VNCtalk FAQ¶

VNCtalk Client setup¶

Q: How can I use VNCtalk?
A: You can use it on every device that is capable of running a supported web browser. In addition, there is also a dedicated mobile app for Android and iOS available. To access VNCtalk using the web browser, just navigate to your organization's VNCtalk URL and log in with the credentials provided to you.

Q: Which web browsers are supported?
A: Current versions of Google Chrome/Chromium, Firefox-ESR, and Firefox Quantum are supported.

Q: Where can I get the mobile application?
A: Android | iOS

Account management¶

Q: Why can't I log in to my account?
A: When you log in to your VNCtalk account, ensure that you are using the proper URL. For this, click "Change server URL" on the login page, enter the appropriate URL, and click "Change".

Q: How can I go to another VNClagoon app?
A: You can go to another VNClagoon product from VNCtalk if you have a subscription to the product. It means that you do not need to open the product URL in a browser and enter your credentials to log in. Refer to the "Switch among VNClagoon apps" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Where can I set up/ configure my account and what options do I have here?
A: In the upper right corner, click on your avatar, which in the beginning is a bubble containing your initials, and select "Profile" from the dropdown menu. You can change your profile image.

Account settings¶

Q: How does VNCtalk protect my privacy and keep my information secure?
A: When you send a message or organize a video conference, VNCtalk protects your data with multiple layers of security, including E2E encryption.

Q: Where can I personalize my account and what options do I have here?
A: Click your profile image in the upper right corner and then select "Settings" from the dropdown menu. From the "Settings" page, you can see and customize your language, notifications, security options, and privacy preferences to make VNCtalk work better for you.

Global Settings. Global settings allow you to customize language, date format, time format, timezone, and more. Refer to the "Global settings" section, for a step-by-step guide.
Notifications & Sound. These settings include how, when, and where your notifications appear, custom settings for chats, channels, broadcasts, sounds, and so on. Refer to the "Notification & sound settings" section, for a step-by-step guide.
Video meeting settings. You can adjust your camera and microphone, customize the background, check the sound, and more. Refer to the "Video meeting settings" section, for a step-by-step guide.
Security & Privacy Settings. You can control your privacy by making certain information private or public. Refer to the "Security & Privacy Settings" section, for a step-by-step guide.
Feature settings. VNCtalk has a lot of useful features that you may use daily in many tasks. However, some features and chat addons can be enabled and disabled. Refer to the "Feature settings" section, for a step-by-step guide.
Appearance settings. You can change VNCtalk appearance settings such as theme, background for chat, and font size. Refer to the "Appearance settings" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: What languages are supported?
A: Currently English and German are supported.

Contacts & contact groups¶

Q: In the web browser the contacts are sorted into groups. Can I create my own groups?
A: Yes, just click on the info icon at the left of your profile image and then the plus icon. You can also "Rename" and "Delete" the currently selected groups as well as add new users to them from here.

Q: How do I block a contact?
A: You can stop receiving messages and calls from certain contacts by blocking them. After you block a contact, you should see the following icon on the blocked contact's avatar. Refer to the "Block/ unblock a contact" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: After login, I only see a few contacts. How can I get a more complete list?
A: The list you get displayed in the mobile app and on the left pane when using the web browser is called a conversation list and only lists contacts with whom you have already interacted in the past, sorted by recent chat activity.

To get a full list in the web browser, click the info icon at the left of your profile image, which will slide into your contact list containing all users who are currently online.
In the mobile app, the contact list is accessed from the main menu by tapping on the menu entry Users.

Q: Can I add contacts by myself?
A: Depending on your talk-server configuration, you either start with a pre-filled contact list, managed from the server side, or an empty list, where you can search for and add contacts and groups yourself.

Chats & chat groups¶

Q: How do I start a chat?
A: You can create a group chat by using the plus button and selecting „New group chat“. Or you can add at least one more participant to any one-to-one chat by clicking the add participant icon from the chat window's icon bar. This will automatically open the "Start group chat" pop-up window, where you can add more participants and a group name. Click „Start“ to confirm the new group chat. On Mobile, the plus icon provides that function by selecting "New Group" or adding additional participants to an existing one-on-one chat as well.

Q: How do I start a group chat?
A: Add at least one more participant by clicking the add participant icon from the chat window's icon bar and then select the users you want to start a conversation with. This will create a new chatroom inviting the contacts you added. On Mobile, the plus icon provides that function by selecting "New Group" or adding additional participants to an existing one-on-one chat as well.

Q: Can I rename a group chat?
A:Yes. You can change the name of a group chat, if you are the owner of the group chat. In the chat window click the down arrow next to the group chat name to open the dropdown menu. Now select "Chat info" and hover the pointer over the chat name field. Click the pencil icon and start typing a new name for the chat. On mobile, tap the kebab menu icon in the top right corner of the chat window and select "Chat info" from the dropdown menu that appears. Under the "Chat name" section, click the pencil icon and start editing.

Q: How does voice recording work?
A: In the active chat window, click on the microphone button to the right of the text input field to start recording. You can now record your text. To cancel the recording, click on the cross symbol. Click on the arrow symbol to send the recorded audio file as an attachment to all chat participants inline.

Q: What is the maximum number of participants in a group chat?
A: A group chat can contain a maximum of 128 individual participants.

Q: Can I edit my chat messages?
A: No, you cannot edit your chat message. But you can use the "Delete and copy to new message" option by clicking the kebab menu icon in the upper right corner of the required message.

Q: Can I quote and reply to a specific chat message?
A: Yes, you can quote and reply to a specific message in a chat. Refer to the "Reply to a message" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Can I delete chat messages and conversations?
A: Yes, you can delete chat messages and conversations. Refer to the "Delete a message" and "Delete a chat" sections, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Do new members see the previous chat history of a group chat conversation?
A: As a group chat moderator, you can specify whether to share chat history with new participants or not. You can set the following options:

Share your chat history with new participants
Don't share your chat history
Ask every time you add a new participant

Refer to the "Customize chat history settings" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: How do I know if my chat message has been read?
A: VNCtalk chat has a read receipt function.

Q: Can I enable and disable notifications for chat messages?
A: Yes, you can enable and disable notifications for a chat at any time. Refer to the "Disable/ enable notifications in a chat" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Do I have to request access to join a group chat conversation?
A: Yes, you can request to join or be invited to join a group. Once a group admin has granted someone access, they can access that group chat’s resources, share files, and communicate with other chat participants. Refer to the "Grant access to a user" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: The list of recent chats is becoming large over time. What can I do?
A: When you hover your mouse over an item in that list, a kebab menu icon appears right of the contact's name. Click on it and select "Delete chat". In the mobile app, the menu is opened by touching a contact until the context menu opens after a few milliseconds (long-touch). Alternatively, you can also archive this conversation, which will move it to the "Archive list", accessible in the main menu, where all archived conversations are listed and recoverable with one click.

Q: Can I remove chats or group chats from my recent chat list?
A: Yes. Please use the kebab menu icon for the chat or group chat in the recent chat list and select „Remove from recent“. The selected chat or group chat will be removed from your recent chat list and will only be reactivated when a new message is sent from the user or in the group chat.

Audio & video conferencing¶

Q: How do I begin?
A: To create a new meeting and join the meeting directly, click the plus icon next to the search field and then select "Start video meeting" to start an instant video meeting.

Q: How do I schedule a video meeting?
A: You can schedule a new video meeting from:

VNCtalk
VNCmail Calendar

Refer to the "Schedule a video meeting" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Can I invite external users to a video conference?
A: You can start a video meeting not only with internal users, who are members of your organization but also with external users, who do not belong to your organization. Refer to the "Invite external users to a video meeting" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Can I create a conference that does not use a password?
A: Creating a conference password is an optional feature. You can create a conference that does not use a password.

Q: Can the creator of a video meeting exclude attendees from a meeting?
A: Yes, the video conference creator can remove participants from a video conference. The participant will be removed from the meeting and will not be able to join again.

Q: Is there a moderator role with special permissions?
A: Every user has a role, each with its level of permissions and access in a video meeting. Refer to the "Video meeting roles and permissions" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Is there a chat feature during an ongoing audio- or video conference?
A: Yes, there is. You can send messages, pictures, files, and even voice messages during a meeting to other participants. In that case, messages are visible to everyone in the meeting. Refer to the "Chat during a video meeting" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Is it possible to send private messages to individual users?
A: Yes, click on the down arrow in the individual participant window to send private messages to them by selecting "Send a message".

Q: What is the difference between Audio and Video call conferences?
A: Selecting Audio Call to initiate one or join a call invitation audio only, opens the same jitsi-video-application but only with a deactivated camera. An avatar instead of your video camera feed will be displayed to the call participants in this case. To activate your camera, just click the camera icon. The same works for the microphone icon: clicking it once, will mute your microphone, and clicking it again will activate it again.

Q: In video conferencing, I noticed a four-arrow icon in the web client which I missed in the mobile app. The app therefore had a camera with arrows on it instead.
A: The left one allows you to extend the video feed to full-screen. On mobile for that, you only have to tap on the screen and tap again to get the controls back, which makes such an icon obsolete here. The other one allows you to cycle through your available cameras if more than one is available. This is especially useful for the mobile app since today's smartphones usually contain multiple cameras.

Q: Is it possible to use the VNCtalk chat for communication in parallel to the ongoing audio- or video conference?
A: Yes. You can click on the chat icon in the VNCtalk audio- & video conferencing user interface. This will minimize the conference to a small floating window, which can be moved on your screen. You can now read and write chat messages in the VNCtalk chat user interface. To return to the conference, please click on the minimized conference window to expand it again. Refer to the „Switch to floating video view“, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: Can I attach media files or documents to a chat?
A: Sharing of media files (photos & videos) and documents (PDF, word docs, etc) is available in one-on-one and group chats. You can add files from ownCloud as well as from your device to chats. Refer to the "Attach a file" section, for a step-by-step guide.

Q: What kinds of files can I send in chat?
A: You can send different types and sizes of files in the mobile and desktop client/ web app.

Images	Video	Audio	Documents
jpg png gif	mp4 avi mpeg	mp3wav ogg	doc/docx pdf xls csv txt

Q: Can I download media from a chat message?
A: Yes, you can download media sent within chat messages.

Features¶

Q: What main services and functionalities does VNCtalk provide?
A: VNCtalk offers the following features:

Chat & Group chat 1:1 or 1:n
File Sharing
Voice messages
Audio & Video Conferencing 1:1 or 1:n
VNCpad for document collaboration
Screen Sharing
Broadcast messages
Rich Text Format for chat messages
Reactions to messages

Q: In the mobile app I noticed a different set of icons in the icon bar. Why is that?
A: On mobile, you have the convenient option to take a photo and share it immediately with your chat contact or you want to send your current location. That is what the camera and the GPS icon are for. The next two provide the same function as in the browser web client: add another contact and share files.

Q: In the chat window there are four icons in the top-right corner. What functions do these provide?
A: From left to right:

Start VNCpad icon allows you to add one or more pads to write on, for example for notes during an online meeting, and has a text editor with basic text formatting options like bold, italic, underlined, and strikethrough text, lists with numbers or bullet points and indent text. In addition, you can add a table for organizing information.
Survey icon allows you to create survey & polls.
Start Screen Share icon allows you to share your screen with the other chat participants. Clicking this icon will initiate a video conference in case there is not already one active since the screen share functionality is part of the integrated video-conferencing component. Depending on your web browser, you need the VNCtalk Desktop Streamer browser plug-in, which you can for the Google browser download from here
Start Video Call icon initiates a video call.
Start Audio Call icon initiates an audio call.
Add a participant icon allows you to invite a group of people to participate in your chat.