Apple has been brainstorming a new capability that could allow iPhone users to transmit data — such as simple text messages — to each other over voice channels, forgoing a reliance wireless carriers’ backend servers, in a manner similar to Nextel’s walkie-talkie feature.

The concept is detailed in a company filing made this past November and discovered for the first time by AppleInsider on Thursday. As Apple explains, conventional text messaging systems require the use of what is referred to as a backend server that may be limited in the amount of information that can be handled at a particular time and is therefore capacity limited.

Read the full story at AppleInsider.