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OperatorLink vs Eartec in 2026

How OperatorLink and Eartec serve a crane crew member, what each one's source says it does, and what to check before choosing.

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2Dig is published by the makers of OperatorLink, which is compared here alongside other tools.

For a crane crew member, OperatorLink turns phones on the jobsite into the communication channel: it shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW on the crew's screens and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser. [1] Eartec sells two systems, EPak with Lazer-Pro and PRO16 with Monarch. [2] Both Eartec systems let several crew members connect and communicate at once on the same setup. [2] Eartec says it has supported customers for over 60 years. [2] OperatorLink's claims say it covers the signaling need of delivering a STOP from a phone. [1]

OptionIts own feeCard fee
OperatorLinkFree to use, no paid plan built yet [1]not published
Eartecnot publishednot published

The short answer

For a crane crew member, OperatorLink turns the phones already on the jobsite into the communication channel. [1] It shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW on the crew's screens and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser. [1] Eartec sells two systems: EPak with Lazer-Pro, and PRO16 with Monarch. [2] Both Eartec systems let several crew members connect and communicate at once on the same setup. [2] OperatorLink's claims say it covers the signaling need of delivering a STOP from a phone. [1]

What Eartec is built for

Eartec's page describes two systems: EPak with Lazer-Pro, and PRO16 with Monarch. [2] Both let several crew members connect and communicate simultaneously on the same setup. [2] Users can add more crew members to a system at any time. [2] Eartec says it has provided customer support for over 60 years. [2]

What OperatorLink is built for

OperatorLink is made by the team that publishes this site. OperatorLink shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW to the jobsite crew, and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser. [1] STOP releases every held direction on every phone and shows a full-screen alert to everyone else. [1] HOLD and SLOW stay on for everyone in the jobsite and are cleared when the last person leaves. [1] Holding a move button keeps sending that move to the other phones; if it stops arriving for 2 seconds, they drop it. [1] One-tap radio-style calls such as Go Ahead, Copy That and All Clear are sent as chat messages. [1] Anyone who joins can take part in a voice call run from the phone browser. [1] The person who starts a jobsite shares a link or QR code, and the crew joins from it. [1] It runs in a phone browser with no app install. [1]

Pricing and fees

OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet. [1] Eartec does not publish a list price in the facts available here, so its price is not stated on this page. If a customer chooses Expedited shipping and returns the set, the shipping fee is deducted from the refund. [2] Orders ship within 1 to 3 business days. [2]

Setting it up on a jobsite

For OperatorLink, the person who starts a jobsite shares a link or QR code, and the crew joins from it. [1] It runs in a phone browser with no app install. [1] The app can be added to a phone's home screen as a standalone app. [1] A jobsite link stops working 12 hours after the first person joins it. [1] A jobsite with nobody in it is wiped after 3 idle hours. [1] On Android browsers signals such as STOP make the phone buzz; iPhone Safari ignores the buzz. [1] For Eartec, both systems let several crew members connect at once on the same setup. [2]

Things to check before you choose

Ask how the crew will carry the tool. OperatorLink runs on phones, so check that every member has a phone with a browser and a working data or Wi-Fi connection; no claim says it works without a phone signal. Ask who manages the jobsite link and what happens when it expires 12 hours in, so a long shift is not cut short. [1] Check how many headsets the Eartec setup needs and how its radio is reached before relying on it. Ask how a STOP is delivered on a loud site and whether that matches the crew's habit. For Eartec, ask what its return terms say before the crew relies on a set.

How to choose

If the crew wants a system that several members use at once, Eartec's pages say both its systems let several crew members connect and communicate simultaneously on the same setup. [2] If crew members already carry phones and want signals shown on screen, OperatorLink shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW to the crew. [1] If voice matters, OperatorLink lets anyone who joins take part in a voice call from the phone browser. [1] If a loud site matters, ask whether the headset's mic handles machinery noise before depending on it. If the crew wants no cost today, OperatorLink is currently free to use with no paid plan built yet. [1]

Frequently asked questions

How does a crew join an OperatorLink jobsite?

The person who starts a jobsite shares a link or QR code, and the crew joins from it. [1] It runs in a phone browser with no app install, so no new app is needed on the phones the crew already has. [1] The link stops working 12 hours after the first person joins. [1] A jobsite with nobody in it is wiped after 3 idle hours. [1]

How many users can an Eartec system handle?

Both Eartec systems, EPak with Lazer-Pro and PRO16 with Monarch, let several crew members connect and communicate simultaneously on the same setup. [2] Eartec says it has provided customer support for over 60 years. [2]

What does OperatorLink cost?

OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet. [1] Eartec's list price is not published in the facts available here, so it is not stated on this page. Ask Eartec about its return terms before buying a set.

How does OperatorLink deliver a STOP signal?

STOP releases every held direction on every phone and shows a full-screen alert to everyone else. [1] On Android browsers signals such as STOP make the phone buzz, while iPhone Safari ignores the buzz. [1] A check worth making is how each crew member's phone will get the alert on a loud jobsite before the crew depends on it.

Can Eartec returns be full refunds?

Eartec's return terms say that the shipping fee is deducted from a refund when a customer chose Expedited shipping and returns the set. [2] A crew that wants to try a set first should read the full return terms with Eartec before buying.

OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet. [1]

Try OperatorLink

Sources

  1. OperatorLink's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)
  2. Eartec, eartecindustrial.com/crane-lift, read 2026-10-08

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