Austin Anesthesiology Group leverages Pryme PTT button to make PoC more usable

Push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC) services continue to see adoption gains, but the mechanics of using such applications on a typical smartphone—notably, needing to access the touch screen to communicate—has been a limiting factor in some scenarios. But an accessory from Pryme has resolved this problem for the Austin Anesthesiology Group (AAG), according to its medical director.

Dr. Troy Gras (pictured above), medical director at AAG, said his group has long used push-to-talk (PTT) offerings to let the group’s doctors communicate with anesthesiologist assistants and certified registered nurse anesthetists who may be working in multiple operating rooms simultaneously. LMR radios initially were used, but the in-building performance was inconsistent and LMR maintenance became burdensome, he said.

Seeking an alternative, AAG tried the Zello PoC app, which provided much better audio quality than LMR, supported message replays, and was able to operate on the Wi-Fi systems available in all of the Austin-area hospitals, Dr. Gras said. While this approach performed well, there were practical issues when responding to PTT calls, he said.

“I would have my phone in my holster—at the side, typically—and I would have to take it and out enter my passcode,” Dr. Gras said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Because we’re wearing masks on these floors, the face ID doesn’t work. So, it was always [a requirement to] enter the passcode, open the app, and then I could answer the call.

““I was looking for a solution to the problem of having to pick up the phone every time I needed to interact with somebody via the Zello app.”

While looking at the Zello website, Dr. Gras saw the Pryme BT-PTT-ZU Wireless Super Mini Button listed as “compatible hardware.” He ordered the Pryme accessory but was skeptical after a previous online purchase to resolve this issue proved to be disappointing.

“I ordered it and thought initially, ‘This is probably not going to work very well,’ because the price really was not very expensive at all,” Dr. Gras said. “When I got it, I found that it was the perfect solution to the problem I face.”

Dr. Gras said he typically affixes the Pryme PTT button to his ID badge with the Velcro strap. If he’s in a sterile environment, he can have an assistant press the button.

“It enables us to communicate needs in real time, regardless of where I am and what I’m doing,” he said.

Using the Pryme PTT button also saves a lot of time, which could be key during a medical emergency.

“The difference between me pushing the button on my lanyard and saying, ‘I need help in OR 5 now,’ versus having to take my phone out of the holster, turn it on, punch in my code, open the [PTT] app and press the push-to-talk button … Those seconds would mean a lot in that scenario,” Dr. Gras said.

Pryme President and Chief Technologist Dave George said the PTT button used by AAG is the same one that Pryme sells to public safety. By affixing a PTT button to a steering wheel or motorocycle handlebar, officers can engage in push-to-talk communications without compromising their ability to control the vehicle.

“When you talk about the little PTT buttons, the sweet thing about them is that they’re simple—they don’t need to be charged, and they don’t cost very much—so they’re a good place to start. In the medical situation, they’ve found that they can use them in a sanitized environment. They can put them in a bag, keep them in their pocket, or they can radiate them to kill any bugs on them.

“It’s under $30 and runs for two years on a disposable battery, so it doesn’t get much simpler than that.”

Pryme has PTT buttons that work with any kind of PoC or LMR push-to-talk service, not just Zello, George said.

George said he believes the PTT button and other Pryme accessories likely could resolve many challenges in a variety of sectors, but learning about these use cases and educating potential customers of the offerings has proven to be challenging.

“The applications are so obvious, but it’s so hard for people like us to get to them, because the channel is completely different,” George said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “We rely on two-way radio dealers to sell all of our headsets and stuff, but two-way radio dealers are not the right people to sell a push-to-talk button to a surgical facility—they don’t have any contact there. So, how do we get to these guys to tell them that we have these solutions?”

George said he would like to develop custom accessory solutions for different sectors, if there was evidence of demand for them.

“I think there are probably a lot more solutions that could be better served, if we could develop some different products for them,” George said. “Right now, they’re just accepting what we have, because that’s all they know about. And that’s what we make, because that’s all we know about.

“But if there was a lot of interest in operating rooms, we could make a different form of the button that maybe worked better with gloves, was a special color, was a certain shape or was made out of certain materials that were easier to clean. But we just don’t have anybody telling us what that is. We’re kind of blind [to the desires of specific use cases in unfamiliar sectors].”