Patent ID: 8565803

Claim:
A method for communicating amongst two-way radios, the method comprising: operating, at least one radio, in either a trunked mode or conventional mode over an operating frequency by a first PTT button located on the at least one radio and operating, the at least one radio, in an intercom mode over an auxiliary frequency by a second PTT button located on the at least one radio, the first PTT button and the second PTT button being located on the same at least one radio; scanning an operating channel, by the at least one radio, to enable radio communication in the trunked mode or the conventional mode on the operating channel and scanning an auxiliary channel, by the at least one radio, to enable radio communication in the intercom mode on the auxiliary channel while maintaining the operating frequency active by periodically scanning the operating frequency; detecting a signal on the auxiliary channel with another radio; and communicating on the auxiliary channel in the intercom mode to provide an intercom radio-to-radio communication amongst all radios scanning on the auxiliary channel, wherein the auxiliary channel is a dedicated frequency for intercom mode when the at least one radio operates in the conventional mode of operation, and the auxiliary channel is a frequency assigned by a trunked system when the at least one radio operates in the trunked mode of operation.