Voip is the way to go. From what I'm reading teamwork is the only way to enjoy this game and not feel frustrated by being dominated by the LRM boats and Aerospace.
If you think TS2 is poor, don't get your hopes up on TS3. I'm using TS3 for the BF2 tourney I play in and its not user friendly if all you want to do is voice chat.
I hope to get the game working tonight (having trouble with logging in). If I can find a few players, I do have a TS2 server that I can post an IP for. Its always empty, but I don't know how many we can get on it.