SPCS ReadyLink vs. Nextel

[Note: I'm posting twice, with different questions, to try to keep
the topics focused.]

I'm the "IT guy" for a small business that operates internationally.
As things currently stand, the wireless phone situation is kind of
non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
providers have some concerns.

One concern is SPCS' push-to-talk (PTT) functionality vs. Nextel's.
Our field service and customer care people use this *extensively*.
(E.g.: Pick up the phone and ask "Hey John, you there?" kind of a
thing. Or "Need somebody in field service to pick up a customer on
line 1234.") Can somebody who has had experience with each system
summarize the differences? The pros and cons of each?

I imagine, with SPCS' acquisition of Nextel, that I could probably by
now get a mix of SPCS and Nextel phones on the same corporate
account/contract, but field service people haven't been real happy
with Nextel's coverage, I understand.

Thanks,
Jim
--
Jim Seymour | "There is no expedient to which a man will not
jseymour@LinxNet.com | go to avoid the labor of thinking."
http://jimsun.LinxNet.com | - Thomas A. Edison

Jim,

Currently you cannot cross platforms with Direct Connect and Ready Link.
Also, SPCS and Nextel are in two different billing systems, so not on the
same account but you can use the same contract. There is a unified billing
platform in development and should be coming soon. There are reasons for
the delay in the UBF, but those are not germane to this discussion.

Direct Connect is nationwide and international. It also is instant. Sprint
has stopped advertising Ready Link and is pushing Direct Connect (now Nextel
Walkie Talkie) There is a large delay from send to receive in Ready Link,
and heavy users of Direct Connect report negatively on Ready Link. When
Sprint launches the dual platform phone later this year, it will have CDMA
for Cell and iDen for Direct Connect. If Ready Link was a superior or even
comparable product, they wouldn't launch a dual mode phone....

Hope this helps.


"Jim Seymour" <jseymour@LinxNet.com> wrote in message
news:12bv0i5bkiq2ma4@corp.supernews.com...
> [Note: I'm posting twice, with different questions, to try to keep
> the topics focused.]
>
> I'm the "IT guy" for a small business that operates internationally.
> As things currently stand, the wireless phone situation is kind of
> non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
> switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
> possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
> providers have some concerns.
>
> One concern is SPCS' push-to-talk (PTT) functionality vs. Nextel's.
> Our field service and customer care people use this *extensively*.
> (E.g.: Pick up the phone and ask "Hey John, you there?" kind of a
> thing. Or "Need somebody in field service to pick up a customer on
> line 1234.") Can somebody who has had experience with each system
> summarize the differences? The pros and cons of each?
>
> I imagine, with SPCS' acquisition of Nextel, that I could probably by
> now get a mix of SPCS and Nextel phones on the same corporate
> account/contract, but field service people haven't been real happy
> with Nextel's coverage, I understand.
>
> Thanks,
> Jim
> --
> Jim Seymour | "There is no expedient to which a man will
not
> jseymour@LinxNet.com | go to avoid the labor of thinking."
> http://jimsun.LinxNet.com | - Thomas A.
Edison

In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Jim Seymour <jseymour@linxnet.com> wrote:
> non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
> switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
> possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
> providers have some concerns.
>

There is a phone coming out [presumably with a specialized plan] that will
work with both the Sprint PCS network and the Nextel Network.

http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1802

If you can wait for its deployment, it may be the solution that you are
looking for.

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1

Ok, the question is:

If I am traveling on the Oregon coast in an area that doesn't have native
Sprint CDMA service, will I be able to roam on Nextel iDEN to make voice
phone calls? Nextel has excellent coverage of the Oregon coast.


"Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy71@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:VZidnehjdpfvk1zZnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
> In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Jim Seymour <jseymour@linxnet.com> wrote:
>> non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
>> switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
>> possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
>> providers have some concerns.
>>
>
> There is a phone coming out [presumably with a specialized plan] that will
> work with both the Sprint PCS network and the Nextel Network.
>
> http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1802
>
> If you can wait for its deployment, it may be the solution that you are
> looking for.
>
> --
> Thomas T. Veldhouse
> Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
>

In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Mij Adyaw <mij@thebitbucket.com> wrote:
> Ok, the question is:
>
> If I am traveling on the Oregon coast in an area that doesn't have native
> Sprint CDMA service, will I be able to roam on Nextel iDEN to make voice
> phone calls? Nextel has excellent coverage of the Oregon coast.
>

At the moment, nobody can say ... as they haven't released the phone or the
plan associated with it. My instinct says that yes, you will be able to use
Nextel's voice network as a backup. Worst case of course is that you will
roam onto Verizon or some other CDMA carrier for voice service. Don't forget
that most offerings from Sprint today have free roaming included.

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1

No.

The iDen and CDMA networks are not compatible.

"Mij Adyaw" <mij@TheBitBucket.com> wrote in message
news:3e9wg.14637$Nv.4266@fed1read10...
> Ok, the question is:
>
> If I am traveling on the Oregon coast in an area that doesn't have native
> Sprint CDMA service, will I be able to roam on Nextel iDEN to make voice
> phone calls? Nextel has excellent coverage of the Oregon coast.
>
>
> "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy71@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:VZidnehjdpfvk1zZnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
> > In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Jim Seymour <jseymour@linxnet.com> wrote:
> >> non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
> >> switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
> >> possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
> >> providers have some concerns.
> >>
> >
> > There is a phone coming out [presumably with a specialized plan] that
will
> > work with both the Sprint PCS network and the Nextel Network.
> >
> > http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1802
> >
> > If you can wait for its deployment, it may be the solution that you are
> > looking for.
> >
> > --
> > Thomas T. Veldhouse
> > Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
> >
>
>

Why not? If the new phone provides both iDEN and CDMA, then if it is not
possible to receive a native Sprint signal, the phone should be able to roam
on the iDEN network. Right?

"Zman" <zman@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:4Bwwg.177789$F_3.158921@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
> No.
>
> The iDen and CDMA networks are not compatible.
>
> "Mij Adyaw" <mij@TheBitBucket.com> wrote in message
> news:3e9wg.14637$Nv.4266@fed1read10...
>> Ok, the question is:
>>
>> If I am traveling on the Oregon coast in an area that doesn't have native
>> Sprint CDMA service, will I be able to roam on Nextel iDEN to make voice
>> phone calls? Nextel has excellent coverage of the Oregon coast.
>>
>>
>> "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy71@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:VZidnehjdpfvk1zZnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
>> > In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Jim Seymour <jseymour@linxnet.com> wrote:
>> >> non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
>> >> switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
>> >> possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
>> >> providers have some concerns.
>> >>
>> >
>> > There is a phone coming out [presumably with a specialized plan] that
> will
>> > work with both the Sprint PCS network and the Nextel Network.
>> >
>> > http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1802
>> >
>> > If you can wait for its deployment, it may be the solution that you are
>> > looking for.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Thomas T. Veldhouse
>> > Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

The phone will only do iDEN for direct connect and CDMA for voice and data.


"Mij Adyaw" <mij@TheBitBucket.com> wrote in message
news:V4xwg.15188$Nv.10752@fed1read10...
> Why not? If the new phone provides both iDEN and CDMA, then if it is not
> possible to receive a native Sprint signal, the phone should be able to
> roam on the iDEN network. Right?
>
> "Zman" <zman@nowhere.com> wrote in message
> news:4Bwwg.177789$F_3.158921@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
>> No.
>>
>> The iDen and CDMA networks are not compatible.
>>
>> "Mij Adyaw" <mij@TheBitBucket.com> wrote in message
>> news:3e9wg.14637$Nv.4266@fed1read10...
>>> Ok, the question is:
>>>
>>> If I am traveling on the Oregon coast in an area that doesn't have
>>> native
>>> Sprint CDMA service, will I be able to roam on Nextel iDEN to make voice
>>> phone calls? Nextel has excellent coverage of the Oregon coast.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy71@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>> news:VZidnehjdpfvk1zZnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
>>> > In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Jim Seymour <jseymour@linxnet.com> wrote:
>>> >> non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
>>> >> switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
>>> >> possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
>>> >> providers have some concerns.
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> > There is a phone coming out [presumably with a specialized plan] that
>> will
>>> > work with both the Sprint PCS network and the Nextel Network.
>>> >
>>> > http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1802
>>> >
>>> > If you can wait for its deployment, it may be the solution that you
>>> > are
>>> > looking for.
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Thomas T. Veldhouse
>>> > Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Bummer :-(

"Hammer" <none@all.com> wrote in message
news5idnY-NP5LrsFnZnZ2dnUVZ_q2dnZ2d@comcast.com...
> The phone will only do iDEN for direct connect and CDMA for voice and
> data.
>
>
> "Mij Adyaw" <mij@TheBitBucket.com> wrote in message
> news:V4xwg.15188$Nv.10752@fed1read10...
>> Why not? If the new phone provides both iDEN and CDMA, then if it is not
>> possible to receive a native Sprint signal, the phone should be able to
>> roam on the iDEN network. Right?
>>
>> "Zman" <zman@nowhere.com> wrote in message
>> news:4Bwwg.177789$F_3.158921@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
>>> No.
>>>
>>> The iDen and CDMA networks are not compatible.
>>>
>>> "Mij Adyaw" <mij@TheBitBucket.com> wrote in message
>>> news:3e9wg.14637$Nv.4266@fed1read10...
>>>> Ok, the question is:
>>>>
>>>> If I am traveling on the Oregon coast in an area that doesn't have
>>>> native
>>>> Sprint CDMA service, will I be able to roam on Nextel iDEN to make
>>>> voice
>>>> phone calls? Nextel has excellent coverage of the Oregon coast.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy71@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:VZidnehjdpfvk1zZnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@giganews.com...
>>>> > In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Jim Seymour <jseymour@linxnet.com> wrote:
>>>> >> non-optimal, financially and administratively. I'm looking into
>>>> >> switching everybody over to one carrier. SprintPCS is one of the
>>>> >> possibilities, but current users of two of the three existing
>>>> >> providers have some concerns.
>>>> >>
>>>> >
>>>> > There is a phone coming out [presumably with a specialized plan] that
>>> will
>>>> > work with both the Sprint PCS network and the Nextel Network.
>>>> >
>>>> > http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1802
>>>> >
>>>> > If you can wait for its deployment, it may be the solution that you
>>>> > are
>>>> > looking for.
>>>> >
>>>> > --
>>>> > Thomas T. Veldhouse
>>>> > Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>