Sprint expanding push media beyond Direct Connect

Sprint (NYSE:S) is expanding its NextMail push-to-many multimedia services beyond its Nextel Direct Connect platform, allowing any device to send and receive group voice, picture and location notifications with a tap of a button.

NextMail, a Sprint-branded version of Pacific DataVision’s SkyMail service, combines voice messaging, dictation and documentation technologies for mobile work forces, either using SMS or e-mail as the delivery vehicle. In its most basic version, a worker can dictate a recorded message into the phone and send it to 50 e-mail addresses or 50 phones via SMS by pressing the Direct Connect or "send" buttons on the device.

Sprint, however, is offering a more robust version of the same service, which allows a mobile worker to include photos or video with the notification as well as send precise coordinates or location information. For example, Sprint said, first responders could use the application “to document, validate and share the details involved in an incident, including its GPS location and interactive map, photos and provide their command centers with real-time situational awareness.”

Sprint is charging $7.50 a month per user for the voice messaging service and $20 a month for the full-featured NextMail Professional service.