Published on September 18th, 2012 | by Tawann Guice

AT&T Plans To Bring About A Re-Imagined Version Of ‘Direct Connect’ With Push-To-Talk (VOIP) To Windows Phone 8

This is not the first time that AT&T has gone the route of Push-To-Talk or Voice Over I.P. (VOIP). The last notable device to come equipped with the PTT was the HTC Fuze. The VOIP service, came with an additional charge to customer looking for that Nextel (Direct Connect) feel, and most devices came with a dedicated physical PTT button.

Doubtful in my opinion will AT&T; should they decide to bring this feature back be utilizing a dedicated button as once before. I am also slow to say that I am happy to see the return of VOIP to their devices, and I certainly am not pleased to see this come to a Windows Phone 8 device. Clutter, unnecessary apps, and feature gadgets are not elements that work well with a pretty much perfect Software meal prepared by the cooks at Microsoft.

It has been said that this integration will also be present in Android, and Blackberry devices.

AT&T Mobility have announced the impending release of its its Enhanced Push-to-Talk service in November.
The VOIP service, which is said to offer “great performance, advanced features, integration with mobile apps and interoperability with radio systems,” will be offered on Android 2.3 and up, BlackBerry 7 and also Windows Phone 8.
AT&T spokeswoman Mari Melguizo wrote “AT&T Enhanced Push-to-Talk is a Voice-over-IP solution. Using AT&T’s IP data network as the backbone for the solution we’re trialing will provide faster connection times and better quality of service. Kodiak’s InstaPoC technology is an advanced PTT service that achieves sub-second call setup times without requiring customization on radio access networks (RANs) or underlying cellular networks.” It is set to be upgraded next year to work seamlessly over WIFI networks.
AT&T’s Enhanced PTT service will also work across laptops, tablets and in-vehicle devices. and cost around $30 per month.
The service is set to capture some of Sprint’s iDEN customers, with that network set to be shut down soon.
Windows Phone 8 includes a new VOIP service which makes it easy to developers to plug into its dialer and contacts and make VOIP calls in the background, and also supports Rich Communication Suite-enhanced services, which helps carriers to offer their own monetized over the top services like VOIP.