Patent ID: 8023978

Claim:
A method for providing enhanced floor control between a dispatch communications network and a cellular telephone communications network, the method comprising a network control entity: receiving a first talk reservation request from a first communications device operating in the dispatch telephone communications network, the first talk reservation request for establishing communications on the dispatch communications network; transmitting a first transmit grant message to the first communications device in response to receiving the first talk reservation request, the first transmit grant message granting a floor to the first communications device; after transmitting the first transmit grant message, receiving a second talk reservation request from a second communications device operating in the cellular telephone communications network, the second talk reservation request for establishing communications on the dispatch communications network, the second talk reservation request being transmitted through a gateway to the network control entity; when the second talk reservation request is received before the first communications device switches from a transmit mode to a receive mode, transmitting a transmit delay message to the second communications device through the gateway in response to receiving the second talk reservation request, the transmit delay message indicating to the second communications device to delay transmission until a second transmit grant message is received by the second communications device; and transmitting the second transmit grant message to the second communications device through the gateway after the first communications device switches from the transmit mode to the receive mode, the second transmit grant message transmitted without having received a new talk reservation request from the second communications device.