Orion Labs, provider of the award-winning Orion voice-enabled platform for real-time workforce communication and collaboration, today announced that its Orion Push to Talk iOS 5.2.8 mobile application is now FirstNet Certified and included in the FirstNet App Catalog. First responders can use Orion’s voice communication platform with FirstNet’s priority access and preemption services, enabling teams to respond to emergencies faster and more efficiently.

FirstNet is the nationwide communications platform dedicated to America’s first responders and public safety community. It’s being built with AT&T in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority and offers technology, features, and functionality designed to properly handle the rigorous, specific, and niche demands of first responders.

“We’re pleased that Orion Labs’ push-to-talk application is now FirstNet Certified,” said Bob Sloan, COO, FirstNet at AT&T. “Having options is important when it comes to first responders’ communications tools.  As a FirstNet Certified application, public safety can be confident that Orion Labs’ push-to-talk app is a trusted solution that meets FirstNet requirements for relevancy, security, data privacy, mobility, resiliency, and scalability.” 

Historically, first responders have relied primarily on traditional land mobile radios (LMR) to stay connected during mission-critical situations. With a new breed of push-to-talk mobile devices on the market today, public safety teams can augment those communications and quickly communicate across their organizations and between emergency agencies with the touch of a button. First responders on FirstNet using Orion Labs’ mobile application receive priority above commercial users, helping to alleviate network congestion and offering a means of highly secure, reliable and boundary-free communication.

“Orion Labs was born from our experiences in the fire and emergency medical services. We’re incredibly excited to bring Orion’s advanced communication platform to support first responders on FirstNet,” said Orion Labs’ founder and CEO, Jesse Robbins. “Orion is honored to meet the high requirements for FirstNet Certified™ apps and hopes to be one part in helping public safety teams in their mission to save lives and better protect their communities.”

The Orion push-to-talk application is available now through the FirstNet App Catalog and the Apple App Store.