Motorola Solutions buys IP push-to-talk vendor to span PCs, phones, radios

Enterprise mobile vendor Motorola Solutions has acquired Twisted Pair Solutions, a provider of software for push-to-talk communications spanning PCs, office phones, smartphones and specialized devices such as two-way radios.

Twisted Pair, based in Seattle, was privately held and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola Solutions. The companies did not disclose the terms of the buyout. Motorola Solutions is the enterprise and government communications company that was left after Motorola's handset division was spun off as Motorola Mobility in 2011. Google later acquired Motorola Mobility.

PTT (push-to-talk) provides instant voice chats among two or more members of a group at once without the need to dial numbers or answer calls. It emulates two-way radios and is widely used by workers in construction, logistics and other fields. Nextel, the U.S. mobile operator acquired by Sprint in 2005, made its name with a PTT service that ran over its specialized iDEN network, which was shut down last year. Sprint and other mobile operators offer alternatives that run over their own networks.

Twisted Pair's Wave PTT system is based on software and uses IP (Internet Protocol) networks, with gateways to specialized radio networks, so it's not limited to one carrier or type of technology. It's designed to let workers in offices and in the field join the same instant calling groups. The company's offerings include software for Windows PCs and for Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices, as well as for Web browsers and Microsoft Lync and SharePoint. Calls can go over private networks and users' existing carriers.

Twisted Pair says its customers include military forces, public-sector agencies including law enforcement and commercial operations such as ports, utilities and mines.