Walkie Talkie (Push to Talk) is a much coveted feature in video conferencing applications. But not many video conferencing apps have it. Users have been craving the Walkie Talkie feature for several years now.
The Walkie Talkie (push-to-talk) feature in a meeting is a feature where you press a button to talk and return to mute when you let go. Well, the Microsoft Teams app has a literal walkie-talkie feature that you might not be aware of.
Microsoft is bringing the Walkie Talkie feature to the Teams app. They said the feature would be very useful for first-line workers, but would also be useful in any enterprise setting.
What is the Walkie Talkie Feature in Microsoft Teams?
The Walkie Talkie feature adds a “Walkie Talkie” tab to the Teams phone app. By using the Walkie Talkie, users can press a button to communicate securely via the cloud just like a real walkie-talkie. But unlike a real walkie-talkie, this connection is secure because it’s not analog. No one can listen to your channel and no one can eavesdrop.
Also read: How to Create a Channel in Microsoft Teams
It also reduces the number of devices an employee has to carry as this feature turns the employee’s smartphone or tablet into a walkie-talkie. This feature will work over cellular data or Wi-Fi and is therefore available across all geographic locations. That means no more limits on range.
How to Activate Microsoft Teams Walkie Talkie Feature (For Admin)
In order to use Microsoft Teams Walkie Talkie, you have to activate it first. This Walkie Talkie feature is available to Microsoft 365 users but must be activated by an admin first. If you are admin for your company, you can enable it for all or some users of your company/organization.
- Open Microsoft Teams admin center from here and sign in with your organization account.
- From the navigation pane on the left, go to “Teams apps”.
- Clicking on it will expand some of the options below it. Click the “Setup policies” option.
- Then, click the “Global (Org-wide default)” option to set up the walkie talkie for the entire organization.
- Then, enable the “Allow user pinning” toggle.
- Now, under Pinned apps, click on the “Add apps” option.
- A panel will appear on the right. Search for “Walkie Talkie” and click the “Add” button to add it to the list of pinned apps.
- Then, click the “Add” button at the bottom of the panel to add the app.
- You can also arrange the Walkie Talkie apps in order of apps so that they appear in the menu bar on the phone. Otherwise, it will be available in the “More” section.
- Click “Save” to apply the Walkie talkie for everyone.
How to Use Walkie Talkie in Microsoft Teams Mobile app
Once your admin has enabled Microsoft Teams Walkie Talkie for your organization, Now you can use it from your mobile.
- Open the Microsoft Teams app on your phone. Now, if admin set walkie-talkie tab to appear in menu bar, you can see it there. Otherwise, tap “More”.
- A Walkie Talkie will appear there. Tap to use it.
- You can also reorder apps to organize Walkie Talkie in the menu bar. From the More menu, tap the “Reorder” option.
- Tap and hold “Walkie Talkie” and drag it to the pinned apps section. Place them in the order you want them to appear in the menu bar and leave. If the menu bar already has the maximum number of apps that can be displayed, the last app in the list will automatically move to the “More” section. Tap the “Save” button in the top right corner.
- Now, go to the Walkie Talkie tab.
- Before using it, you have to select the channel you want to connect to. Tap the “Channel” option to select the Teams channel.
- A list of channels in your Microsoft Teams will appear. Tap a channel to select it.
- You can also see other members connected to the same channel via Walkie Talkie.
- Tap the “Connect” button to connect to the walkie-talkie.
- Now, when you want to speak, tap and hold the microphone button. The “Live” indicator will show that you are talking when you press the button to speak.
- Immediately after releasing the button, you will return to mute mode.
- If you don’t want to use the walkie-talkie anymore, tap on the “Disconnect” button.
That’s the tutorial on how to use Walkie Talkie in Microsoft Teams. I hope this article helped you! Thank you for visiting and don’t forget if you find this article useful, please share it with your friends too.
