A portable communication system includes a remote speaker microphone (RSM) accessory (102) coupled to a portable radio and further coupled to a secondary audio accessory (SAA) (108). The RSM accessory (102) includes a user interface toggle switch (120) that toggles between a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation. Toggling to the first mode of operation selectively routes receive audio from the portable radio to a speaker (112) of the RSM accessory, while generating and routing a periodic audio artifact from the RSM to the SAA (108) for play out at a speaker (316) of the secondary accessory. The received audio is played out of the RSM speaker (112) in parallel with the periodic audio artifact being played out of the secondary accessory speaker (316).