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TeamTalk User Interface Guide

This section gives an introduction to the features available in the TeamTalk application. To be able to use the features explained in this tutorial you need to be connected to a server and have joined a channel. Section Quick Start describes how to connect and join a channel.

Here is an overview of the list of features which are being described in this section:

Main Window

The TeamTalk application consists of a menubar, a toolbar, a channels view in the left side with volume controls below and a tab control with four tabs to the right. Between the channels view and the tab control is a so-called splitter which can be used to change the size of the channels view and tab control.

The following screenshot is included to help explain the TeamTalk application's user interface.

Main Window

Menu Bar

In the top of the application are six menu-items: Client, Me, Users, Channels, Server and Help. The Client-menu is for configuring the TeamTalk application and connecting to servers. The Me-menu gives access to options which should be set for the local user (meaning you), like e.g. changing your nickname or status. The Users-menu is used to control other users, like e.g. changing their sound volume or sending them text-messages. The Channels-menu is used for controlling channels, like e.g. creating new channels or updating existing ones. The Server-menu is for changing or viewing the server's options and finally the Help-menu is for assistance.

Toolbar

The toolbar simply provides easy access to common tasks which are also available though the menu items.

Channels View

The channels view is in the left side of the application above the volume controls. Once you have connected to a server you will see channels and users appearing here. The channels will appear as folder icons and the computer icon in the top is also a channel, namely the root channel, where you will first appear when you connect to a server. The user impersonating you will appear with bold text, so in the screenshot below Bjoern is me. The blue box surrounding the user-icon means that I'm currently transmitting video, so the other users in the channel can see Bjoern in the Video-tab. The user Ida is also transmitting video but the blinking red line on her name means that the reception from her is very poor (video data is being lost). The user Randi has a green line over her name which means that she's currently transmitting audio, i.e. other users in the channel are hearing her talking. The blackboard behind Randi's user-icon means that she sharing a desktop application which can be seen in the Desktops-tab.

Packetloss

Notice that Bjoern in the above screenshot has a red star. This means the user is administrator of the server. The user Randi has a yellow star which means she is operator of the channel and can thereby kick people out of the channel and modify the channel's settings. People who are operators are usually the users who created the channel.

Volume Controls

The volume controls are placed below the channels view. The first slider with a speaker to the left of it controls the master volume. Changing this increases or decreases the volume for all users. If you only want to change the volume of one person you can select this person and press Ctrl+Left arrow to lower volume and Ctrl+Right arrow to increase the volume. These two keyboard shortcuts are placed in the Advanced-menu. The slider below the master volume with a microphone to the left controls your microphone's gain level, i.e. amplifying your volume so you become louder to other users. To the right of master volume is progressbar with a wave to the left of it. This progressbar shows how much sound your microphone is picking up. If voice activation is enabled the there will be a slider below the progressbar which sets the voice activation level. When using the voice activation slider to set the voice activation level ensure that it is not active all the time, since it can be annoying for other users. When voice activation becomes active the user in the channels view impersonating you will become green.

Chat Tab

The Chat-tab is used for text chatting with the people in your channel. A screenshot is shown there:

Chat tab

The Chat-tab also maintains a list of events which occurred in your channel, like e.g. when a new user joins or leaves the channel. To send a text message to all users in your channel simply type in the line to the left of the Send-button. If the server supports channel commands it's also possible to send commands to the server using channel text messages. Simply type /help to get a list of supported commands.

Video Tab

The Video-tab contains a grid of all the users who are currently transmitting video to the channel. The users who are transmitting video will have a blue frame around their user icon in the channels view as can be seen in the following screenshot:

Video tab

The button with the '-' sign in the Video-tab can be used to remove users from the grid so you will no longer receive video data from that user. Pressing the button with the '+' sign will add the user to the grid again. The button with the two frames, one above the other, is for detaching a user from the grid so the user will be shown in a separate window. The last button the Video-tab is for starting and stopping your video camera. If you want other users to also see video sent from you press the video camera in the toolbar to the right of the voice activation icon.

Desktops Tab

The Desktops-tab contains a grid of shared desktop applications. Here is a screenshot of a shared desktop application:

Desktops tab

Moving your mouse over the desktop window will show who owns the desktop. Press and hold the mouse to scroll the window if it's bigger than the Desktops tab. Check out the Desktop Share section on how to share a desktop application.

Files Tab

If the server allows, users can upload and download files to and from a channel. When you join a channel you can see the files which are currently available in the Files-tab as shown in this screenshot:

Files tab

Only users who have a user account on the server can upload files. Anyone can download files in a channel. Only the owner of a file, an administrator or an operator of a channel can delete a file. Instead of using the upload and download button in the Files-tab one can also drag/drop files from Windows' Explorer.

Client-Menu

The Client-menu is used for connecting to TeamTalk servers and configuring the TeamTalk application.

Client Menu

Each of the menu items in the Client menu are described here:

Connect Dialog

In the Connect dialog you can specify the TeamTalk server you want to connect to. It also maintains a list of publicly available TeamTalk servers you can connect to. An example of public TeamTalk servers are shown in the screenshot below. The public servers will be shown in green.

Connect Dialog

If you manually want to connect to a TeamTalk server then the person who is running the server must provide the information for the fields Host IP-address, TCP port and UDP port. Some servers also require the user to enter a password to log on. This can be put in the Server Password field. If you have also been provided a user account you can input this information by clicking Login using user account. To join a specific channel once you have logged on to the server can be done by filling out Channel and Password fields. Once you have filled out all the information you have been provided you can save the server to the Server List by filling the Entry name field and afterwards click Save. Finally click Connect to connect to the server.

Learn more about setting up user accounts by read the section on configuring TeamTalk servers or the section about User Accounts

If you want others to connect to the same TeamTalk server as you, you can press Generate .tt File so you'll get a file you can email to the users who should also connect to the server. More information on .tt files is available here.

Preferences Dialog

The Preferences dialog is used for configuring the TeamTalk application. Users should at least run through the General and Sound System tab to ensure everything is configured properly.

Preferences

Please read section TeamTalk Preferences for a guide on how to configure TeamTalk.

Me-Menu

The menu items in the menu group Me are options you want to perform on yourself. The possible options are shown here.

Me menu

Each of the menu items in the Me-menu are described here:
  • Change Nickname
    • The will change your name on the server. Your current nickname is the one shown in bold in the channels view. The nickname is simply a display name. It has no relation to your username (if you have a user account).
  • Change Status
    • This is used to change your status mode, like e.g. Available, Away, Question-mode and set a message regarding your current status.
  • Enable Push To Talk
    • Push To Talk is a key combination you need to hold down whenever you are talking. Using a Push To Talk key combination is especially usefull if you are using speaker and have problems with echos.
  • Enable Voice Activation
    • Instead of using Push To Talk one can have TeamTalk detect when you are talking and then start transmitting.
  • Enable Video Transmission
    • Enable this item to start transmitting video to other users in your channel. Note that you need to configure your web camera before doing this. The Quick Start section explains how to do this.
  • Enable Desktop Sharing
    • Share an application on your desktop with other users in your channel. This can e.g. be used for doing a presentation. See the Desktop Sharing dialog for more information.

Push To Talk Dialog

Using Push To Talk is a good way to ensure people do not overlap each other when they are talking and to avoid echos from speakers. To set up a hotkey simply hold down the keys you want to use as your key combination and release them all again. The Push To Talk dialog will show the keys you're holding down like here.

Push To Talk

Using Ctrl is a good choice for a Push To Talk key. Note that using regular keys can make Windows beep unlike when using non-modifier keys like Ctrl, Alt, Shift. Therefore Ctrl or Alt or Shift is recommended.

Enable Desktop Sharing Dialog

The window of an application on your desktop can be shared with other users in the same channel. This can be used for doing a presentation in an eLearning scenario. The Desktop Sharing dialog is shown here:

Desktop Sharing Dialog

Each of the items in the dialog are explained here:
  • Share entire desktop
    • Instead of sharing only one application you can share your entire desktop. Note that this may require a lot of bandwidth usage.
  • Share active window
    • Share the window on your desktop which currently have keyboard and mouse focus. This option is useful if you intend to show several application windows during your presentation.
  • Share specific window
    • Only share a single application window and it has to be the one with the title specified in the selection box.
  • Color mode
    • The more colors you use for showing your application the better it looks, but it also requires mode bandwidth.
  • Update interval
    • Enable this option if the window you're sharing changes during your presentation. TeamTalk will then update the window on a timely basis.
  • Share desktop cursor
    • Enable this option if remote users should be able to see where your mouse cursor is point to.

Users-Menu

The menu items in the Users-menu are used for changing the settings of other users and interacting with them. The Users-menu is shown here:

Users Menu

Each of the menu items in the Users menu are described here. A user has to be selected in the channels view for the Users menu items to be active.
  • View User Information
    • Use this menu item to get extended information about a user, like e.g. username, user type and packet reception.
  • Messages
    • The menu item is for sending user to user text messages. A message dialog will pop up on the user's computer when you send him a message. This option can however be disabled in the Display tab in Preferences.
  • Mute
    • Mute the user so you will not hear audio from this person. Note that you will still receive audio data from the user. To also disable this look in the Subscriptions section.
  • Volume
    • If a user is either too loud or too low one can use the volume dialog to turn the volume up and down. Most users would probably prefer to use the volume controls in the Advanced-menu.
  • Op
    • If one logged on to the server as administrator or one is already operator of a channel it's possible to make other people in the channel operators. When creating a channel one can also set an Operator password which can be used with the /op channel command to become operator again. Type the /help channel command to get other options.
  • Kick
    • Kick the user out of the channel.
  • Kick and Ban
    • Kick the user of the server and ban the user's IP-address. Only administrator can ban users.
  • Stream Audio File to User
    • Use this option to stream an wave-file to a user. Only administrators can use this option and the administrator is not allowed to be in the same channel. To stream an audio file to the current channel use the Channels-menu's option to stream audio files.
  • Subscriptions
  • Advanced
  • Mute All
    • Mute the sound from all users.
  • Store Audio to Disk

Subscriptions-Menu

Subscriptions are used for ignoring certain data or events from a user. If e.g. you do not want to receive text messages from a certain user you can tell the server that you want to unsubscribe text messages from that user.

Each of the menu items in the Subscriptions menu are described here.
  • User Messages
    • If checked you accept text messages from this user.
  • Channel Messages
    • If checked you accept channel text messages from this user.
  • Broadcast Messages
    • If checked you accept broadcast messages from this user. Only administrators can by default broadcast text messages.
  • Audio
    • If checked you accept audio from this user. Unlike Mute in Users-menu disabling this will also stop the user from sending audio data to you.
  • Video
    • If checked you accept video from this user. Unsubscribing video is the same as pressing the minus button in the Video-tab.
  • Desktop
    • If checked you accept shared desktop windows from this user. Unsubscribing desktop is the same as pressing the minus button in the Desktops-tab.
  • Intercept User Messages
    • Receive all the user's text messages, both to use and to all other users the user is sending to. In other words this is like spying on the user. Only administrators can do this.
  • Intercept Channel Messages
    • Receive all the user's channel text messages, even if you're not in the user's channel. Only administrators can do this.
  • Intercept Audio
    • Receive audio from this user, even if you're not in the same channel. Only administrators can do this.
  • Intercept Video
    • Receive video from this user, even if you're not in the same channel. Only administrators can do this.
  • Intercept Desktop
    • Receive shared desktop windows from this user, even if you're not in the same channel. Only administrators can do this.
If there's certain subscriptions you always want to have disabled by default you can set these in the Connection-tab of the Preferences dialog.

Advanced-Menu

This main purpose of the Advanced-menu is to provide keyboard shortcuts to common tasks.

Each of the menu items in the Advanced-menu are described here.
  • Increase Volume (+10)
    • This is basically a shortcut to Volume in Users-menu.
  • Lower Volume (-10)
    • This is basically a shortcut to Volume in Users-menu.
  • Store User(s) for Move
    • Store the selected users so they can be moved to another channel.
  • Move User(s)
    • Move the selected users to the selected channel.
  • Allow Voice Transmission
    • When a channel is configured in Classroom mode this menu item can be checked to allow the user to talk in the channel. This menu item is included due to its keyboard shortcut.
  • Allow Video Transmission
    • When a channel is configured in Classroom mode this menu item can be checked to allow the user to send video to the channel. This menu item is included due to its keyboard shortcut.
  • Allow Desktop Transmission
    • When a channel is configured in Classroom mode this menu item can be checked to allow the user to share desktop windows to the channel. This menu item is included due to its keyboard shortcut.

Store Audio to Disk Dialog

Conversations with other users can be stored to audio files using the Store Audio to Disk item in the Users-menu or pressing the recorder button in the toolbar. The follow dialog will then appear:

Store Audio to Disk dialog

Each of the items in the audio storage dialog are explained here:
  • Storage mode
    • Single audio file for all users
      • Audio from all users in your channel is merged into a single file.
    • Separate audio file for each user
      • Each user in your channel will have a separate audio file every time the person starts talking.
  • Audio file format
    • The file format to use for storing audio files. By default only Wave-format is support but if you download the LAME MP3 encoder you can store to MP3 format by placing the lame_enc.dll file in the same directory as the TeamTalk executable. lame_enc.dll is not included in the TeamTalk distribution due to MP3 licensing.
  • Folder for audio files
    • The file name for the audio files is generated automatically but the folder for storing the files has to be specified in this field.

Channels-Menu

The menu items in the Channels menu become available when you select a channel in the channels view. All the channel options are shown here:

Channels Menu

Each of the menu items in the Channels menu are described here.
  • Join Channel
    • Join the currently selected channel.
  • View Channel Info
    • View channel information about the selected channel. Details about a channel are described in Create Channel Dialog.
  • Create Channel
  • Update Channel
    • Update an existing channel. Only administrators and channel operators can change the settings of an already existing channel. Note that it is not possible to change the audio codec of a channel when there are users in the channel. Details about a channel is described in Create Channel Dialog.
  • Delete Channel
    • Delete the selected channel. Only administrators can do this.
  • Stream Audio File to Channel
    • Replace your microphone input with a wave-file. People in your channel when then hear the .wav file and no you. Click this menu item again to stop the audio file. Currently only .wav files are supported.
  • Upload File
    • Upload a file to your channel. To upload a file a user must have a user account on the server. An administrator can upload a file to any channel. Read section Files-tab for more information on handing files. Note that the channel must have a disk quota to upload a file. The disk quota is explained in section Create Channel Dialog.
  • Download File
  • Delete File

Create Channel Dialog

To chat with other users in TeamTalk one has to either create a channel or join an existing channel. A new channel can be created by pressing F7 and the following dialog will show up:

Create Channel Dialog

Each of the fields in the create channel dialog are described here:
  • Channel Path
    • Each channel can have subchannels which again can have subchannels. In TeamTalk channels are separated with / and the full path of your new channel will be displayed here.
  • Channel name
    • The name of your new channel. Ensure that / is not in the name.
  • Topic
    • Each channel can have a topic which both users who are in the channel and who are not in the channel can read. Only administrators and channel operator can change the topic of a channel once it has been created.
  • Password
    • The password required to join the channel (optional).
  • Operator password
    • The first person to create a new channel will automatically become operator of that channel. This means the user can kick people out of the channel and update its settings later on. If the person leaves the channel at some point and comes back that person can click the Op item in the Users-menu to become operator again.
  • Max users
    • The maximum number of users allowed in the channel. This field is only available to administrators.
  • Disk quota (KBytes)
    • The maximum number of KBytes available for file storage in the channel. This field is only available to administrators. The default value for Disk Quota is changed in Server Properties.
  • Static channel (persistent)
    • By default a channel disappears after the last user leaves the channel. Administrators can, however, create channels which will persist on the server even when all users have left.
  • Echo channel (hear yourself)
    • This type of channel can be used to do an echo test, so you can hear yourself.
  • No interruptions (no simultaneous audio transmission)
    • If this option is enabled only one person can talk in the channel. In other words where will be no overlapping conversations. To talk in this type of channel you must wait until the channel becomes "silent". In Sound Events in Preferences there's an option to hear a sound when a channel is "free for chat".
  • Classroom (operator-controlled transmission)
    • If this option is enabled the channel operator can control who is allowed to talk, send video and share desktops in the channel.
  • Echo video (see own video stream)
    • To option is mainly included to test the video encoding properties. A user is able to see how the person's video looks after it has been encoded.
  • Echo desktop (see your shared desktop)
    • If desktop sharing is enabled have his option enabled make it possible to see the window which is being shared with other users.
  • Operator receive only (only operator see and hear users)
    • This channel type can be used for reducing network traffic when e.g. TeamTalk is used for teaching. Only server administrators and operators of a channel will see and hear users in the channel.
  • Codec Type
    • In TeamTalk 4 each channel must specify which audio codec all users in the channel must use to join the channel. TeamTalk currently supports Speex and CELT. Speex is recommende if you just want to talk to other people, whereas CELT is recommended if you also want to hear music in the channel. CELT has an option to use Stereo but be aware when choosing this because many people do not have a microphone which supports stereo and can therefore not talk in the channel. Therefore Mono is recommended.
  • Quality
    • Increasing the quality will require more bandwidth but the sound quality will get better. Ensure to use a setting which is not higher than everyone you want to talk to have an Internet connection which supports the required bandwidth.
  • Enable fixed audio volume for all users
    • In most cases users have microphones with different audio volume levels which makes some users louder than others. Enabling this option ensures that all users in the channel speaks at the same audio volume level. This option is disabled by default because it may reduce audio quality. It is important to enable this option if users are using echo cancellation.
  • Enable denoising
    • Enable this option if all users should be forced to remove noise before transmitting audio to the channel. It is important to enable this option if users are using echo cancellation.

Server-Menu

The Server-menu is mainly intended for server administrators to administrate users who have access to the server. The Server-menu contains the items shown here:

Server Menu

Each of the menu items in the Server-menu are described here.
  • User Accounts
    • List all user accounts on the server and administrate existing ones. Only administrators can do this. More is explained in the User Accounts Dialog.
  • Banned Users
    • List all the users who are banned from the server. Users are banned based on their IP-address. Since user's IP-addresses often change from day to day it might be that a user who was previously banned can log on to the server again a day or two later. Only administrators can list the banned users on a server. More is explained in section Banned Users Dialog.
  • Online Users
    • List all users who are currently connected to the server, also those who are not in a channel.
  • Broadcast Message
    • Broadcast a message to all users on the server. The message will appear in the Chat-window. Note that only administrators can broadcast messages.
  • Server Properties
    • See the server's properties and change them if logged on as administrator. More is explained in section Server Properties Dialog.
  • Save Configuration
    • Save the server's current state, i.e. save the current server properties and all static channels. If Auto save server changes is checked in Server Properties all new static channels are save automatically. Also channels which are deleted are removed from the server's configuration.
  • Server Statistics
    • Get incoming and outgoing bandwidth usage.

User Accounts Dialog

For optimal security it's best that all users who log on your server have a user account so it's possible to keep track of who is doing what on the server. Here is shown the User Accounts-dialog.

User Accounts Dialog

The Active Users list contains all the user accounts on the server. The remaining items are explained here:
  • Username
    • The username the new user account.
  • Password
    • The password of the new user account.
  • User type
    • Currently TeamTalk supports two types of users, Default User and Administrator. Administrator have full rights to everything whereas default users only have limited rights.
  • Note
    • Information about the user account can be put here.
  • Initial Channel
    • Once the user with this account logs on to the server the person should be moved to the specified channel. Note this requires that the user is running TeamTalk 4.3 or later.
  • Auto-Operator Channels
    • Selected Channels
      • The user with the specified user account will automatically become channel-operator in the listed channels.
    • Available Channels
      • The list of channels where a user can automatically become channel-operator. Only static channels are supported for auto-operator mode.
  • Clear
    • Clear the fields for the user account.
  • Add/Update
    • Create or update a user account.
  • Delete
    • Delete the seleced user account in the Active Users list.

Banned Users Dialog

The Banned Users dialog shows the IP-addresses which are currently blocked by the server. Here is an example of users which have been banned on a server.

Banned Users Dialog

To remove a ban on a user simply move the user from the left list to the right list using the button with the greater than sign.

Server Properties Dialog

The Server Properties-dialog shows what rights users who are logged on to the server has. An example is shown here (in administrator mode):

Server Properties Dialog

Each of the fields in the Server Properties-dialog are described here:
  • Server name
    • The name which will appear on the root channel in the channels view.
  • Server password
    • A password which users must specify to log on to the server. This password must be specified even if the user has a user account on the server.
  • Max users
    • The maximum number of users on the server. The maximum supported by TeamTalk is 1000.
  • Message of the day
    • The message of the day which users will see in the Chat-tab when they log on to the server.
  • Show variables
    • If variables are used in the Message of the day enable this option to view them.
  • TCP port
    • The server's TCP port for commands. If changed the new port will not be used until next time the server is restarted.
  • UDP port
    • The server's UDP port for audio and video data. If changed the new port will not be used until next time the server is restarted.
  • User timeout
    • The number of seconds a user can stay on the server without having sent so-called keep-alive information to the server. The TeamTalk client will automatically try and make contact with the server at have of the server's User Timeout. If the User Timeout value is exceeded the server will drop (kick) the user.
  • Auto save server changes
    • If checked the server will automatically save changes to Server Properties and store when new static channels are created, updated or removed.
  • Users can create channels
    • Users (non-administrators) can create channel, i.e. they can be in other channels than those which the server has already configured.
  • Users can become channel operators
    • The first user who joins a new channel will become channel operator.
  • Users can login without a user account
  • Multiple users can use the same user account
    • Two or more users can log in using the same user account, otherwise the user currently logged in will be kicked off the server.
  • Users can see users in all channels
    • Users can see users in other channels. If disabled users can only see the users who are in their current channel. Administrators can, however, still see everyone. This settings cannot be changed while the server is running. This settings must be changed using the server's setup wizard explained in section Configuring and Installing the TeamTalk Server.
  • Users can broadcast text messages
    • Default users, no only administrators, can broadcast text messages.
  • Users can issue channel commands
    • Users can issue channel commands, i.e. text messages prefixed with / are interpreted by the server as channel commands.
  • Users can modify subscriptions
  • Users can forward/relay audio through server
    • By default a user's audio data is sent from a user to the server and the server will then broadcast the audio data on behalf of the user to all other users in the channel. If this option is disabled the TeamTalk application will enable peer to peer connections and instead broadcast the audio data itself. Note that some users may not have enough bandwidth available to broadcast their audio data themselves.
  • Users can forward/relay video through server
    • By default a user's video data is sent from a user to the server and the server will then broadcast the video data on behalf of the user to all other users in the channel. If this option is disabled the TeamTalk application will enable peer to peer connections and instead broadcast the video data itself. Note that some users may not have enough bandwidth available to broadcast their video data themselves.
  • Users can forward/relay desktop through server
    • Enabling this option allows users to share desktop applications which can be viewed by other users in the same channel. Unlike video and audio, desktops cannot run in peer to peer mode.
  • Max bitrate for audio codecs
    • If users are allowed to create channels on a server setting this option can limit the bitrate of the audio codec they are able to specify.
  • Audio TX max
    • Setting this option can limit how much audio data the server is allowed to forward every second. If this value is exceeded later audio packets are simply dropped.
  • Video TX max
    • Setting this option can limit how much video data the server is allowed to forward every second. If this value is exceeded later video packets are simply dropped.
  • Desktop TX max
    • Setting this option can limit how much desktop data is allowed to be forwarded through the server. Unlike audio and video packets, desktop packets are retransmitted.
  • Total TX max
    • The overall maximum throughput the server is allowed to use for forwarding packets.
  • Server version
    • The version of the server which the user is connected to.