Jerry Levine The Levine Group, Silver Spring, Md. Silver Spring, Md., builder/remodeler Jerry Levine has a serious addiction: He can’t stop using his Direct Connect walkie-talkie service from Nextel. “Out of all the tools available to us, that ability to get the instant communication weaves its way into so many areas and greases the skids of so many problems,” he says. Levine’s put his entire company on the network, and many of his subs have the service as well. It allows everyone on the network to turn their phones into walkie-talkies by simply pushing a button, saving the time of dialing a number and waiting for the phone to ring. The average Direct Connect call takes 30 seconds, as opposed to the average cell phone call time of two minutes.
As any multitasking builder knows, that extra minute and a half represents a big improvement in efficiency, especially when it’s multiplied by dozens of times per day. Levine uses his walkie-talkie service to communicate with his office staff and to work out scheduling issues with his subs. He also relies on it to find quick-as-lightning answers to his clients’ questions. “You can be so much more professional,” he says. “It shows the clients you know what’s going on.” Direct Connect is available on Nextel phones from Motorola, as well as the Nextel Blackberry 7510.
Nextel. 800.639.8359. www.nextel.com
