Presence And Availability: Coming To A Mobile Phone Near You
As we were just talking about interoperability of instant messaging programs on mobile phones, now we also have to pay attention to interoperability of presence information when used for push-to-talk applications. Of course, it seems like just about every wireless carrier is rushing to get a push-to-talk solution on the market, so they can compete with Nextel and their high ARPUs. The question is whether or not the various PTT solutions will work as well - and whether they'll be able to communicate cross carrier. There are also issues (not discussed in this article) about how people feel about "presence" information. It works when you're sitting at your computer all day, but it might not make as much sense on a mobile phone, as you're out and about - where your actual availability could change by the minute.
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