The three ways to transmit
A latched transmission has a hard 60-second cap. The floor closes automatically at 60 seconds even if you don't tap; a thin countdown rail drains along the bottom edge of the button so you can see the clock running out. This keeps a stuck latch from holding the channel open indefinitely.
Where the talk bar lives
The talk button is a wide blue talk bar, and it is always in the same place for a given screen size, there is nothing to drag, resize or reposition:
| Where you are | Talk bar lives |
|---|---|
| Desktop, side navigation | The footer bar along the bottom of the app, beside the utility icons |
| Desktop, header navigation | The top bar, in the gap between the navigation menus and Quick Search |
| Office phone / tablet | A full-width strip directly above the bottom tab bar |
| Driver / tech app | A full-width strip directly above the bottom tab bar |
A channel name sits as plain text to the left of the bar, with a small chevron beside it, showing the channel you're tuned to; tap it to switch channels or open the menu. This is the same on desktop and on a phone. The driver and technician apps look and behave exactly like the desktop bar; a phone just gives the channel name a larger tap target. The talk button reads "Hold to talk" when idle, "Talking" while you're transmitting, and the speaker's name while a teammate is talking, with audio waves rippling across it.
Because this is a radio, the button always reads "Hold to talk" at rest. It never pre-asks you to "enable" anything. Your microphone is only requested at the moment you actually hold the button, exactly like keying a physical handheld. If your device has blocked microphone access, you'll find out when you hold the button and nothing goes out, so allow the microphone in your browser or app settings and try again.
The talk button carries a sensors icon (radiating waves), not a microphone. That's on purpose, this is a radio, not a phone.
What every color and animation means
Broadcasts on All hands
When a dispatcher keys up on the All hands channel, everyone hears it and the channel briefly enters "reply-lock", no one else can talk on All hands until the dispatcher releases the floor. This keeps a company-wide announcement from being talked over. Any other channel stays two-way as usual.
What listeners hear
Audio plays automatically the moment the speaker keys up, no notification to tap. The listener joins the voice room, hears the transmission, and stays in the room for 30 seconds after the last audio, so a quick reply is instant. After 30 seconds of silence, they leave the room and rejoin automatically the next time someone talks.
One caveat: some browsers block automatic audio playback if the user has never interacted with the tab. If a teammate says "you're not hearing me?", clicking anywhere on the page usually fixes it.
The channel menu
The channel pill at the left end of the talk bar opens the menu:
The pill is a separate hit target from the talk button itself, so a hurried press keys the mic instead of opening the menu.
Keyboard, hardware, and other input
Today, the talk button is pointer-driven (mouse, touch, stylus). Native hardware push-to-talk buttons and OS-level PTT frameworks are on the roadmap.