Understanding the call screen

The call screen displays all participants currently in a video room.

There are two call screens:

Both call screens contain the following main elements:

  • the video of the other participants

  • a small video of you

  • call screen controls.

The sections below explain the two screens.

Individual appointment call screen

The individual appointment call screen looks like this:

Illustration of the call screen, showing the provider's logo in the top left, the caller details and call time elapsed in the centre top, the main video area in the centre of the screen, and the call controls (settings, refresh, and end call buttons) at the top right. Lower right are the video thumbnail tiles, and lower centre is the control bar. Controls are described in the table that follows.

Note: If a third person joins the call, the Layout button. (Layout button) appears next to the Refresh button. For more information, see Change the layout.

The following buttons appear at the top right of the screen.

Button

Description

Settings button

Select this button to change the camera, speakers, or microphone for the current call.

For more information, see Change your device settings.

Refresh

Refresh button

Select to refresh the call session, and re-establish connection with all callers.

Tip: This is useful if the connection drops out, or the video freezes for a prolonged period.

End

End button

Select to end the call. When the Leave the call button appears, select it to confirm that the call is over.

The following buttons are available in the control bar during individual appointments.

Button

Description

Chat button

Send messages to all participants in the call. This can be useful if you need to communicate the names of providers or medications, website addresses, and so on.

For more information, see Send a chat message.

Microphone button

Mute your microphone if you need a moment of privacy or if there is a lot of background noise that is interfering with your call.

For more information, see Mute your microphone.

Camera button

Pause your video if you need a moment of privacy or if there is a lot of movement in your background. While your video is paused, other participants will see a generic image in place of your video.

For more information, see Pause your video and Upload Logo and Pause Screen Image.

Blur button

Blur your background if you would like to obscure the details of your surroundings. Select the button again to remove the blur effect.

For more information, see Blur your background.

Note: This feature is available on desktops and Apple iPads only.

Record audio button

Record the audio of the call.

Note:

This button only appears if Audio recording has been enabled for your organisation.

Recording is not available to NHS Scotland.

Share screen button

Share all or part of your screen with other participants in the call. This can be helpful if you need to show a file you have open on your computer, such as an email or an image.

For more information, see Share your screen.

Transfer button

Transfer a service user to another waiting area. Select this button, choose the waiting area you need from the menu, and select Yes.

Note: You must have the service referrer role in the other waiting area. For more information, see Transfer a call.

Invite button

Send an email or text message to invite another person to join a call that is in progress.

For more information, see Invite someone to a call.

Group consultation call screen

The group consultation call screen looks like this:

An illustration of the group consultation call screen showing the All Equal view. Twenty-five individual participants' tiles fill the main part of the screen. The control bar is shown at the lower centre of the screen. The waiting area name appears in the top left, and the Help menu appears in the top right. The moderator controls appear in a panel on the right-hand side of the screen.

It can also look like this, depending on which layout you choose (see table below):

An illustration of the group consultation call screen, showing the preferred speaker view. One participant's video tile fills most of the screen, while thumbnails of other participants' tiles are arranged down the right-hand side of the screen. The control bar appears at the lower centre of the screen, along with the caller's name. The waiting area name appears at the top left of the screen, along with the call elapsed time. The Help menu appears in the top right. The moderator controls appear in a panel on the far right-hand side of the screen.

The following buttons are available in the control bar during group consultations.

Note:

The control bar is hidden by default. To unhide it, move your mouse or touch your screen.

For a list of group consultation keyboard shortcuts, select ? (question mark) on your keyboard.

Button

Description

Microphone button

Mute your microphone if you need a moment of privacy or if there is a lot of background noise that is interfering with your call.

Note: You can mute everyone's microphones, to minimise background noise. Participants can unmute themselves to contribute.

For more information, see Mute your microphone.

Select the up arrow (Audio settings button, available on desktops only) to:

  • enable the Noise suppression feature. This can make it easier for others on the call to hear you when there is a lot of noise in your background.

Camera button

Pause your video if you need a moment of privacy or if there is a lot of movement in your background. While your video is paused, other participants will see your initials in place of your video.

For more information, see Pause your video.

Select the up arrow (Video settings button, available on desktops only) to:

  • Blur your background.

  • flip your video tile horizontally, using the Mirror my video option, so you can see how you appear to others on the call. This only affects the way you view your own video tile; others on the call will not see a difference when you use this feature.

  • view a thumbnail of your video tile.

Share screen button

Share all or part of your screen with other participants in the call. This can be helpful if you need to show a file you have open on your computer, such as an email or an image.

For more information, see Share your screen.

Chat button

Send messages to all participants in the call. This can be useful if you need to communicate the names of providers or medications, website addresses, and so on.

For more information, see Send a chat message.

Raise a hand button

Raise a virtual hand to let people know you would like to contribute to the discussion.

For more information, see Ask to contribute.

Layout button

Toggle the view between different layouts. The layouts available depend on the number of people on the call and the size of your device.

Note:

While there can be up to 60 participants in a group consultation, the call screen displays a maximum of 25 video tiles at once. If there are more than 25 people on the call, you may need to scroll to see additional video tiles.

To maintain sound and video quality, the number of video tiles shown may be limited, based on your internet speed and your device's memory.

View full screen button

Enter full screen mode. The screen controls disappear to provide an uninterrupted view. To access the controls, move your mouse or touch your screen.

To exit full screen mode, select Exit Full Screen Mode button. (Exit full screen button).

Note: The View full screen button may be located in the More actions menu, depending on your screen size.

More actions button

Select the More actions button to access the following options.

Performance settings

Choose the quality of the video that others receive from you.

  • Best performance: Switches your video off. Others will not be able to see you, but they will still hear you, and you will still be able to see and hear them.

  • Highest quality: Provides the clearest image to others that your internet connection speed will allow.

You can also select either of the settings between best performance and highest quality. Changes are immediately visible.

Tip: If you are having internet issues, select Best performance. For more tips, see Solutions for group consultations.

View full screen

The screen controls disappear to provide an uninterrupted view. To access the controls, move your mouse or touch your screen. To exit full screen mode, select More actions and then Exit full screen.

Note: The View full screen button may be located on the control bar, depending on your screen size.

Select background

Apply a blur or an image to your background to obscure the details of your surroundings. For more information, see Blur your background.

Settings

This dialog contains the following tabs:

  • Audio:

    • Choose a different microphone or speaker / headset for this call only. For a permanent change, see Change the default microphone or Change the default headset/speaker.

    • While selecting a different speaker / headset, select the Test button to play a test sound.

    • Enable the Noise suppression feature. This can make it easier for others on the call to hear you when there is a lot of noise in your background.

  • Video:

    • See a preview of your video and change the camera for this call only. For a permanent change, see Change the default camera.

    • Flip your video tile horizontally, using the Mirror my video option, so you can see how you appear to others on the call. This only affects the way you view your own video tile; others on the call will not see a difference when you use this feature.

    • Adjust the Desktop sharing frame rate. Choose a higher frame rate if sharing video content, and lower if sharing static content like slides. Restart the screen share for the new setting to take effect.

  • Virtual backgrounds:

    • See a preview of your video.

    • Select a blurred background or one of the available image backgrounds.

    • Select Add background, to navigate to your device's file system and select an image to use as a custom background.

    • Select OK to apply your chosen background.

  • Notifications: Enable or disable notifications for chat messages.

  • Shortcuts: Enable or disable keyboard shortcuts.

  • General:

    • Select the maximum number of participants that can be pinned to the main stage (experimental feature).

    • Enable Hide self view. When this is enabled, your video tile is hidden from you but visible to others.

Group consultation moderator controls

The following additional controls are available to service providers.

Button

Description

Waiting callers button, showing 2 callers waiting.

Select the down arrow to see a list of waiting callers. The number indicates how many are waiting.

Admit all

Admit all the participants listed in the Waiting callers area to the call.

Admit

Admit an individual participant to the call.

The X or Remove button that appears beside each participant's name.

Select this button to decline entry to a waiting caller, or to remove them from a call that is in progress. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to decline entry or remove the person.

The Show participants button. The button has a down arrow on the left, indicating that the Participants list is open. The number three appears in brackets, indicating that there are three participants in the call.

When callers have been admitted, they appear below this button, in the participants list. To view the list of participants, select the down arrow.

Select the Remote user controls button on a participant's video tile to:

  • mute the participant's microphone, or ask them to unmute it

  • mute the microphones of everyone except the selected participant. Participants can unmute themselves as necessary. For more information, see Mute your microphone.

  • stop the participant's video

  • stop the video of everyone except the selected participant

  • send a private message to that participant

  • pin the participant to the stage

  • lower the participant's microphone volume. This will affect the volume on your device only, nobody else's.

Tip: You can see each participant's microphone and camera status in the lower left of their video tile.

Note: If you are using breakout rooms, you can access the Remote user controls button by hovering over a participant's name in the breakout rooms control panel. For more information, see Add breakout rooms.

Leave call button, for small screens.

Only visible on small screens

If you are using a small device such as a tablet or mobile, select this button to access the end-call options that appear in the next two rows: End consultation (just me) and End consultation for all.

Breakout rooms

Select this button to open the breakout rooms control panel. For more information, see Add breakout rooms.

Leave (just me)

If there are multiple service providers on the call, any of them can select this button to leave the call, while allowing the call to continue for all other participants.

Note: If the only service provider on the call selects this button, other participants receive notice that the call will end in two minutes.

End call for all

End the call for all participants.

Hide or unhide the Participants list button.

Select this button to hide the participants list. Select it again to unhide the list.