Business push-to-talk without the per-seat invoice
The reason most small operations never get a proper radio system is not the technology. It is the licence, the hardware list and the rollout. This removes all three, and what remains is a free APK and a six-digit number.
Where the money and the weeks go
All three reach the same outcome. They differ in what has to be bought, signed and administered first.
PTT Talkie
A subscription PTT service
Buying handheld radios
Four lines that do not appear on an invoice
No per-seat licence
The app is free and there is no subscription, so a crew of four and a crew of forty cost the same. That matters most to seasonal operations, where headcount triples for a few weeks and then returns to normal.
No IT project
There is nothing to provision on a server, no directory to sync and no software to distribute through a management console. Nobody from IT has to be involved for a crew to start using it.
Very little data about your staff
No account, no e-mail address, no phone number and no contact list. Voice is relayed live and kept for up to 24 hours so that people who were out of coverage can catch up, then removed. If someone asks what the system holds about employees, the answer is short.
Updates that do not need a rollout
New versions are installed from the app's own update screen, so you are not chasing a fleet of phones to keep them on the same version, and a server-side update never drops a channel mid-shift.
What is actually involved
| Software cost | Free — no per-seat licence and no subscription |
|---|---|
| Deployment | Send the APK to the crew; nothing to configure server-side |
| What IT has to set up | Nothing |
| Devices needed | The Android phones the team already carries |
| Data held about staff | No account, no contact list, no advertising identifiers |
| Voice retention | Up to 24 hours for offline catch-up, then removed automatically |
| Minimum version | Android 7.0 and above, with or without Google Play services |
Operations that run on a handful of people and a lot of coordination
The pattern is the same everywhere: a small crew that has to reach each other many times a shift.
Contractors and builders
A site crew, a crane and an office, on one channel from the first delivery to the last.
Security and guarding
Patrols reporting in, and a control room that can see who is on shift.
Transport and warehousing
Drivers, loading bays and the gate, without a phone call for every movement.
Facilities and cleaning
Teams spread over floors and buildings, where finding someone by phone wastes the shift.
Hospitality and events
Front of house, kitchen and stewards coordinating while the venue is full.
Operations across countries
One channel between a head office and a site abroad, each person in their own language.
Four reasons it gets approved
None of these requires a procurement process to get started.
No licence, no subscription and no per-person fee, so the cost does not grow when you take on seasonal staff.
No server to provision, no directory to integrate and no console to distribute through. Installing it is a download, not a project.
No accounts, no contact upload, no advertising or analytics SDK, and voice retained for up to 24 hours for catch-up and then deleted.
Android 7.0 and above, roughly 6.8 MB, and no dependency on Google Play services, so older phones on site are still useful.
What to confirm internally
Two of these are policy questions rather than technical ones, and they are worth settling before the first shift.
What a manager asks before approving it
The short answers, including the ones that are less convenient.
Does commercial use cost anything?
No. There is no per-seat licence, no subscription and no fee for using it at work. The APK is a free download from this website.
Can you issue an invoice or sign a purchase contract?
No, and it is better to know this before a finance process starts: the app is published as a free download rather than sold through a procurement channel, so there is no supplier invoice, quote or support agreement.
Do employees have to use their personal phones?
Yes — the app runs on the Android phone the person already carries. That is what keeps the cost at zero, and it is worth checking against your own device policy before rolling it out.
Can you listen to our channels or read our messages?
Voice is relayed through our servers and kept for up to 24 hours so that members who were out of coverage can catch up, then deleted automatically. There is no account to attach a conversation to, and voice is not used for advertising, profiling or training.
Is there an API or an integration with our systems?
No. It is a stand-alone Android client with no integrations, which is a deliberate limit rather than a roadmap item.
How many people can one channel hold?
A channel is designed for a working team rather than a broadcast audience. If your headcount is much larger, split people across channels by team or location.
What happens if the network goes down on site?
The app reconnects by itself when the connection returns, and voice that arrived while someone was offline is replayed in order. A site with no coverage at all is the one case where a conventional radio still does better.
Start with one crew and one channel
Download the APK, put a supervisor and three people on a channel, and judge it on a real shift.