Creating a conference

To create a meeting in the Conference section, click the button. You will see a window that provides information about the new conference, for example, Conf_397062486. For the sake of convenience, conference settings will be divided into tabs. Each tab is fully described below.

In the settings "header", above the tabs, there are buttons that allow you to:

• Send conference invitations

• Enable voice activity detection mode

• Add media files to the conference

• Make use of other features available during an ongoing conference.

To copy the conference with all its settings, click the button and select the Copy a conference option.

Information

The Info tab includes the main event parameters, list of media files, and participants.

Participants

At the bottom of the Info tab, there is the list of participants.

In this section, you can add new participants and configure peripheral devices before the conference starts. The following actions are available for each participant:

and — display/do not display a participant in an enlarged window.

and — turn a participant's camera on/off.

and — unmute/mute the microphone.

and — turn speakers on/off.

and — enable/disable transmission of video from the conference to the participant.

— open additional settings where you can:

• Configure the video layout for a specific participant;

• Move participant to another conference;

• Adjust participant volume;

• Use DTMF signaling for SIP and H.323 devices;

• Open the detailed user menu;

• Hide participant's name in the video layout.

To change the order of participants, click the button.

Adding participants

To add participants from the address book, click the button.

To connect a user by address, click the button. This will open a window with settings for data transmission protocol, participant's address and signature, equipment (including noise reduction and AGC), as well as conference cascading mode settings.

The Additional tab includes the settings described here.

Adding participants on the fly

If the user list panel is displayed on the right side, you can quickly add participants by selecting them in the Users sidebar and drag them with your mouse into the conference settings area:

Main

This section includes the settings for the conference name, route, ID, and PIN.

Conference name

The event name, which is also used on the conference connection page. This name can be changed on the fly during the conference, but it will be restored to its original value when the conference ends.

Route

Route is a mandatory primary identifier used for accessing the conference. It can consist of digits, Latin letters, hyphens, and underscores. By using the button, you can choose not to use the conference name as its route. For example, in the picture above, the route would look like this Conf_855958710. To generate a new value, click the button; if you need to clear the field, click .

ID

ID is an additional conference identifier consisting only of digits. It is used for alternative access to the conference and for connecting via DTMF. This identifier is generated automatically when the conference is created, but it is not mandatory. You can delete it as described above.

PIN

A conference can also be protected from unauthorized access with a PIN code. It consists only of digits. One can change the PIN of an ongoing conference. However, when the event ends, the previous PIN will be restored.

Conference connection page

To let participants join the conference from TrueConf client applications, you can enable and share a link to the conference connection page. To do it, check the box Allow access to conference via link. For more details about the connection page, check the corresponding section.

Conference modes

Select the conference mode:

• General

• Lecture

• Speaker.

Each of these modes is described in this section.

Settings for conference participants

In this section, you can specify the settings for the users added to the conference. By default, these settings are as follows:

You can adjust each of these parameters:

1. Select the maximum number of participants.

2. Select the settings for displaying participants' self-views in the layout:

   • Automatically
   • Display

   • Do not display in enlarged window (selected by default). The speaker will not see oneself in the enlarged window.

   • Don't display for all.

3. Configure settings for calling participants at the start of the conference:

• Call participants when conference is started
• Don’t call participants when conference is started

• Use default value.

4. Check this box to make sure that participants can be re-invited to the conference if the connection is lost. If the operator of a video conferencing server disconnects a participant on purpose (via web interface), auto dialing will be disabled for this conference session.

5. Configure the display of the volume level indicator in video windows (enabled by default).

6. Check the box to automatically mute meeting participants upon entry.

7. Check the box to stop participants' video upon entry.

Schedule

Conference duration

To set the duration of the conference, select the required value in the Duration drop-down list.

If no schedule is set for the conference, it will be turned into a virtual room by default.

Automatic сonference ending

In this section, you can set the rules for ending the current conference automatically. They are similar to the settings available in the Administration section.

Adding a schedule

Click the Add button to make the conference recurring (repeating).

Select the repetition mode in the pop-up window. Depending on the selected mode, various settings will be available:

• Do not repeat – set scheduled date and time.

• Weekly – the time and day(s) of the recurring meeting will also be specified

• Monthly – the dates selected for recurrence will be specified.

Below you can find the example of a weekly conference repeated on certain days (meeting duration and validity period of the schedule are also included).

Sending a conference Invitation

To send an invitation to the event, you need to:

1. Configure the SMTP gateway

2. Make sure that the invited participants have an email address added in their profile

3. Set schedule for the conference.

After this, the button will become active in the conference control panel; it will allow you to send an invitation.

Layouts

Video layouts in TrueConf MCU are divided into the following categories:

1. Automatic configuration. Selected by default. Ensures optimal display in the video layout of conference participants. The placement of participants in the layout is determined by their voice activity. The number of slots in the layout ranges from 1 to 13, with the remaining participants staying off-screen:

2. Dynamic layout. It works with any number of video windows but displays no more than 250. This layout fills automatically. You can also set up automatic rotation of participants if there are more participants than slots available in the layout. In this layout, participant windows can be placed on top of another video window.

3. Manual configuration. A flexible layout template builder where you can select the desired number of video windows, choose the arrangement of slots, pin a specific person to a particular location, pin a media file, or set up user rotation.

Layout settings

Video layout configuration is available only for SIP and H.323 connections.

Video layouts can be configured when creating a conference and when this event has already started. By default, the General layout is created. This layout is assigned to all participants who do not have their own individual layouts. For example, the general layout will be assigned to a participant who joins the conference via its ID.

To edit the video layout, select it from the list:

Click the Add button to create an individual video layout for one or more users. You will see a pop-up window with the list of conference participants.

Select the users for whom you are configuring the video layout and click the Next button to switch to layout editing mode.

Editing a video layout

In the editing mode, the main video layout settings are available. By default, Automatic layout is selected with smart window distribution mode.

You can rename the layout template (1) and adjust the video layout by selecting a different mode (2).

When selecting any video layout other than automatic, the layout constructor will be available to you.

Configuring dynamic video layout

To configure dynamic video layout:

1. Select the video layout type Dynamic.

2. Select a layout design, layouts with a solid background and windows on top are overlay mode layouts.

3. Specify the number of video windows;

4. Enable window alternation if necessary;

5. Click Create.

Manual configuration

To manually configure the video layout:

1. Select the type of video layout Manual configuration;

2. Specify the desired number of video windows;

3. Select the desired video layout from the list;

4. Click the Apply button.

You can also save a video layout template for future use by clicking the Save button. Layouts saved this way will be highlighted with color and a border in the constructor interface. The currently applied layout is highlighted in green.

In video layout templates

In selecting the number of video windows

Video Slot Settings Menu

In the Manual configuration video layout, when you click on a video slot, a video slot settings menu will open, allowing you to:

- enable slot autofill;

- enable participant rotation in the video slot;

- assign a slot for the "active" speaker in the conference;

- pin an individual participant to a specific video slot;

- pin the content to a specific video slot;

- leave the slot empty.

You can also pin a participant or content using drag-and-drop. Simply click and hold the cursor on the desired participant or content window and drag it to the video slot.

You can also open the video slot settings menu by right-clicking on the video slot.

Audio channels

In TrueConf MCU, you can split video conference participants into audio streams, each of which can be assigned a speaker or listener role. This option significantly simplifies the organization of events where simultaneous translation into several languages is required.

To create a new channel, press the Add button. In the window that appears:

1. Enter the channel name.

2. Add attendees and speakers.

3. Click the Create button.

Design

By default, all conferences follow the layout style defined in Administration → Skin styles. To apply a different style for all layouts of a given conference, check the Enable custom settings box and customize everything as you see fit. Сheck the Customizaton section for more details on styles.

Additional

In the Additional section, you can configure the settings of recording and video/audio transmission for the selected conference:

• Enable/disable noise suppression and AGC

• Select audio and video codecs to be used

• Set the resolution, bitrate, and scaling mode

• Specify settings for using participants' avatars in the video layout.

By default, values from the global call and video settings are used.

Disabling some codecs can solve compatibility issues with some SIP endpoints. To learn more about this question, please contact our technical support team.

Recording of the conference and presentation

To optimize conference recording, you can select the quality:

• Highest

• Optimal

• Minimum size.

You will also see the maximum duration of the video recording which will be estimated based on the available space in the video storage:

To configure presentation (secondary stream) recording or disable it, select the corresponding option in the settings (by default, the presentation will be recorded in full-screen mode):