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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 browser web client, just navigate to https:// and login 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 settings and options

Q: Where can I setup/ configure my client and what options do I have here?
A: Click on your Avatar, which in the beginning is a bubble containing your initials and select Profile from the menu. You can

  • Set an Avatar picture
  • Set your contact information
  • Set your current availability status. You can select between Available, Away, Busy, Offline
  • Change you screen name

Q: Where can I personalize my client and what options do I have here?
A: Click on the cogwheel icon in the top-right corner, which will open the settings menu, containing lots of information about the application. To enter the settings menu, click on General Settings. The variety of of config-options is documented in the user manual.

In the mobile app the Profile and the Settings menu are both accessed from the main menu, which can be accessed by tapping the menu icon in the top-left corner.

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

Contact Management

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 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 on the human icon right of the cogwheel in the top-right corner, which will slide in your contact list containing all clients which are currently online. To get all contacts in your list displayed, click on the orange group icon besides green Online Contacts icon.
  • 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 server side or an empty list, where you can search for and add contacts and groups yourself.

Q: In the Web-browser the contacts are sorted in groups. Can I create my own groups?
A: Yes, just click on the Create List icon in the top-right corner of the contact list or via the kebab menu of an existing list. You can also Rename and Delete the currently selected list as well as adding new users to it from here.

Features

Q: What services and functionalities does VNCtalk provide?
A: In VNCtalk you can perform:

  • 1on1 chats
  • Group chats
  • Share files with another user or group
  • Voice messages
  • A Whiteboard function to collaborate with remote users beyond exchanging text and files.
  • 1on1 Video- and Audio calls
  • Video conferencing with multiple users
  • VNCpad for collaborative notes
  • Screensharing

General Usage

Q: How do I start a chat?
A: click on a contact in the recent list/ contact list or search for a user to initiate a 1on1 chat. On mobile you also can click the + Icon in the lower right corner of your screen to search for contacts and initiate a new chat.

Q: How do I start a group chat?
A: Add at least one more participant by clicking the Add participants Icon from the chat window's icon bar and click the ADD TO CONVERSATION button when done. This will create a new chatroom inviting the contacts you added. On Mobile the + Icon provides that function by selecting New Group or adding additional participants to an existing 1on1 chat as well.

Q: Can I rename a groupchat?
A: If you are the owner of the chatroom, in the chat-window click on the arrow besides the room-name to open the settings menu for the chatroom. Now select Chat info and enter a new name in Title of the conversation. On mobile, tap the group icon in the top right corner of the chat window and select Settings from the opening chatroom menu.

Q: In the Chat info there are more options available. What are these good for?
A: In the Chat info menu you can also

  • Mute this conversation which mutes the notification sounds when enabled.
  • Make the room persistent, which means that it will stay open even if the last user has left the room until this option will be disabled again or the owner chooses to Close conversation
  • Make the room public allows uninvited users to find the chatroom and join it as well
  • You can also activate/ deactivate OMEMO Encryption for this chatroom, in order to use end-to-end encryption for your communication.

Q: How does Voice Recording work?
A: In the active chat-window, click on the microphone button right of the text input field to start recording. Now you can cancel (X) the recording or finish it by clicking the green checkmark icon. This will send the recorded audio file as attachment to all chat participants inline.

Q: How do I share files?
A: In the Icon bar of the chat window, just below the text input field, there is a paperclip icon. Click it to open a file-browser dialog to attach files to the current chat, which makes the file downloadable for all chat participants.

Q: In the mobile app I noticed a different set of icons in the iconbar. Why is that?
A: On mobile, you have the convenient option to take a photo and share it immediately to 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 webclint: Add another contact and share files.

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 conversation. 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, accessible in the main menu, where all archived conversations are listed and recoverable by one click.

Q: When I choose Delete conversation I get a warning message that this is irreversible. Will all my conversation history with that contact be deleted?
A: No, since in the current setup the conversation history is stored on the server and so it is also not irreversible. To get back the chat history, just initiate another chat with this very contact and ... voila!

Q: I also noticed an option Block contact in there. What does it do?
A: When you do not wish to interact with the contact, because it is stalking you or whatever, just click Block Contact. Afterwards you will be asked again if you are sure and the consequences are described. To reverse the blocking, just open the menu again and select Unblock contact this time.

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

  • The paintbrush icon opens the collaborative Whiteboard as a now tab. To return to the chat, just select the Conversation tab.
  • The second 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-chrome browser download from here
  • Camera Icon: initiates a video call
  • Phone headset icon: initiates an audio call. Note: The Whiteboard and Screensharing functionalities are not available In the mobile application.

Q: What is the difference between Audio and Video call conference?
A: Selecting Audio Call to initiate one or join a call invitation audio only, opens the same jitsi-video-application but only with 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. Same works for the microphone icon: clicking it once, will mute you microphone, clicking it again will activate it again.

Q: In video conferencing I noticed a four arrow icon in webclient 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.