Why Self-Host

Full Control Over Your PTT Infrastructure

Your Server, Your Data

All PTT audio, GPS positions, recordings, and incident data stay on your infrastructure. No third-party cloud. Ideal for government, defence-adjacent, healthcare, and regulated industries requiring data residency.

Upgrade on Your Schedule

Update to new server versions when it suits your team — not on a cloud provider's timeline. Rollback is a single `docker compose` command. No forced upgrades, no surprise breaking changes.

Predictable Cost

Self-hosted runs on a single VPS. 2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM handles dozens of concurrent PTT users. Pay your VPS provider — not a per-user SaaS fee. Cost doesn't scale with headcount.

Full AES-256-GCM E2EE

Self-hosted does not reduce encryption. Voice is encrypted on the device with per-group AES-256-GCM keys. Your server relays ciphertext it cannot decrypt — even as the infrastructure owner.

Works Anywhere

Deploy on any VPS — Hetzner, DigitalOcean, AWS, Azure, GCP, or a bare-metal server. Fast encrypted transport with automatic network fallback means it works through NAT, firewalls, and corporate proxies.

Low Overhead

Dialog PTT server is a lightweight .NET 8 application. Audio relay is handled efficiently — the server relays compressed Opus ciphertext without decoding. CPU stays low even under load.

Deployment

Up and Running in Under an Hour

Server Requirements

Any Linux VPS (Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian 12 recommended)
2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM minimum
20 GB disk (recordings storage depends on usage)
Docker + Docker Compose installed
Ports 5000 and 5002 open on your server firewall

Stack Components

dialog-signalling — signalling server (fast + fallback transports)
dialog-api — REST API (device management, portal)
dialog-worker — background jobs (OTAP, remote config)
dialog-db — SQL Server (or Postgres) — internal only
nginx-proxy-manager — optional, for HTTPS portal

What We Provide

Self-hosted customers receive:

Docker Compose stack + environment template
TLS certificate generation guide
Nginx reverse proxy configuration (for portal HTTPS)
Initial device provisioning guide
UK-based support for initial deployment
Access to server update packages

Most teams are fully operational within an hour of receiving the stack. The Dialog PTT Android app and Windows dispatcher are configured by pointing them at your server IP/hostname.

No DNS changes required to get started — provision devices with your server IP directly.

Transport Architecture

Fast Encrypted Transport — Reliable Over Any Network

Primary: Low-Latency Encrypted Connection

Dialog PTT uses a next-generation transport protocol — the same generation of technology now powering HTTP/3 and modern cloud infrastructure. It delivers:

Sub-second audio delivery with the lowest achievable latency
Connection migration — survives switching between Wi-Fi and mobile mid-call
Near-instant reconnect after brief network interruption
TLS 1.3 built in — every connection is encrypted at the transport layer
Works through most NAT without port forwarding

Automatic Fallback: Encrypted TCP Connection

If the primary transport is blocked by strict corporate firewalls or restrictive mobile APNs, Dialog PTT silently falls back to an encrypted TCP connection — no user action required.

Transparent — devices switch automatically, mid-session if needed
Works through HTTP proxies and deep-packet-inspection firewalls
Same AES-256-GCM E2EE audio on both paths
Slightly higher latency than primary, but fully functional PTT

Both paths connect to the same server on the same hostname. The client always tries the fastest option first.

Hosted vs Self-Hosted

Which Deployment Is Right for You?

	Hosted (Managed)	Self-Hosted
Time to live	Same day	Under 1 hour
Infrastructure	We manage it	Your VPS
Data residency	Our servers (UK)	Fully on your servers
Updates	Automatic	You control timing
E2EE audio	Yes	Yes
All features	Yes	Yes
Support	UK-based, included	UK-based, included
Best for	Fast start, minimal IT	Data sovereignty, regulated industries

Self-Hosted PTT Server — Run Dialog PTT on Your Own Infrastructure