A target handset in a wireless communication network receives a PTT call announce message that is broadcast over a plurality of base stations without first sending a page message to precisely locate the target handset. The plurality of base stations cover a geographic region in which the target handset is expect to be located. Accordingly, the call setup delay introduced by first broadcasting a page message to precisely locate the target handset is eliminated. The additional burden on the network to broadcast the larger announce message is negligible because the bandwidth available in the forward common control channel ("FCCCH") is sufficient to handle the larger message with no degradation to the network. Additionally, the announce message can be streamlined to reduce its data size and thereby minimize any additional burden on the network.