Posted by C32 on September 16, 2001 at 21:48:55:
In Reply to: Re: Cell phone stuff posted by Rich on September 13, 2001 at 21:53:40:
: : I have been reading about how text messaging and Nextel's Direct Connect seemed to be unaffected when cell phone systems are overloaded to handle voice calls. Does anyone have information on how this system works if the system (cellphone lines) is overloaded?
: Mobile to mobile communications aren't affected by the availability of DID/DOD or interoffice telco trunks. Text messages that flow on control channels or on a pre-emptive voice channel basis would not likely be affected by voice channel loading. Besides, a lot of this isn't relevant because its a farce when the media says "the system" is overloaded since all cellular telephones are not on a single system.
The reason nextel direct connect and text messaging are sometimes not affected is because they are mobile to mobile and only require an RF channel to work. If all of the channels at a site are busy then you will not get thru no matter which mode you use. Also a different controller is used for direct connect calls. Even if the phone switch is jammed the chances are that the direct connect controller will only be running at 5 - 20%. It is similiar to the controller used in Smartzone systems.