Nextel Direct Connect users across the country now will be able to connect with each other instantly, regardless if they are in the same state or talking coast to coast.
The wireless service provider launched its National Direct Connect service last week, which is initially available in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Nextel says National Direct Connect will be available throughout the U.S. by the end of August.
Direct Connect is Nextel’s walkie-talkie feature, which lets users click on a name of another user and instantly connect. Previously, users could connect to Direct Connect customers only in their region.
Users say they have been waiting patiently for the national capabilities to reach their markets.
Drees, a company that builds homes in seven states, is looking forward to reducing costs and increasing employee productivity, says Karen Arens, office manager at the Fort Mitchell, Ky., construction company.
“From our bottom line, we will reduce costs by making fewer long-distance calls,” she says. Drees has 490 Nextel users, about half of whom use Direct Connect. “Lots of our employees cross state borders regularly, some several times a week,” Arens says.
When employees travel outside of Drees’ standard region they have to make a traditional wireless call, which Arens says takes more time and can cost more.
Once Nextel has upgraded a market, users automatically can use the National Direct Connect feature, says Drew Caplan, vice president of national network services at Nextel. “In fact, some of our customers found out by accident that the service was up in their area,” he says.
Users can sign up for unlimited National Direct Connect for an additional $10 per month, or simply pay 10 cents per minute for each national connection.
RKA Petroleum says it is looking forward to using the national service to keep its 50 to 60 drivers across multiple states constantly connected.
“We use the service every day with drivers doing fuel deliveries in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan,” says Keith Albertie, wholesale director at the Romulus, Mich., company.
Like Drees, RKA has employees who travel in and out of Nextel markets regularly, which can limit their Direct Connect use. Once Nextel’s network is upgraded completely to support the feature, Albertie expects his drivers will use the service more often.
“When a driver is standing in front of a 20,000-gallon tank that is locked behind a gate, he wants to immediately get in touch with me to get that gate opened,” Albertie says. In some cases some of RKA’s customers also use Direct Connect, which allows for even faster problem resolution.
RKA drivers also are equipped with Global Positioning System handsets, which lets dispatchers see where trucks are located, for better asset management and improved customer service.
Despite the service’s geographic limitations up until now, customers such as RKA and Drees have been trying to get the most out of the service. Drees has been with Nextel for five years, and RKA has been with Nextel for four years.
Nextel regularly posts lower customer churn rates than the other national wireless service providers because it is the only carrier with a walkie-talkie feature. But that likely will change before year-end. The nation’s largest wireless service providers, including AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, are expected to introduce competing services.
But Nextel has had the market cornered since introducing the feature in 1998, and it’s betting on customer loyalty and that users will prefer a mature service.
