poor. The Nextel big players I was meeting with told me PTT is not going anywhere and there are major service upgrades coming in the near future.

I just upgraded from an i930 (piece of CRAP donxxx8217;t get one) to a BB 7520...so far so good

PTT is all over my company. Its the sole reason I stick with Nextel

I used to live by PTT, but now I hide behind voicemail. The world is too populated.