Carbonio Workstream Collaboration BETA#
The Carbonio Workstream Collaboration Role, currently in BETA version, adds chat functionalities and, in conjunction with the Carbonio VideoServer, video calls to Carbonio CE.
Text features#
Carbonio Workstream Collaboration ships with all the functionalities of a textual chatting system.
Overview#
The Chats module is show in Fig. 9. It is divided in three parts (a left-hand sidebar, the main area, and a right-hand sidebar). The layout is similar for a Meeting, with two sidebars surrounding the main area.
Fig. 9 Overview of the Chats module.#
Using Chats#
You can create a new one-to-one or one-to-many chat by using the NEW button on the top bar. In the dialog window, either start to type the e-mail address of a colleague or tick the checkbox next to the list of account, then the CREATE button to start the chat. If you add more than one address, you will create a one-to-many chat (also called Group): you can provide a (mandatory) title as a name for the chat and an optional topic. You also become a moderator of the group.
While chatting, you can send attachments, possibly with a caption, to the other members of the Chat. With the Carbonio Preview installed, the attachments can be previewed before being downloaded.
When you create a new Chat or Group for the first time, the list on the left-hand side will be populated; the most recent Chats or Groups will always appear at the top of the list. You can then filter the list if you search a particular Chat or Group.
If you search and filter by user name, beside the single chat with him, you will find all the groups you are in, with that specific contact.
For every item it is shown whether there is an ongoing meeting (a camera icon will replace the small avatar icon), the Chat or Group is muted (a barred bell icon will appear), of if you have written a draft message.
In both Chats and Groups there is a sidebar on the right-hand side, which carries a number of information and allows to carry out some actions. There are three different sidebars: one for Chats, and two for Groups (one for participants and one for users, which have slight different functionalities).
In a chat, the sidebar is split in two:
The Info box shows the e-mail and the avatar of the other member
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The (collapsible) Action box allows to mute notifications (see what this implies in the box below) or to clear the chat’s history.
Note
The deletion of the chat history requires a confirmation; it is irreversible and personal, meaning that the other users will still be able to see it.
In a Group, the sidebar for a participant is divided into three parts.
The Info box shows the avatar, title, and topic of the group, along with the number of members
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The (collapsible) Action box allows to mute notifications (see what this implies in the box below) to clear the chat’s history or to leave the group.
Note
The deletion of the chat history requires a confirmation; it is irreversible and personal, meaning that the other users will still be able to see it.
In the (collapsible) Members box shows the e-mail and avatars of the other members. It is possible to search for members or open a direct chat with each of the members by clicking the icon. A crown icon shows the moderator of the group.
In a Group, the sidebar for a Moderator is divided into the same three parts that participants see, but with a few more options to manage the Group. The differences are:
Info box. A moderator can also upload an image to change the avatar
Action box. A moderator can Edit details of the group (title and topic), add new members, or delete the group
Members box. You can promote other members to moderator.
Note
If you are the only moderator, you can not leave the group.
When the notifications for a Chat or a Group are muted, the following changes take effect:
The avatar of the User or of the Group is replaced by a crossed-out bell
Desktop notifications, if configured, are suppressed
Notification sounds are also suppressed
The unread messages badge will be shown in grey and not in blue
Meeting features#
A Meeting is a video call between two Participants, while a Group Meeting is a meeting between three or more Participants.
A Group is composed by three of more users, which are the members of the Group: all members receive the text messages written in the chat. Whenever a Group Meeting is started, while all the members can join that Group Meeting, only those who indeed take part are called participants.
To take part to a meeting, use the button on the top right of the chat window: if you are starting the meeting, the button is called START MEETING, while if the meeting has already started (in the case of a video conference), the button becomes JOIN MEETING.
If someone is trying to call you directly, a dialog allows you to accept the call and enter the meeting or to refuse the call and write a short message that will be sent to the caller. Upon entering the meeting, you have the chance to choose the microphone and webcam (i.e., the devices) to use and to test the microphone. You can also enter the call with both devices deactivated.
After the meeting has started, on the left-hand side three collapsible panels appear: the Actions and Participant boxes, which are the same as the corresponding Actions and Members box in the textual chat, and the Chat on the bottom.
On the bottom of the main area, the Action Bar allows to change or disable the devices, to share the screen, to change the mode of the call (see next section), or to leave the Meeting.
Meeting modes#
The right-hand side sidebar depends on the mode used during the meeting which can be one of:
- Face to face mode.
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This is available only for a video call (i.e., between two participants) and the only interaction is to hide your video and show only the other participant.
- Cinema mode
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It is available only in video conferences. The sidebar shows a miniature of the participants. Only a few are shown in a vertical carousel, depending on the size of the browser’s window, but you can scroll the carousel. By default, the main area shows the participant that is talking, but it is possible to force one participant to stick in the main area by pinning it (i.e., clicking the corresponding icon on the miniature).
- Grid mode
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It is available only in video conferences. All the participants will be shown in the main area. When the number of participant is large and they can not be fit in a single window, it will be possible to scroll the grid.
It is also possible to pin one of the participants: in this case, the mode will be automatically switched to Cinema.
Hint
To toggle between the Cinema and Grid modes use the button located between the screen share and leave buttons in the Action Bar.
Screen Sharing#
It is possible to share an entire screen or single windows. Depending on the browser used, it might be even possible to share only a tab of the browser.
In video conferences, if someone (Alice) starts sharing the screen while someone else (Bob) is already sharing, the screen of Alice will replace Bob’s. Bob’s screen will remain shared, but other participants need to pin it to see it again in the main area.