Built around servers people can host, TeamSpeak has been around since 2001, serving as a reliable communication tool that has gained a reputation for running light and reliably over inconsistent networks.It has gone through many iterations that have seen it grow from a simple client-server voice tool into something that has a modern interface, built-in screen sharing, and the option to buy hosted servers.TeamSpeak 6, currently in beta, is the most significant overhaul the platform has ever pushed, having entered testing in January 2025 and progressed through several builds to today's 6.0.0-beta4.1.If you assume that the platform only focuses on mainstream OSes, then you would be wrong. The client and server software have supported Linux alongside Windows and macOS since the early versions.Now the developers have announced that direct calls are coming.✋Non-FOSS Warning! TeamSpeak is not open source software. But it has been available on Linux for years, and many Linux users use it, just the way Discord is used.Direct calls will be possible1-1 Direct Calls are coming to TeamSpeakYour friends will be one call away. No Server required.Currently in Alpha Testing - coming soon. pic.twitter.com/kjeOLje0Uj— TeamSpeak (@teamspeak) August 20, 2026TeamSpeak is adding the ability to make 1-1 direct calls, letting two people call each other without setting up or joining a server first. It's not live yet since the devs are still testing it, but they say it's coming soon.That's not the only thing direct calls are coming with. Screensharing is built right in, letting you share your screen, a game, or your camera straight from the call at up to 4K or full source quality.Presets facilitate a quick setup, or you can select the resolution, bitrate, FPS, and audio if you'd rather configure it yourself. There's also a privacy setting so you can choose whether the stream is public, limited to contacts, or private, plus a toggle for capturing system audio alongside it.Sourced from the X thread linked above.Picture-in-picture comes with it too. Using the Shift key, you can drag up to four screenshares or cameras into a corner of another feed while sharing, arranging them according to your preference.When asked about the possibility of making group calls, SYOX, the Community Manager at TeamSpeak, said that:This feature focuses on 1-1 direct calls between two users in a private chat. It remains to be seen whether and to what extent we will introduce Group Calls. We are definitely keeping an eye on group calls as a feature addition, but the scope has not yet been discussed, as it was not the focus of this release/implementation.Can I finally move away from Discord?This change has me wanting to try TeamSpeak again. Direct calls without needing a server is precisely the thing that made my last test of it so brief, since spinning up a server just to talk to a person never felt worth the effort.If the feature works as well as it looks in these previews, I might end up ditching Discord sooner than later. And if they can figure out group calls in the coming months, then I won't even need to host a server to talk to my friends, so that's a win too!