Provided herein are systems, methods, and software to manage group communications using distributed end user devices. In one example, a method of operating a communication device to facilitate secure group communications in a distributed communication environment is provided. The method includes establishing a communication channel (140) with an end user device (110), retrieving registration information from the end user device (110) over the communication channel (140), and generating a device configuration request including the registration information. The method further includes sending the device configuration request for delivery to a group management system (130) over a packet-based network (141), and responsive to receiving a particular device configuration, automatically configuring a group communications application executing on the communication device based on one or more parameters contained in the particular device configuration. The particular device configuration is selected by the group management system based on the registration information.