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Turning your smart phone into a walkie-talkie
RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers
Published: September 28, 2012
Quicker, easier, faster and more direct than sending a text or making a wifi phone call, there are several apps available that turn a smart phone into a walkie-talkie. The apps are technically called “voice messaging,” or “push to talk (PTT),” and combine the best (and, I suppose, the worst) of text messaging and phone conversations.
They operate via wifi. They don’t use data and they don’t use phone minutes, and they don’t register on a cell bill. They don’t interrupt—if the app isn’t actually open, a message flashes on the screen. They keep histories like text messages do. And they are all free.
The weak point is getting started, since, in order to communicate with someone, that person also has to have the same app installed. Most of the apps have an automatic way to let your contacts know to download the app.
There are dozens of them, so it might be good to list the most popular ones, which usually gives a good indication of the best ones.
Zello Walkie Talkie. This free app runs on iPhones, Androids, BlackBerrys and Windows phones. It does not have advertising, and does all kinds of cool things besides the walkie-talkie part. It can create groups, which creates kind of a teleconference.
It also has a sort of ham radio ability, and comes with a list of public PTT channels that a user can tune into, both locally and across the globe.
HeyTell works on all smart phone platforms except Blackberry and allows a user to post to Facebook or email. It can also transmit the user’s location.
Voxer Walkie Talkie. This is available for Android and iPhone only, at this point. This app has a very user-friendly interface. In addition to the “talk” button, this app has “photo” and “text” buttons, which allow a user to send a mixture of voice, text and photos. There is a playback button, location, group chats and Facebook integration (which works both ways: all of your FB friends who have this program get uploaded to your phone app).
All of this communication happens on a single, rolling, integrated screen.
If you decide to download any of these apps, I would be interested in some feedback.