Method and apparatus for distribution of applications to a plurality of communication devices for an expanded operating mode

A method of distributing an application to communication devices, comprising:

• providing a first communication device with a first user interface feature;
• providing a second communication device having a second user interface feature;
• distributing the first and second communication devices to the field;
• providing a linkage application to both the first and second communication devices in the field, the linkage application enabling sharing of the first and second user interface features such that the first communication device controls the second user interface feature and the second communication device controls the first user interface feature.

A method of distributing applications to communication devices, comprising:

• creating a purchase order for of a radio and a data device;
• determining whether the purchase order includes a collaboration enablement feature;
• when the collaboration enablement feature is enabled at both the radio and data devices:
• enabling the collaboration between the two devices;
• registering features to be shared between the radio and data devices;
• automatically linking the radio and data device to automatically link to share the registered features.