Everest PTT Application Guide

Peak PTT Everest InstantTalk PTT is an “always on” communication solution that enables instant voice communication within an enterprise or between enterprises over a wide range of Smartphones, rugged mobile computers, tablets, and Windows computers. InstantTalk is designed to work with either your existing cellular data connection or 802.11 wireless networks.

Peak PTT Everest InstantTalk PTT delivers Push-to-talk capability over the Internet between employees regardless of where they are located.

Group Types

Radio Channel Groups

Radio Channel groups are also named "Chat Groups"
These are static groups. The group members are defined by the organization manager.
Designed to closely mimic the functionality of traditional 2-way radio channel where if you're not on that channel, you won't be able to listen to the communication. Like a 2-way channel, you can listen to only one radio channel at a time.
Member list displays only the currently connected contacts.
Lowest priority communication. One-to-one, one-to-conference calls take precedence.
One Radio Channel can be specified by the organization manager as default for certain users. This will be the default group that the application associates with (listens to) when not engaged in other calls. This default radio group can also be overridden from the client by just tapping on the radio group and it will get changed to default.
Radio group call can be initiated by just a single tap.

Broadcast Groups

Broadcast Groups are also named "Conference Groups"
These are static groups. The group members are defined by the organization manager.
Communication has priority over radio channels.
The audio streams are received by all Online members of the group.
Member list displays all contacts—even when Offline.
Sessionis active until ended by the user or idle for a pre-defined period (typically 10 to 20 seconds, as defined by the service provider).

Ad-hoc Groups

Calls involving multiple contacts but not pre-defined by the organization manager.
The user may select multiple contacts from the contact list to establish an Ad-hoc call. This group is transient, and its member list is not saved for later use.
Active until ended by the user or idle for a pre-defined period.

Private Groups

Acts like an Ad Hoc group but can be saved for later use.

Group Size Limit

In a Private Group or Ad-hoc group the maximum number of group members is 20 and the maximum number of Private groups which can be added under Groups tab is 40. The size limit of other groups (Broadcast Group or Radio Channel) is set by the service provider for the organization.

The PTT Application Home Screen:

One to One Selector Button: Displays the contact who is currently in one-to-one session or the default contact, or the last contact that was in session with the user.

Group Selector Button: Displays the group name in the current session. All ongoing radio, conference, private group and ad-hoc group calls will display in this tab. If no specific group call is active then, default radio group will be displayed.

Contacts: Displays a list of contacts which are either defined from the portal or added from the client.

Groups: Displays a list of groups (channels).

Call Log: Displays the call history.

Send IM: This tab enables to send IM to an individual contact or a group even when a PTT call is ongoing.

Quick Dial: Enables to initiate a call quickly by dialing a number that the recipient (or group) is associated with.

PTT Button: Enables to initiate a PTT call.

Speaker: You can turn on or off the speaker from this screen. To turn the speaker off, tap on the icon and a prompt appears stating, "Are you sure you want to mute the speaker?" Tap Yes if you want to mute the speaker, or else tap No. Once the speaker is muted, it will appear as . To unmute the speaker tap the same icon.

One To One Selector & Tab

The one to one selector displays a contact in the following cases:

a. If a one-to-one PTT call is initiated or received, then the other party user's name is displayed in the One to one selector button as shown in the screen below.

The contact list contains contacts (online/offline) as shown below. And in the call log tab, the first entry is of the Offline contact then that contact will be displayed as the default contact as shown in the last image below.

b. If all the contacts are Offline as shown below, and the Call Log tab contains an entry of those contacts as shown in the second image below, then from that list the contact will be displayed as the Default Contact as shown in the last picture below.

Note: The default contact depends more on the entries contained in the Calls Log tab. If the Call Log tab contains entries, then it's very last entry (Online/Offline) will be displayed as the default contact on the Home screen.

c. If there are no Online contacts as shown below, and the Calls Log is empty, then Inactive will be displayed as shown in the last image below.

d. When you sign in for the first time, and the Call Log is empty, then the contact name which comes first Online from your contact list is displayed as the default contact as shown in the last image below.

Group Call Selector & Tab

The Group Selector displays a current ongoing group call as well as default radio group in the following cases.

a. If an Ad-hoc group call or Conference group call or a Radio group call is ongoing, then information about that group will be displayed in this selector as shown in the images below.

b. If the Call Log is empty, and there are no Radio Groups assigned to a user, then-No Groups will be displayed on the Group Selector as shown in the last image below.

c. When you sign-in for the first time, the default Radio group will automatically be selected.

d. You can override the default group by selecting a group from the Groups tab. Now, if the default group is replaced, then the selected group will become the default group for you and henceforth, on any occasion, you will auto join the new Radio group session automatically.

For example, your set default radio group is set as Radio. Now on selecting another group called Admin from the Groups tab, the Admin group becomes the default group as shown as depicted in the last image below. Now, even if you sign out of the application, you will automatically be joined in the same default radio group (Admin) call session the time of the next sign-in.

e. If there is no default radio group set from the provisioning portal, then the very first Radio group available from the list of groups in the group's tab is displayed as default as shown below.

f. If there are no Radio groups associated with and there is an entry of a group other than Radio in the Call Log, then the first available group from the list will be displayed as the default group as shown below in the last image.

Note: From all Conference groups and Private groups, preference is given to the set default radio group. Hence, if Radio group is there in the Groups tab, then a radio group will be displayed as the default group. Else, the group whose entry is the first one in the Call log other than radio will be shown as the default group.

Contacts

This is where your contact (favorites) are displayed. You can add contacts from groups or by searching. Also, you can manage the contacts by adding or deleting a contact.

You can add contacts to your Contacts tab in the following ways:

1. By searching (either ID or name)

2. Add from an existing Group

3. Add a contact from the Call Log tab

4. Add a contact from the Current Call Tab

Groups Tab

This tab lists the groups (channels) you are associated with as showing in the screen below. Also, you can manage the groups by creating, editing or deleting Private groups. Groups defined from the provisioning portal cannot be edited or deleted.

Creating A Private Group

1. From any tab, open the Main Menu key of the app and select Add New Group option or, from Groups tab, you can tap the + icon. A pop-up appears.

2. Enter the name of your Private group and tap Ok. A confirmation message stating "Group added successfully" appears.

After adding a private group, you may wish to add members to the group. When the group is populated, your options from the group context menu are:

Send IM to the group
View group members
Sync group members with your contact list
Remove the group

This context menu appears on tapping the group name.

Adding/Removing Private Group Members

1. Tap any Private Group to which you want to add group members. Select View Group Members from the context menu.

2. If the selected group is empty, the application prompts you with a suggestion to add members to the group. Tap on Yes button to add members and a list of contacts will appear on the screen from which you can add members.

3. Select the desired contact(s) which you want to add to this group and tap Add Contacts button.

4. To add more members to that group, tap the + icon from selected Group Members screen.

5. To remove any member from the group, tap that group member name and select Remove Contact from the context menu as shown in the third image (below). A prompt appears confirming whether to remove the contact from the group, tap Yes to proceed further with the removal or tap No as shown in the image below.

Note: You cannot add members to or delete members from a pre-defined Server Group or do any edits to the Server Groups. Only Administrators of Organizations can perform these actions with the provisioning tools provided for by Peak PTT.

Call Log Tab

This tab displays the calls placed/missed/received as shown in the screenshot below.

To view your Call Log, tap the Call Log Tab. Icons indicate the type of call (dialed/missed/received/request callback). A contact or group name will be displayed along with the time, day and date of the call.

The table below describes the icons used for different types of calls.

To clear the call log history, while on the Call Log tab; tap the Menu key on your device and select Clear all Call Log option. The application prompts with a confirmation message. Tap Yes to clear all the logs or tap No to cancel.

Note: Incoming or Outgoing Ad-hoc calls do not appear in the Call Log.

From this page you can perform the following operations:

Establish a PTT call with an individual contact or a group
Send the IM to a contact or a group
Add a Contact to the contact list
Send Alert to a connection

To do so, tap on the required contact or group and select the required option from the context menu as shown below.

The option to repeat a session (Establish PTT call) is not enabled for Radio group entries in the Call Log.

A long press on an entry in the Call Log will result in repeating the session.

Note: Calls to Private Groups are not listed in the Call Log.

Send IM Tab

The Send IM tab is used for sending instant messages to an individual or a server group also when a call is ongoing.

Sending IM to an individual user with ongoing call

a. Tap on the default contact for initiating a call as shown below.

b. Tap on the Send IM tab while the call is ongoing, and the chat screen appears in the image below.

c. Enter a message and tap send.

Sending IM to a Server Group with ongoing call

a. Tap on the default group for initiating a call.

b. Tap on the Send IM tab while the call is ongoing, and the chat screen appears.

C. Enter a message and tap send.

D. You can also view the chat history by tapping the left arrow icon, and the chat history page appears as shown.

Sending IM to an Individual user from the Contact list

IM can be sent to a selected individual from the contact list as well as to a group from the group's tab.

a. To send an IM to an individual contact, scroll to the contact in the contact list.

b. Tap and hold the chat icon on the right-hand side of the Display Name and slide it to the other end. This will directly lead you to the Chat tab.

c. Alternatively, you may tap on the contact name and select Send IM from the context menu.

d. Enter your message in the text box, and tap Send.

Sending IM to a Group from the Groups tab

To send an IM to a group,

a. Tap on the group name, and a context sound appears.

b. Tap on the Send IM option, and the chat window appears.

c. Now, enter your message in the textbox

d. Tap Send as shown, the message entered will reach to all of the members of the group "Conference."

Working With PTT Calls

Best Practice Tip: Be sure to wait for the PTT permit tone beep before speaking or else the beginning of your message may be clipped. Do not release the button until you finished speaking completely or else the end of your message may be clipped.

Making A Call To Your Default Radio Channel

Your radio will be assigned a default radio channel group (DRC). When you turn on your PTT radio, it will automatically sign into the DRC.

This DRC group can be overridden from the client side if required. To do so, simply tap on a Radio group from the Groups tab which you want to set as default, and the InstantTalk client will remember your selection and automatically join that radio channel session on any occasion.

To verify you are in the default radio channel, you can go to the Current Call tab and check the title "In Call with <default>." Also, the name of that group will appear in the Group Selector on the main screen of the application, and that selector will be highlighted.

Making A One-to-One Call

You can make a one-to-one call to any available (Online/Page Me) contact from either Contacts tab or the Group Members tab. Users that are Offline or in DND presence state cannot be selected for a call.

Making a One-To-One Call From Contacts tab:

1. To make a one-to-one call from your contact list, tap the Contacts tab.

2. Scroll to the desired contact and select it by tapping the checkmark to the left of the display name. The checkmark will turn blue.

3. Press and Hold the Device's PTT button (or in this instance, the on-screen mic for the app), Continue to hold the button and begin speaking after hearing the beeps (proceed tone). The InstantTalk client will switch to the Home screen, and at the bottom, the following message will appear" "You are talking" as shown below.

4. Release the PTT call button when you finished speaking to allow the called person to reply. At that point, an icon with the name of the called person will appear on the Home screen in the One to One Selector.

Making a One-to-One call to a member of one of your Groups:

1. To make a one to one call to a member of one of your Group, tap the Groups tab. Select the desired group name and select View Group Members from its context menu.

2. Scroll down to the desired group member (contact) in the list, select it by tapping the checkmark present to the left of the Display Name.

3. The checkmark will turn blue.

4. Press and the PTT button, the rest of the steps are the same as On-to-One call from Contacts tab.

Making an Ad-hoc Group Call

An ad-hoc Group call is like a call to a (temporary) Private Group as you select multiple users from either your contacts list or group members list.

Scroll to the desired contact and select them by tapping the checkmark to the left of their Display Name. A blue checkmark will appear next to each contact. Press the PTT button and begin the conversation as usual. Maximum ten users can be invited to the Ad-hoc group call.

Making a Group Call

To make a group call,

1. Go to the Groups tab.

2. Scroll to the desired group and select it by tapping the checkmark to the left of the group name. The checkmark will be blue and in the app - the PTT Call Button will be green.

3. Press and hold the green PTT call button. Continue to hold and begin speaking after hearing the beeps. The display switches to the Home screen (like one-to-one calls).

Notes:

Only one call group can be selected for a PTT call
In the case of the radio group, you need to tap on the required group name, and you will directly get joined in that group call without pressing the PTT button
In case of private and conference group, you need to select the group and then press the PTT button to initiate the group call.

4. Release the green Call Button when you are finished speaking to allow the other participant(s) in the session to speak.

Note: You may not hold the talk (call) button for more than 60 seconds.

To End a call, Press on the red End Call button if you wish to terminate the call. Other participants will not be able to continue the discussion in a Private group once you end a call that was established by you.

Notes: If you are invited to a group call, you may leave the session by pressing the End button, but this will not terminate the session. Other participants may continue the discussion.

The server will auto terminate any call (except a Radio group call) if no participant speaks for more than 20-40 seconds.

Receiving A Call

When a call is received, the display switches to the Home screen. At the bottom of the screen it will show the caller's Display Name and the phrase "is talking."

Whenever the caller is speaking, the PTT Call button is disabled (grayed out). When the caller has finished speaking, the PTT Call button returns to green (enabled).

There is no need to select a contact to reply on an incoming call. Simply press and hold the green call (or PTT button on your device), to reply. Continue to hold and begin speaking after hearing the quick beeps. Release the Green Call Button when you are finished speaking to allow the caller to reply.

Chat History

Past Instant Messages can join on the Chat History tab. Conversations are listed by Display Name. Tap the name of the contact or the blue arrow to display past messages as shown in the example below.

Clearing a chat history:

1. To clear a chat history of contact, press the Menu key of your device or the main menu of the application and select the Chat History option.

2. Press and hold the contact name whose chat history you want to delete. The application prompts you with confirmation of clearing the selected IM History.

Clearing all chat history:

1. To clear the entire chat history (all conversations) press the Menu key of the device or the main menu of the application to view the menu options and select Clear all Chat History menu option.

Note: The Clear All Chat History menu item appears in the main menu, only when you are on the Chat History page.

2. The application prompts you with a message "Delete whole IM History?"

3. Select Yes if you want to proceed further, No to cancel.

Copying and pasting a chat:

1. Press the Menu key of your device or the main menu of the application and select the Chat History option.

2. The Chat History page will open, select a contact name and open its chat messages.

3. Long press the chat message entry which you want to copy. The application prompts you to copy it.

4. Press Copy.

5. You can then paste this text to the text box of a new message of same or in another conversation.

Current Call Tab

This option displays the user or group in with whom you are currently in a call.

If you are in a call with an individual user or a small group call and if you want to send an IM or send an Alert or add the user to the contact list or view the user ID you can do it by tapping on the contact and selecting the required option from the context menu.

When you are in a Large group call, the Current Call tab displays only the number of participants participating in the call and not the participant names as shown below.

Call Log

The Call Log tab displays the entire history of call. It includes dialed, missed, received and request callback entries.

Close Tab

When you are in the group members page, and you want to return to the home screen, you can just use this Close Tab option from the main menu.

Note: This menu item appears in the main menu, only when you are on the group members page.

My Presence

You can change your presence status by pressing the Menu key and selecting My Presence from the main menu.

The InstantTalk app has the following user states:

Note: Dispatcher users have the right to bypass DND state and establish an urgent call with a user in such state.

When you change your status, all other users that have you as a contact in their contact list are updated accordingly. Status updates are typically instant; however, it may take longer to synchronize due to a network issue. Also, during voice exchange, status updates are kept on hold until the end of the voice burst.

Important Notes:

Your status will be automatically updated to Page Me when a GSM phone call is in progress. As soon as the call ends, your status is switched back to last presence status.

When your status is set to Do Not Disturb, and a PTT call is made, your status automatically updates to Online.

When the Android phone is set to ‘silent’ or on ‘vibrate’ mode, the Presence status of the user will become as Page Me.

Adding A Private Group

This menu item is used to add a Private group to the list.

1. From any tab, open the Main Menu key of the app and select Add New Group option or, from Groups tab, you can either tap the + icon. A pop-up appears.

2. Enter the name of your Private group and select OK.

Synching Contacts

Select the Sync Contacts option from the menu, a list of contacts from the phone’s address book will appear, choose the contacts to sync, and if they subscribe to the PTT service, they will get automatically added to your PTT contact list.

Establishing an Ad-hoc Call

The Ad-hoc Call feature allows you to directly call a user even if this user is not in your contact list.

1. To make an Ad-hoc call, you must know the ID of that user (typically the phone number of the user).

2. While on any tab, press the Menu key of your device or the main menu of the application and select the Ad-hoc Call option.

3. Enter the ID of the user whom you want to call and tap Call.

My Status

While on any tab, press the Menu key of your device or the main menu of the application and select

My Status. This further shows: My Position and My SOS.

My Position

To view the coordinates of your location:

1. Press the Menu key and then select My Status from the menu option

2. Select My Position. For the first-time login, you may be prompted to enable the GPS (if GPS of your device is disabled).

3. Go to the Settings > Location Services > select Use GPS satellites check box to enable Hence, you will see the GPS parameters (Latitude and Longitude) as below:

Once you view the GPS details, touch anywhere on the screen or use the handset's Back arrow key to exit (return to the previous screen).

My SOS

An Instant Alert license is required to enjoy from emergency (SOS) alarms service, for further information, please contact Peak PTT for more info.

To send an SOS Alert,

1. Press the SOS shortcut icon created on the Home screen or press the Menu key > select My
Status. Select My SOS option to view the SOS alert icon.

2. Tap the large red SOS icon or the Send SOS button to send a new SOS Alert.

When you press on the Send SOS button, an SOS alert will be sent to the controller (Dispatcher). As soon as the SOS is sent, the screen will change its SOS status and display SOS Received.

Based on the controller’s actions, the above screen will reflect the respective SOS statuses. For example, if the Dispatcher accepts the raised SOS, the screen will display SOS Approved. Similarly, if the Dispatcher clears the raised SOS, the screen will display SOS Cleared.

During this process, if required, the Dispatcher can establish an emergency call with you. The microphone on your device will be opened during the entire emergency call, so you do not need to press the PTT button to transmit. The Dispatcher, on the other hand, will need to press the PTT button to transmit to you.

Note: InstantTalk PTT application provides Silent Alert feature. Whenever an SOS is raised from the client, that is, whenever SOS of the application is active till it is cleared by the Dispatcher; all PTT tones of the application get silent.

SOS Statuses:

Inactive = No active SOS
SOS Received = SOS Received by Controller
SOS Cleared = SOS handled by Controller

Note: In certain devices, you can also press a dedicated physical SOS button to raise a priority alert, like the PTT-584G and PTT-394G.

Check For Software Update

You can select the option “Check for software update” from the menu and check if there is any new version available for update. If the application has the latest version, a message stating “Your version is up to date” will be displayed. If a new version is available then a prompt stating “A new version is available, would you like to download it?” will be displayed.

On selecting yes, downloading of the latest version .apk file begins as shown below. Once, the file is downloaded, a prompt confirming to install an update of the existing application appears as shown below. Tap on Install, and the installation process gets initiated. Further installation steps are the same as the topic “Download and installation of Android Client.”

Settings

Press the Menu key on your device and select Settings. This leads to the Settings screen and enables you to change the application settings and Volume Controls (% of current device sound):

Quick Dial is Default Dialing?: Allows setting the quick dial page as the default screen. If enabled, you will land on the quick dial screen every time you press the back button or back arrow.

• PTT Button: Allows you to assign the hard key of the device as PTT button which can be used to make the PTT calls. The hard keys available are Volume Up, Volume Down and Camera Key (if external Camera key is available). Select any one of these hard keys as PTT button.

Note: Dedicated physical PTT buttons may exist on your handset. If these buttons are supported by the InstantTalk application, there is no need to set anything to make them work. If these buttons do not work, consult your service provider.

• Session to Repeat: The PTT client now allows the user to reconnect to the last incoming call by pressing the PTT button once. The incoming Session to Repeat (last PTT call) is displayed as the first label of the Home screen. The default setting is No. If enabled the focus will remain on the same contact till the set duration expires. Once the duration limit exceeds the session will end and focus will move on to the default radio group channel.

• Session Repeat Within (10 seconds): Enables to set the interval duration in seconds till which the session will continue. The timer for repeating the session starts when the call is disconnected by the callee on call due to some reason. Once the duration limit exceeds and if there is no conversation from the caller’s side, the session will end, and the focus will move on to the default radio group channel automatically. The default value is 10 seconds. You can set it up to 60 seconds.

• Play PTT Tones: Allows to play PTT tones whenever any activity is performed. Example: On receiving a call, initiating call, on pressing PTT button, etc.

• Radio group join tone: Allows the application to play a join tone when a (default or not) Radio Group is joined. The default setting is Yes. If you select No, the application will not play the join tone.

• In session PTT Tones – On Receive: Plays audible notifications/sound alerts in the form of beeps on receiving a PTT call. If you select Yes, beeps are played as alerts at the end of the audio burst. If you select No, these beeps are not played.

• In session PTT Tones – On Press: Plays audible notifications/sound alerts in the form of beeps on pressing the PTT button. If you select Yes, beeps are played on pressing the PTT button for starting a PTT session. If you select No, these beeps are not played.

Volume Controls (% of current device sound):

Notes:

1. All the application’s Volume Control sliders’ tone volume will be in sync with the device’s
volume controllers (volume buttons).

2. For all the application’s volume tone sliders, the tone’s volume output is the set percentage scale of the application's slider tone to the current set volume of the device.

3. All these volume tones will be muted if the device is put on mute.

• Incoming PTT alert request/IM tones (100%): This tone slider allows you to control the volume of the incoming alert tone:

o during an incoming session while the user is in Page-Me mode,

o request-to-talk tone (when you send alert to a contact using Send Alert option), and

o tone played during an incoming IM

You can change the slider from minimum 0% (mute) to maximum 100% (current volume level of
the device’s set volume). By default, this tone is set as 100%.

• PTT start/join session tone (100%): This tone slider allows you to control the tone volume of starting/joining a PTT session (both incoming as well as outgoing sessions). You can change the slider from minimum 0% (mute) to maximum 100% (current volume level of the device’s set volume). By default, this tone too as 100%.

• In-session PTT tones (100%): This tone slider allows you to control the tone volume of the In- session PTT tones (beeps) played during a PTT call, that is, the beep tone played when the PTT button is pressed (proceed tone) and the beep tone when the PTT button is released (floor available).

You can change the slider from minimum 0% (mute) to maximum 100% (current volume level of the device’s set volume). By default, this tone is set as 100%.

• Error Tone (100%): This tone slider allows to control the Error Tone of the InstantTalk PTT client. The Error Tone nature is to alert a user when something went wrong, and as such it is a loud tone. If you’re using a mobile device with a strong speaker or connected to an external device and the tone is too loud, you can change the slide bar from 100% to 0% to decrease the Error Tone Volume. By default, this tone is set as 100%.

• Microphone gain increase (0): This tone slider allows to control the volume of incoming audio. By default, the value is 0. You can set the slider value to 5.

Once you are done with the required changes, select OK to save these application settings.

Reconnect

Press Reconnect menu option to reconnect the PTT application. It performs two actions: Sign Out from the service and Sign In with the last known credentials.

Missed A Call or Unread IM

If you receive any missed call or any unread IM, you will be notified with small ‘missed call’ and 'chat' icons at the status bar of the device (top of the screen). Also, you can scroll down the status bar, and select the notifications to pop the Call Log or the IM tabs of the application.