Patent ID: 7821988

Claim:
A client device comprising, within a device housing: a first transceiver operative according to a first air interface protocol to wirelessly communicate with a radio access network providing connectivity with a dispatch communication system; a second transceiver operative according to a second air interface protocol to wirelessly communicate with one or more other client devices, wherein the second air interface protocol is different than the first air interface protocol; and control logic for bridging communications between the first transceiver and the second transceiver, wherein the control logic is operative to detect energy level of second air interface protocol communications received by the second transceiver and to use the detected energy level as a basis to engage in floor control signaling with the dispatch communication system via the first transceiver and first air interface protocol, wherein the control logic is operative, upon detection of a threshold high energy level of second air interface protocol communications received by the second transceiver, to automatically generate a floor request message for a dispatch communication session and to send the floor request message via the first transceiver to the dispatch communication system, and wherein, if the dispatch communication system grants the floor request, the control logic is further operative to transmit via the first transceiver to the dispatch communication system communications that the client device receives via the second transceiver from the one or more other client devices.