OperatorLink vs ESChat in 2026

Q: Does OperatorLink work on iPhone?

OperatorLink runs in a phone browser with no app install . A phone can add it to its home screen as a standalone app . On Android browsers, signals such as STOP make the phone buzz, but iPhone Safari ignores the buzz . A crew with iPhones should check whether the on-screen alert is enough for its needs.

Compare OperatorLink and ESChat for a crane crew: what each does, what each page publishes for price, jobsite setup, and how to choose.

By 2Dig · 2026-10-15

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

For crane crews, OperatorLink shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW to the jobsite crew and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser ^[1]. ESChat's pages, as cited on this page, describe Cloud Hosted service that includes Live Location Tracking & Mapping and Secure Group Multimedia Messaging, with service available for under $6.00 per month ^[2] ^[2] ^[3].

Option	Own fee	Card fee
ESChat	Cloud Hosted Service $5.99 per user per month for commercial customers ^[2]; service available for under $6.00 per month ^[3]; annual service for IoT devices such as the Siyata SD7 and Tait AXIOM $86.40 per year ^[2]; LMR Interoperability and Historical Tracking & Mapping add-on $2.00 per user per month ^[2]; RoIP or SDK Gateway Connection $125 per year ^[2]; free 30-day trial ^[3]; 10% discount for commercial annual cloud hosted service ^[2]	not published
OperatorLink	Free to use; no paid plan is built yet ^[1]	not published

The short answer

A crane crew member needs to get a command to the whole crew while the crane moves. OperatorLink shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW to the jobsite crew, and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser ^[1]. ESChat's pages, as cited on this page, describe Cloud Hosted service that includes Live Location Tracking & Mapping and Secure Group Multimedia Messaging, with service available for under $6.00 per month ^[2] ^[2] ^[3]. The cited ESChat facts say nothing about signal handling on a jobsite, so a crew with that need should check it directly with ESChat.

What ESChat is built for

The facts gathered for this page describe three things about ESChat, all taken from its own pages. ESChat's Cloud Hosted service includes Live Location Tracking & Mapping ^[2]. The same Cloud Hosted service includes Secure Group Multimedia Messaging ^[2]. ESChat's own page says service is available for under $6.00 per month ^[3]. Those three facts do not describe how ESChat handles signals, stops or voice on a jobsite, so this page does not say what it does for those jobs. A crew that wants live location or group messaging should check how those features work before relying on them on a jobsite.

What OperatorLink is built for

OperatorLink is made by the team that publishes this site. For a crane crew member, it shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW to the jobsite crew, and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser ^[1]. A 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, and if the move stops arriving for 2 seconds, the other phones drop it ^[1]. One-tap messages such as Go Ahead, Copy That and All Clear are sent as chat ^[1]. Anyone who joins can take part in a voice call run from the phone browser ^[1].

Pricing and fees

ESChat's own page says service is available for under $6.00 per month ^[3]. The table above shows the other prices ESChat publishes, including the per-user commercial rate, per-year device fees and the per-user monthly add-on. OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet ^[1]. The card fee is not published for either option. A crew that expects to pay a card fee should ask each provider for it before choosing.

Setting it up on a jobsite

OperatorLink runs in a phone browser with no app install ^[1]. The person who starts a jobsite shares a link or QR code, and the crew joins from it ^[1]. Phones can add it to their home screen as a standalone app ^[1]. A jobsite link stops working 12 hours after the first person joins ^[1], and a jobsite with nobody in it is wiped after 3 idle hours ^[1]. Button presses, chat and voice pass between phones in the browser ^[1]. For ESChat, the facts gathered here describe live location tracking and secure group messaging in its Cloud Hosted service ^[2] ^[2], but they do not describe how a crew is added or how signals pass, so the crew should confirm that with ESChat directly before a shift.

Things to check before you choose

Which signals does the crew need on a jobsite, and how will you test that each tool passes them before a lift? Which phones does the crew use? On Android browsers a signal such as STOP makes the phone buzz, but iPhone Safari ignores the buzz, so check whether a buzz alert matters for your crew ^[1]. Does a jobsite link that stops working 12 hours after the first person join suit your shifts ^[1]? How does ESChat add a crew and pass signals on a jobsite, since the cited facts do not describe that? If live location and group messaging matter, check how ESChat's Cloud Hosted features work on your account ^[2] ^[2].

How to choose

If the crew needs a stop that reaches every phone, OperatorLink's sources describe a STOP that releases every held direction and shows a full-screen alert to everyone else ^[1]. If the crew needs HOLD and SLOW to stay on until the jobsite empties, OperatorLink's sources describe that as well ^[1]. If the crew needs a free start with no paid plan, OperatorLink is currently free to use ^[1]. If the crew needs live location and group messaging described in a Cloud Hosted service, ESChat's pages describe those in its Cloud Hosted service ^[2] ^[2], at under $6.00 per month ^[3]. A crew that needs both signal handling and those ESChat features should check each option against both needs, because no single source here covers both.

Frequently asked questions

Is OperatorLink free to use?

OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet ^[1]. The sources cited on this page give no price beyond that. The card fee is not published for either option, so a crew that expects to pay one should check before choosing. Prices can change, so confirm the current terms with the product before a shift.

Can ESChat track the crew's location?

ESChat's own page says Live Location Tracking & Mapping is included in its Cloud Hosted service ^[2]. The cited fact does not describe how the tracking works or how accurate it is on a jobsite. A crew that wants live location should check the feature with ESChat before relying on it. The cited ESChat facts say nothing about signals on a jobsite, so that need should be checked separately.

Does OperatorLink work on iPhone?

OperatorLink runs in a phone browser with no app install ^[1]. A phone can add it to its home screen as a standalone app ^[1]. On Android browsers, signals such as STOP make the phone buzz, but iPhone Safari ignores the buzz ^[1]. A crew with iPhones should check whether the on-screen alert is enough for its needs.

What does ESChat charge per month?

ESChat's own page says service is available for under $6.00 per month ^[3]. Its Cloud Hosted Service costs $5.99 per user per month for commercial customers ^[2], and it offers a free 30-day trial ^[3]. Annual IoT device service costs $86.40 per year ^[2]. A crew should confirm which plan fits its users and devices before choosing.

How long does an OperatorLink jobsite link last?

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]. The person who starts a jobsite shares a link or QR code, and the crew joins from it ^[1]. A crew whose shift runs past 12 hours should start a new jobsite with a fresh link.

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

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