TrueConf Server 5.5 major update: new messaging features, surveys, and layout templates

We also held a webinar where we talked about the TrueConf Server 5.5 update.

Surveys

The new version offers Surveys, a multi-purpose tool for collecting feedback. This tool supports flexible configuration and allows you to analyze survey results without using third-party services.

Creating surveys

Surveys can be easily adjusted to any scenario: from short anonymous forms with multiple answer options to detailed questionnaires allowing respondents to answer open-ended questions. Users of TrueConf Server 5.5 can create surveys both in client applications and in the web interface of the TrueConf Server personal area.

Surveys in the personal area

Surveys in TrueConf desktop app

TrueConf Server administrators can create surveys in the corresponding section of the control panel and appoint selected users as owners of these surveys.

When creating a survey, you can make questions either optional or required. Additionally, an image with 16:9 aspect ratio can be attached to each question or answer option.

Campaigns

Several Campaigns can be launched simultaneously for each survey to divide respondents into groups and analyze their answers in detail. The survey owner can:

• make the survey anonymous
• configure access permissions for external users
• set a short ID that will become part of the invitation link.

Each campaign can be started and stopped independently.

Overall analytics

The owner can check out detailed analytics both for each campaign individually, and for selected participants, if the survey was not anonymous.

Access configuration

TrueConf Server administrators can choose the groups of users who will be allowed to create surveys.

Layout templates

In the previous major release – TrueConf Server 5.4 – we updated the layout editor which helps users to hold online meetings of any possible scenario. Now there are even more opportunities for flexible customization of video layouts.

Owners and moderators can now create several layout templates for different user groups and switch between them on the fly in the real-time meeting management tool.

Advanced messenger and new chat features

Creating chat folders

Users can easily organize their private and group chats into themed folders which makes it easier to find relevant conversations and focus on work tasks without getting distracted by unrelated discussions.

All folders are placed in the Chat menu, which can be hidden with the corresponding button, if necessary.

Chat archive

All irrelevant chats can be moved to the Archive for now which will help you make the chat list more manageable. Archived conversations can always be restored.

Chat pinning

Pin important and frequently used chats both in the main chat list and in folders. You just need to right-click on a chat and select Pin in the context menu.

These chats will be displayed at the top of the main list and will be marked with the corresponding icon.

Channels

Users can now create Channels to post corporate notifications, event announcements, memes, and other useful information.

Support for chatbots

TrueConf Server 5.5 enables users to create multi-purpose chatbots for automating work processes and integrating with third-party services. Learn more about this feature on the TrueConf Chatbot Connector page and in our documentation.

Mark as unread

Private and group chats can now be marked as unread so that you don’t forget to return to the conversation later. Besides, you can mark the chat as read to reset the unread message counter to zero and focus on more important tasks.

Automatic deletion of unused chats

The chats created for quick conferences will be automatically deleted after the application restart if no messages were sent in these chats.

Conference improvements in browser

TrueConf Server 5.5 offers new chat features for participants who join meetings from a browser:

• Message draft synchronization
• “Typing…” status
• Read status
• Preview of images sent in chats
• Spell check.

For the sake of convenience, the reaction button was moved to the conference control panel.

Conference branding

Both administrators and users of TrueConf Server 5.5 can brand every conference by adding a background image and logo — they will be displayed during streaming and in video conference recordings. Besides, they will be seen by participants who join meetings from browsers or SIP/H.323 devices.

Disabling audio remarks during meetings

Earlier, in TrueConf Server 5.4, we made it possible to disable audio remarks for conference participants (in Moderated role-based conference mode).

Now the owner and moderators can enable and disable remarks directly during the meeting in the real-time conference management tool.

User permissions in different network segments

Administrators can now flexibly manage permissions for TrueConf Server users depending on the network segment from which they connect. This will ensure better compliance with corporate security policies.

New fields in the user profile

TrueConf Server 5.5 offers an extended list of customizable fields for user accounts. Administrators can now specify an employee’s job position, department, and branch office.

With configured LDAP integration, these fields will be filled in automatically.

Other changes and improvements

• TrueConf Server administrators can now configure the data displayed in push notifications sent to TrueConf mobile applications
• Ability to configure integration with the Keycloak authentication provider
• It is now possible to resend an email invitation to any meeting participant when editing the settings of a conference.

For a complete list of updates, check our changelog.