How to connect a guest to a conference directly

With TrueConf, you can implement a number of use case scenarios to bring video conferencing capabilities to various industries: business, education, healthcare, government, etc. Even more video conferencing features are available with the help of TrueConf Server API, which helps your apps interact with TrueConf Server.

This article shows how to connect a guest (a participant who doesn’t have an account on your video conferencing server) to a conference directly — without entering a guest’s name manually.

This feature can be convenient when using TrueConf in the telemedicine sphere (e.g. a use case where doctors have video-enabled apps for holding online telemedicine consultations). Users log in to their personal accounts on the website that provides medical services and arrange virtual appointments at a certain time. Doctors have their accounts on the server, while users don’t need to have user accounts to participate in online sessions.

Here, we will show how to configure settings so that a guest user can join a conference either from a browser (via WebRTC) or from a client application. The second option offers meeting participants a wider range of features and opportunities. So, you will be able to post a link to this conference on your website so that users could from a browser or from a client application as it is done on a standard conference page.

Preconfiguring TrueConf Server

1. First, open the control panel, go to the Dashboard → Summary, and check if there is the required number of guest connections in your license.

   If you are using TrueConf Server Free, you can create public conferences with one guest connection. If you need to increase the number of guest connections, contact our sales team to purchase this extension or request a free trial for up to 3 weeks.

2. Set up an HTTPS connection to work with the API.

Next, you can use various API methods over OAuth 2.0 protocol. Learn more about how to set up interaction with TrueConf Server over this protocol in our article “How to get started with TrueConf API”.

Step 1: Create a scheduled public conference

By using the Create Conference method, create a new video conference and set the following parameters:

• Owner and list of participants — specify the doctor’s TrueConf ID (login) for both parameters
• Number of participants — 2
• Launch type — scheduled, i.e., the Schedule object must contain the launch type 1 (one-time launch), the start time in Unix Timestamp format and the session duration in seconds
• Conference type — public
• Mode — all on screen
• Recording — enabled so that all video therapy sessions could be saved in the patient’s medical record. To this end, you need to enable conference recording on demand in the TrueConf Server control panel.

For instance, when scheduling a 30-minute meeting on 6/1/2021 at 12:00 p.m., New York time (UTC -5) the following Conference object for the request body will be received:

In response, you’ll get a JSON file for the conference object you’ve created. In this case, the conference ID will be created automatically, e.g., 0987654321.

Step 2: Generate links to connect guests automatically

You can now create and provide a patient with a link to automatically join a video consultation. In this case, you can get names, e.g., from patient’s data that are available on the website that provides medical services.

1. Get authorization data using the GET method Software_Clients – Get Client List.

And specify the following parameters:

• call_id: 0987654321 — the ID of the created conference
• case: join_conference_button – the generation of direct links needed for joining the conference from client applications.
• user: $Ian Taylor — guest’s display name in the conference (a $ symbol is required).

In our case, the request is as follows:

https://video.company.com/api/v3.3/software/clients?call_id=0987654321&user=$Ian Taylor

2. The response will contain the JSON file with a list of all apps for connecting guests to a conference, including a JSON object named "name": "TrueConf Web" and data for connecting via WebRTC:

3. The value of the web_url parameter is a link used to automatically connect a participant to an online consultation from a browser.
4. The JSON file will also include the “deeplinks” object with links that are needed for joining the meeting from client applications. The “default” link can be used for joining either from TrueConf desktop applications (Windows, Linux, macOS) or from TrueConf for iOS/iPadOS. The “android” link will be used by TrueConf for Android/Android TV.
   "deeplinks": { "default": "trueconf:\\c\\5016799639@video.company.com%23vcs&h=172.18.246.126,172.17.0.1&force=1&templogin=1&login=*guest*%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%20%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD&password=$291bcfe8bfc567822b4ff133c1b668fb7*1671525797*377ee8856b0404911fdeed524854d198&encrypt=0&autoclose=1", "android": "intent:\\c\\5016799639%40video.company.com%23vcs%26h%3d172.18.246.126,172.17.0.1%26force%3d1%26templogin%3d1%26login%3d*guest*%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%20%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%26password%3d$291bcfe8bfc567822b4ff133c1b668fb7*1671525797*377ee8856b0404911fdeed524854d198%26encrypt%3d0%26autoclose%3d1#Intent;scheme=trueconf;package=com.trueconf.videochat;end" }

   1 2 3 4

   "deeplinks": {        "default": "trueconf:\\c\\5016799639@video.company.com%23vcs&h=172.18.246.126,172.17.0.1&force=1&templogin=1&login=*guest*%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%20%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD&password=$291bcfe8bfc567822b4ff133c1b668fb7*1671525797*377ee8856b0404911fdeed524854d198&encrypt=0&autoclose=1",        "android": "intent:\\c\\5016799639%40video.company.com%23vcs%26h%3d172.18.246.126,172.17.0.1%26force%3d1%26templogin%3d1%26login%3d*guest*%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%20%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%26password%3d$291bcfe8bfc567822b4ff133c1b668fb7*1671525797*377ee8856b0404911fdeed524854d198%26encrypt%3d0%26autoclose%3d1#Intent;scheme=trueconf;package=com.trueconf.videochat;end"    }

5. It is also necessary to replace double slashes with single slashes; so the links will look in this way:
   trueconf:\c\[ConferenceID]@[server_address]%23vcs&h=[server_address]&force=1&templogin=1&login=*guest*[guest_login]&password=$[password]&encrypt=0&autoclose=1

   1	trueconf:\c\[ConferenceID]@[server_address]%23vcs&h=[server_address]&force=1&templogin=1&login=*guest*[guest_login]&password=$[password]&encrypt=0&autoclose=1

If the TrueConf client application is installed on a user’s device, it will be launched automatically when the link is clicked, and a user will join the meeting.

Step 3: Adding a conference to calendar

To make sure patients and doctors don’t miss video consultations, add them right to their personal calendars. To this end, send integration links to both participants by retrieving them using the Get Conference Calendars GET request. In response, you’ll get a JSON file containing links to add an event to Google and Outlook as well as an ics file for other calendar services.

Step 4: Using telemedicine services

When it’s time for a video consultation to start, a conference will start automatically, while the doctor will receive a corresponding call. The patient will need to follow the link added to their calendar and will immediately join an event under their name.

To check your event, you can follow this link in your browser. If previously you haven’t enabled access to devices, then you’ll see the microphone and camera setup window before connecting to a session.