Q. Does Skype not have push-to-talk functionality? Why?

CORRECTION: Skype for Windows 5.7 Beta includes a Push-To-Talk feature. “We have introduced a Push to Talk feature in Skype. Many people who are playing multiplayer games have requested this from us. With this feature you can set a hotkey which will toggle microphone muting on Skype call. You can set the Push to Talk up on the hotkey’s selection under Tools > Options > Advanced > Hotkeys.” — 27 November 2011.

Push-to-Talk is a style of voice call control reminiscent of the way you use a WW II era walkie talkie; on a common channel, the channel is silent unless a participant presses and holds down a button, turning on a microphone. Releasing the button turns off the mic. This is attractive when you have many people in a channel and want to avoid distracting background noise and extraneous chatter. Police radio and taxi dispatch are examples from the real world. 

Technically, you might also think of push-to-talk as a call where mute is the default. Try this: start a Skype conference call then have everyone mute themselves. Want to speak? Unmute. Then, when you’re done, mute yourself again. 

So why is that Skype operation not what realtime gamers need? 

1. Gamers need a default of mute. (but only for their in-world conversations.)
2. Gamers need physical (keyboard) shortcuts to turn the voice backchannel on an off. Their hands are too busy to navigate through the Skype UI to find the mute button; and their screens are reserved for gameplay. 
3. Bonus points if the shortcut key can operate like the  ”control” or “shift” key (only works when you hold it down) or the “caps lock” key (toggling between modes). 
4. Ultra bonus points if you can recognize the difference between when a team’s open channel is getting swamped with talk and noise and game sound feedback versus the normal conversation of a pre- or post-game meeting. You only get points if you can switch the whole channel between normal Skype call and Push-to-Talk mode.  

Why hasn’t Skype done this yet? 

They’ve talked about it internally, according to one Skype exec who’s no longer at the company. Skype strives for simplicity in user experience, avoiding features to meet special use cases. Skype wasn’t convinced at the time that it needed to change its client. 

What’s more, Skype had something in the works: tools for developers. Skype now has an engine, SkypeKit, that a developer can build into software. This would let someone passionate about gaming build an app for gamers with Skype features. And that app could meet gaming needs better than Skype could imagine. Skype is counting, in part, on third-party developers to build Skype apps to serve hundreds of thousands of niche markets and specific uses. 

One of those developers will be Microsoft’s entertainment division, the folks who bring you Xbox and Kinect. You may see Push-to-Talk Skype features in some of their products some day.   

via Quora.