Coverage and roaming
Does PoC work abroad?
Yes — wherever the SIM roams. Many UK providers include EU roaming as standard, so a talk group can span the Dover office and a driver outside Milan with no change in behaviour. Check roaming zones and fair-use data limits before building an operation on it.
What happens in a total signal blackspot?
Live voice stops until connectivity returns; the radio reconnects automatically and queues its GPS reports. Most handsets fall back to Wi-Fi automatically — which in practice rescues most indoor dead zones. For environments with no coverage of any kind, see the honest exceptions in PoC vs two-way radio.
Which mobile network does a PoC radio use?
Whichever its SIM can reach — the good setups use multi-network roaming SIMs that attach to the strongest of EE, O2, Vodafone or Three at your location. This single choice affects real-world performance more than any hardware decision; details in how PoC networks work.
Capability
How many radios can share one talk group?
Hundreds to thousands, depending on platform — a scale conventional radio simply can't reach. Typical fleets run several working groups plus an all-call.
Can PoC talk to our existing conventional radios?
Yes, through a gateway that bridges a conventional channel into a PoC talk group. It's a standard migration tool: keep the site radios, add PoC for everyone mobile, bridge the two until the transition completes.
Is the audio really as good?
On healthy data, better — digital codecs carry none of analogue's hiss and fade. The half-second of latency is the only tell, and teams stop noticing it within a day.
Do PoC radios do anything besides voice?
GPS tracking, lone-worker and man-down alarms, emergency calls, text and picture messaging, task tickets and full PC dispatch — it's platform software, so capability varies by provider more than by handset. Industry-specific examples are in PoC by industry.
Commercials
Can I just put my own SIM in and skip the subscription?
The SIM isn't the service — without a PTT platform subscription there are no talk groups, and many supplier handsets are platform-locked anyway. Budget £8–£15 per radio per month all-in and judge providers on their platform and SIM steering, not the airtime price alone.
Is there really no licence cost?
Really none — the licensing page explains why, along with what conventional radio pays instead.
What should a pilot look like?
Five to ten radios on a month's trial, tested in your worst locations — the basement plant room, the rural depot, the vehicle at motorway speed. Any credible provider offers exactly this; treat reluctance as an answer.
Start from the beginning: What is PTT over Cellular? →