Getting Started for Video Conferences

General video settings

In the Settings → Video → Streams section, you can configure the following parameters:

1. The default bitrate is the number of bits transmitted per unit of time, which determines the quality of the audio and video stream. The higher the bitrate, the better the quality of the audio and video stream.

2. Bandwidth tracking involves monitoring the data transmission volume for analysis and optimization of the network channel in use.

3. Set adaptive video quality control depending on the channel bandwidth.

4. Automatic recovery of lost packets. This feature is useful for SIP calls in networks with regular packet loss not caused by data channel overload on the route. It allows for the recovery of up to 10% of lost packets using TrueConf FEC technology and up to 5% without retransmissions or temporary image quality degradation.

5. Quality of encoding for primary (video) and secondary (presentation) streams: depending on the selected profile, a balance between frame rate and image resolution is chosen. Profile descriptions:

   • Main stream profiles (video):

     - By default, the system automatically selects the profile based on the current communication conditions and the type of video data.
     
     - Balance – a balanced profile that aims to maintain a comfortable resolution and frame rate for as long as possible while ensuring high visual quality.
     
     - Detailing – optimized for maximum resolution at the expense of reduced frame rate.
     
     - Motion – designed for video with high dynamics, requires a high bitrate to maintain high resolution.
     
     - Speaker mode is optimized for high-quality transmission with minimal movement on screen and is used in specialized scenarios.
     

   • Additional stream profiles (presentation):

     - By default, the system automatically selects the profile.
     
     - Balance – maintains comfortable quality with moderate frame rate and resolution.
     
     - Detailing – maximum resolution with a reduced frame rate.
     
     - Video film – optimized for dynamic video streams with high bitrate and resolution.
     
     - Documents – optimized for long-term broadcasting of static images with maximum resolution at minimal bitrate.
     

• The percentage of channel bandwidth allocated to the additional stream (for content broadcasting) refers to the bitrate portion separated from the main video stream for presentation broadcasting; in this way, the total bandwidth is divided between the main video stream and the presentation stream.

Layout settings

To configure the video layout settings, go to Settings → Video → Layout, where you can:

• In the Hide selfview section, you can configure whether you will see the image from your own camera during a call.

• enable the display of the microphone volume level indicator in participants' video windows;

• Choose the video scaling mode on the screen:

  • Auto – automatic scaling of different-sized windows;

  • Scale to fit: scale the displayed layout while keeping proportions intact to make sure the video feed fits the screen

  • Crop to fill – displays the video layout so that the image fills the screen.

• Enable the overlapping layout mode, which allows one video window to expand to full screen, while the other participants' slots are placed on top of it. Below that, configure the Overlap coefficient.

For the video layout schemes generated on TrueConf Group, refer to the user documentation "Layout Management" section.

Call settings

In the Configuration → Call → Call settings section, you can configure general parameters for handling video calls:

1. Allow the use of SIP and H.323 protocols.

2. The order of protocols used when making a call.

3. Permission to remotely control the camera connected to TrueConf Group.

4. Sharing slides with a button or upon connecting to the source.

In the menu, you can set specific parameters for receiving incoming calls:

1. Parameters for receiving the first point-to-point incoming call:

Parameter	Description
Auto	Automatically accepts the call
Ask user	The user decides whether to accept or decline the call
Do not disturb	Automatically declines the call

1. Accept calls during a call – Auto, Ask user or Do not disturb.

The option Accept calls during a call is available only when using the built-in MCU.

1. Mute the microphone and disable the camera during incoming calls.

2. Accept calls only from contacts in the address book.

3. Spam protection – automatically rejects spam calls over SIP and H.323 protocols. This setting can be useful when operating in an open network with a public static IP address, as standard SIP and H.323 ports often receive "calls" from various scanner programs searching for vulnerabilities in IP telephony.

4. Blocking incoming SIP calls (a stricter restriction than spam protection).

5. Block all incoming calls if recording or streaming is running on the terminal.

Enabling MCU Mode

By default, TrueConf Group operates in point-to-point mode. During the video call, both participants can see and hear each other. If another user calls the endpoint during the video call, this user will not be able to join the call; instead, a notification that the device is busy will be displayed.

In certain configurations, an option for an embedded MCU is available (not available for the TrueConf Group Silent version). This option allows you to switch a video call to group conference mode when using TrueConf Group. In this case, users calling the terminal are automatically added to the ongoing conference, within the connection limit allowed by the license.

Take the following steps to enable this feature:

1. Go to the Configuration → Call → MCU section.

2. Enable the MCU support setting.

3. If you do not want a new video window to be automatically created in the video layout for presentations or desktop sharing broadcasted by participants in a separate window, activate the Reject incoming presentation option.

Prohibiting presentation reception prevents remote participants from starting content sharing over BFCP and H.239 protocols.

1. If necessary, enable the volume indicator display on each video window.

2. Indicate Mixing mode for video streams:

   • Video lecture – connected participants can only see the moderator, represented by the terminal, but they can all hear each other.

   • All on screen: All conference attendees can see and hear each other

   • Voice activated – all participants receive a layout similar to the "everyone on screen" mode, but the active speaker will be displayed in the priority video window.

Codecs

Learn more about all codecs supported by the endpoint in the Supported protocols and codecs section.

Go to Configuration → Video → Codecs and ensure only the video codecs supported by all devices participating in the conference are enabled.

Do the same with the audio codecs in the Configuration → Audio section.

Stream Settings

To make sure that your conference can be viewed by larger audiences, you don’t need to add them as attendees. It is possible to configure streaming to third-party services via RTMP or SAP and to the local network via NDI:

1. Go to the Configuration → Recording and streaming section.

2. To configure the RTMP stream, go to the RTMP stream menu and set the necessary parameters: host server, RTMP application, stream name/key, username, and password. You can also set up delay and automate the start and stop of the RTMP stream.

3. To configure broadcasting via the SAP protocol, go to the SAP stream menu. You can specify the broadcast address and port, and enable automatic start and stop of the broadcast.

4. To broadcast an event using the NDI protocol, go to the NDI stream menu and specify the stream name.

The NDI protocol streaming operates in NDI High Bandwidth mode, with FullHD resolution at 30 frames per second, and requires a network channel with a bandwidth of 1 Gbps.

For any of the streaming methods you can enable automatic start and ending of broadcasting (when the meeting starts and ends).

Recording

In the Configuration → Recording and streaming → Current status section, you can view information about available storage for recordings, including the number of recording hours available.

To configure recording, go to Configuration → Recording and streaming → Record settings. If you enable the Cycle recording option, new recording files will overwrite the oldest ones once the space is exhausted. The recording process will be continuous, and you won't need to worry about the remaining disk space.

By enabling Auto start, you can automatically start video call recording when it launches. Accordingly, Auto stop automatically stops recording when the call ends.

When the Space saving feature is activated, the video bitrate in the saved recording is reduced by approximately 40%. Consequently, the final file size is reduced at the cost of lower video quality.

In the Configuration → Recording and streaming → Layouts menu, you can specify:

1. The layout to be recorded: video windows of all participants according to the selected layout, incoming video streams only, outgoing video only, or a dynamic voice-activated layout.

2. Recording presentation: disabled, along with other video windows in a separate window, or full screen instead of all video windows.

3. Video resolution in the recording.

For more information on working with video recordings, refer to the relevant section.

Uploading Presentations

In the section, you can upload presentations before the event starts. Click and select the required files (supported formats) from your device.

Assigning PTZ Camera Presets

In the terminal, you can create viewpoints, which are essentially "containers" for the camera and presets. The system supports creation of viewpoints for multiple cameras and allows switching between them with a single click. When a viewpoint is selected, the PTZ camera will adjust its position according to the configured preset. The PTZ camera preset number is selected automatically and generally does not match the viewpoint number.

To create an angle:

1. Go to the Conference tab and select the My Camera screen.

2. Click Select in the Angles section.

3. Click Create new layout.

4. Choose the camera position and enter the Name.

If necessary, specify a key in the section for quickly switching presets using the remote control.

5. Click Create.

Support is provided for creating up to 16 presets for a single PTZ camera.