NJ Police Captain: MCPTT-Based FirstNet PTT a "Game-Changer," Potential LMR Replacement

Posted on April 22, 2020

“I think it’s really going to be a game-changer for public-safety communications.” That’s the verdict from Captain Guy Patterson after his Cranford, New Jersey Police Department conducted a beta trial of the new FirstNet Push to Talk (PTT) service, which is provided by AT&T and built on the 3GPP mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT) standard.

In an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications Editor Donny Jackson, Capt. Patterson praised the new FirstNet service: “It delivers the performance that public safety needs and can be an LMR alternative for some agencies.” 

Patterson noted the voice quality on FirstNet PTT. “[It] is probably better than LMR—it really is. It was crystal clear. Almost universally, of the detectives and officers that tested it, they all noticed it and said that … They were almost surprised that it was the same system – only advanced – as the Enhanced Push to Talk.”

Getting FirstNet PTT into the hands of first responders – as Cranford was able to do during its beta trial – is critical to gaining public-safety acceptance of the technology, Patterson said.

Read the full Urgent Communications article here