Joking aside, I managed to get TS working. Sat in the ready room for a while not knowing what to do. Then I actually spoke to a guy in the US who gave me some instruction - like go to the Allied section. Lo and behold I was talking to other pilots. Awesome!
Couldn't hear voices very well over the engine sound. Someone suggested turning the sound down in the Options menu. Bloody obvious really! Easy when you know how
Still slowly crawling up the steep learning curve.