I was looking on nextel.com on the mynextel section and looking at what it said about talkgroups. It seems like it could be a good thing for my family in a emergency or something. My question is this. Is it free to set up one? How much per minute is it? We all have free local DC and this would not be somthing that i would use alot but it would be something useful just to have.

Thanks in advance

It's free to setup but I "believe" group connects must be within the same fleet is all. As for talkgroups, you can set those up for free on your own handset. Go to contacts and select new group, then simply add those you want to be in the group, so when you hit connect it wills how you whois available and who's getting your transmitions. We use them pretty frequently at work when we aren't using d/t.
Doc

Other way around, Talkgroups you have to set up in Care or Online, Group Connect you set up yourself.

It's embarassing, but I am barely literate in either of them, as a care rep. they just come up so infrequently. I know talkgroups are *** to set up and involve associating fleets and **** and both ways cost money, usually 15 cents a minute per person.

Group Connect
Uses your existing DC min., can be set up from the handset, has a capacity of 25 users, all who wish to use this will need the handset setup.

TalkGroups
Setup thru CS, uses Local + .10 min per user in group, max users ??? over 25 (we have a widearea talkgroup that has over 60 on it)

both will use nationwide mins if applicable.

Anicu, Thanks! As tired as I was getting out of that office last night after 19 hours of seeing kids and their parents I coulda told someone that Nextel handsets were able to work on a CDMA network! lol Again, thanks for the correction!
Doc

haha.. that's funny. Today, the girl sitting next to me doing helpdesk(where agents call when they're clueless) got a call about setting up a talkgroup. Funny thing is, she's been there probably 3 years, and had no idea. I had to look on i-connect and show her how to do it. It's really something that's so rare, it's almost funny. Also remember that talkgroup is billed per minute per user(whoops... already mentioned) but as far as i know, talkgroup is virtually unlimited as far as users go.

-J

I'm still confused on this talkgroup stuff.
I am on a Family Shared plan Fair & Flex Fam 7pm 3000...In the Services section of my plan it says:
Services
Included with your plan
Talkgroup(SM)

Does this mean that it is free?
The reason I ask is because when I try to make a whole new account, I pick the same rate plan and it asks if I want Talkgroup 250 for $10 more.

I contacted Nextel CS but one person says its free, the next says I would be billed.

No version of group calling is included in any price plan. If you have newer handsets you can set up groups on your phone. This is Selective Dynamic Group Call, which they now call Nextel Group Walkie-Talkie. It is $0.10/minute per participant charged to the initiator, or can be bought to unlimited for $10. This is limited to 20 participants.

Then there is the older service, which used to be called Group Call, but is not called Talkgroup walkie-talkie. This has a limit of 100 participants, and is limited to people in your area. The talkgroups need to be set up by Care. This costs $0.15/minute per participant charged to the initiator. If you have a finite bucket of direct connect minutes they can be applied here. If you have unlimited direct connect, this does not cover Talkgroup. This can be bought to Unlimited for $25, and there are other plans available at lower price points.

Here is some information from Nextel.com...

Q: What is the difference between Nextel Group Walkie-Talkie and Talkgroup walkie-talkie services?
A: Nextel Group Walkie-Talkie service allows you to:
Instantly connect with up to 20 other Nextel Group Walkie-Talkie capable users anywhere on the Nextel National Network
Identify who is on the call, who is speaking, and who is not on the call
Set up and manage groups directly from the handset

Talkgroup service allows you to:
Instantly connect with up to 100 other Nextel phone users who are on the same fleet or walkie-talkie network within the same home market
Receive or initiate calls only within the Talkgroup participants' Nextel® Local Walkie-Talkie market
Make and receive a Talkgroup call with any Nextel phone
Your Account Administrator can set up and manage Talkgroup groups by contacting Talkgroup Management (available through your MyNextel account) or by calling Customer Care at 800-639-6111.

dont u need a supporting sim card to do this?

Yes, it is SIM dependent, But, if you have a newer phone and the SIM that came with it you should be set.

not true. i tried to setup a talkgroup between a i870,i850 and a i265 and it wouldnt DC on the i265 just i850 and 870.

I was trying not to list the phones... the i265 is not a newer phone and is not capable. Go to Nextel.com, and if the "Group Walkie-Talkie" feature is greyed out, it is not capable.

The phone needs the "black" or 128K sim for "Selective Dynamic Group Calling"... Just putting a 128k in a phone that doesn't have SDGC in it's feature list won't cut it. Neither will a phone with SDGC and a 64k sim...
It's both or nothing.

Talk groups however can be set up with any phone from the old simless Eagle Plus to the newest Phoenix. I use four of them for three crews and one just for the leads/foremen. I believe all phones must be in the same market though.
Corporate Care is more knowledgeable with this.

since the i265 is similar to the i275 would a CP mod and a 128 SIM allow the i265 to SDGC?