Microsoft has released a public preview of the Teams Walkie Talkie app for iPhone to help frontline workers communicate.
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The Teams Walkie Talkie app for Android has been available in preview for over a year and came to Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro devices late last year. The app provides push-to-talk (PTT) services for frontline workers.
Microsoft is promoting the Teams app as an alternative to workers carrying around bulky PTT radios. Like an old walkie-talkie, the Walkie Talkie app has a microphone button that users must press and hold to speak, and then the user must release the button to hear the other speaker.
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"This push-to-talk experience enables clear, instant, and secure voice communication over the cloud, turning employee- or company-owned iOS and Android smartphones and tablets into walkie-talkies," Microsoft said in a blog post
Another advantage is that users don't have to worry about frequency static that affects analog devices. It also offers a shield against eavesdropping and can operate over large geographical areas since it works over Wi-Fi or cellular networks.
Frontline workers are a key segment in Microsoft's growth plans for Microsoft 365/Office 365. The segment consists of employees who spend most of their time away from the office.
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Once set up, the Walkie Talkie app is accessible from an icon in the navigation bar. Users can only connect to one channel at a time, but can switch channels to listen or talk to a different channel. The app shows how many people are currently connected to the channel
Information source: zdnet.com
