Southern Linc selects Motorola's WAVE 7000 PTT offering for next generation LTE Push To Talk (PTT) service

PTT is a critical communications service for Southern Company and WAVE 7000 will combine sub-second PTT call performance with a rich ecosystem of broadband applications. PTT via the WAVE 7000 solution will provide quick communication between coworkers as well as interoperability with work groups and other organizations using the network.

"Push To Talk is a vital communications tool for our utilities and for public safety," said Tami Barron, Southern Linc President and CEO. "The value of Push To Talk to Southern Company was demonstrated recently in the storm recovery efforts following Hurricane Matthew. PTT was an essential tool used to coordinate response activities with Georgia Power, GDOT, GEMA and other first responders."

The next generation of PTT for Southern Linc's new LTE network brings security and encryption of calls plus greater call flexibility. The WAVE 7000 architecture will be fully redundant and highly reliable, just as the new LTE network will be.

"Our WAVE 7000 high-performance PTT offering on the new LTE network will be best in class," stated Tom Newdome, Engineering Director at Southern Linc. "Southern Linc selected the WAVE 7000 solution as the best system to meet the technical and business needs for Mission Critical Broadband PTT," he continued.

PTT users will be able to establish and participate in enterprise-level group calls, and they can create individual ad-hoc groups for personal group calls. Users can also use one-to-one private communications with individuals when needed. Broadcast group functionality−the ability to make announcements to teams of users and limit responses−is available as well.

In addition to PTT, WAVE 7000 offers a rich user experience. Its messaging client allows users to share multimedia and location information. Integrated mapping shows where talk group members are located and offers immediate ways to communicate with them. Additionally, features such as presence/availability sharing, priority level configuration, priority talkgroup scanning and console integration will enhance team communication for Southern Linc customers. To ease the transition from Southern Linc's current iDEN network to the new LTE network, the WAVE 7000 PTT service will offer interoperability, enabling users on the LTE network to communicate with those on the iDEN network.

Southern Linc is constructing a new 4G LTE Advanced network to meet the growing mission-critical data needs of its largest customer, Southern Company's electric utilities. The highly reliable network will have the capacity to serve the most crucial data needs of area businesses and local government as well. The new 4G LTE Advanced network will offer network encryption over the air and the WAVE 7000 PTT service will be encrypted from user to user. In addition, the company is further strengthening emergency backup power capabilities with hydrogen fuel cell technology at key locations and is adding main power and core data center redundancy to increase the reliability of the new network. Southern Linc plans to begin migrating existing PTT users to the new LTE PTT solution in 2018.