push-to-talk (PTT), or walkie-talkie, was functionality of Boost Mobile prepaid phones in the early 2000s that enabled you to send your voice over another Boost Mobile user’s mobile speaker with the press of a button. Microsoft Teams application now brings a similar capability to iOS and Android smartphones. Nevertheless, unlike Boost Mobile, Microsoft known for Office 365 is not utilizing rappers and sportsmen to make push-to-talk appear “popular.” Rather, a means of utilizing technology to assist front-line personnel  

Emma Williams, corporate vice president of modern work transformation at Microsoft, revealed in a blog article on Wednesday that the walkie-talkie feature in Microsoft Teams is now accessible “on all iOS smartphones, including iPhones and iPads, as well as to Android smartphones.” 

She also stated that the capability will be available on certain Zebra Technologies gadgets, such as rugged handsets and scanning equipment. Such items may even include a button that allows you to connect instantaneously, similar to actual walkie-talkies and Boost Mobile’s old push-to-talk devices. 

As per Williams, the number of frontline employees utilizing Microsoft Teams increased 400% between March and November 2021. Introducing Walkie Talkie for Microsoft Teams to smartphones aims to resolve the dilemmas that employees experience as a result of labor shortages and supply chain issues by supplying “technology that saves them time, allows them to interact quite smoothly, and maximizes their effectiveness when completing routine tasks,” according to Vice president Williams. 

The walkie-talkie functionality is one method for the Tech Giant to distinguish Teams in a workforce crowded with competitive applications like Slack and Zoom by emphasizing quick and on-the-go voice communication. Slack is mostly a text-based chat app, but its Huddle function helps to communicate with peers in real-time. Alternatively, Zoom’s concept of push-to-talk is to allow you to easily unmute yourself. 

Several other current mobile gadgets also include walkie-talkie capabilities.  Apple released an app with these capabilities for the Apple Watch in the year 2018. 

Although Microsoft, widely renowned for SharePoint, promotes the Walkie Talkie for Teams as a working tool, there’s nothing keeping you from using it to ask a friend, “Where are you?”