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Updated on November 23, 2023

Chat

Estimated reading: 31 minutes

Chat

Communicator brings unified chat across desktop, web, and mobile applications. Chat history is stored on the server and is always synchronized across all your devices. This means that if you have to leave the office but you were having an important chat with your colleagues, you can seamlessly continue chatting using your mobile application. Furthermore, if you switch PCs or laptops, your entire chat history will be synchronized the first time you log in on the new computer.

Full history synchronization

After each connection, the application ensures that your chat history is always synchronized and that all messages are available on your device.

During synchronization, a yellow badge appears on the chat icon to inform the user that synchronization is in progress.

If you open the chat window during synchronization, you will see an informative message, with a progress bar indicating the progress of the synchronization.

If the chat synchronization failed because the chat server was down at the time you logged in, the application will automatically restart the synchronization process once it detects that the server is back.

Chat server unavailable

If the chat server is down, you can neither send nor receive messages until it is restored.

While the chat server is down, an indication on the chat module icon in the main window warns the user.

If you open the chat window while the server is down, an information message also indicates that the chat server is not connected.

As soon as the application detects that the chat server is back, the warning is dismissed and you can continue chatting where you left off.

Start a conversation

To open the chat window, click the Chat module icon in the main window.

This will bring up the chat window and display all your conversations. There are several ways to start a conversation or open an existing conversation with another user:

  • Click the chat icon when you hover over a user in the main window ( only for the Grid view ).
  • Right-click on a user in the main window and choose the option Chat in the menu.
  • Double-click a user in the main window ( if your default double-click action is set to Chat in the Preferences ).
  • Select multiple users in the main window, right-click and choose the option Group chat in the menu to create instant groups from the main window.
  • Search for a user in the chat window and click on the desired user.

Top blue bar

Above the chat window area, there is a blue bar that contains information about the currently selected conversation, and also provides various actions available for that conversation.

At the far left of the top blue bar, there is an avatar for the currently selected conversation. Next to it is a user's name (or a group name in the case of a group conversation). Click on the user's name to open the Information dialog box for the contacts of the selected user. Click the group name or the participant label to open the Info drawer. Below the user's name, there is information about the user's presence and status, for example whether the user is currently online, what the user's status message is, whether they are currently away from their desk, etc. In the case of a group chat, there is a label indicating the number of participants in the conversation.

On the right side of the blue bar, you will find various buttons to perform the actions available for the currently selected conversation.

  • Call the currently selected user (create a voice conference in the case of a group conversation).

  • Search for messages in the current conversation.

  • Request attention – the user in the current conversation will be informed that you need their immediate attention. Not available for group conversations.

  • Create a meeting with all chat participants.

  • Add other users to the currently selected conversation

  • Open the chat information.

When you add users to the currently selected conversation, you can filter the user list by searching for a user's name or extension. You can also filter by department, or even add an entire department to the conversation. Added participants cannot read previous messages in the conversation.

To collapse the user list and display a list of departments, click the name of the currently expanded department. To select all users in the currently expanded department, check the box next to the department name.

Chat information

Single chat conversations

The information pane displays all participants of the selected conversation. Additionally, it allows users to add more participants to the selected conversation by clicking the + sign located to the right of the Participants label. This way, the user can easily create a group conversation from a single chat conversation. Furthermore, by hovering over each participant, the user can see information about their presence and the available actions.

When you hover over a participant, you have the option to call them directly by pressing the phone icon.

The icon Show files at the top of the pane Info displays all files shared in the selected conversation.

The button Delete the conversation at the bottom of the pane Info allows the user to delete the selected conversation.

Group chat conversations

The Info pane displays the group name, all participants of the selected group conversation, and the group administrator. As a group administrator, the user can change the group name, remove participants from the group, and select a new group administrator.

To modify the name of a group, the user must click on the current group name, type a new name, and press the key on their keyboard

In addition, the user can add new participants to the selected conversation or filter the conversation's participants. Furthermore, by hovering over each participant, the user can see information about their presence and the available actions.

When you hover over a participant, the following actions are available:

  • Call the hovered participant.

  • Open the single chat conversation with the hovered participant.

  • Remove the hovered participant.

  • The icon Show files at the top of the Info pane displays all files shared in the selected conversation.

  • You can mute the conversation by clicking the button Mute.

However, to leave the selected conversation, click the button Quit at the bottom of the Info pane. The pop-up message will appear, asking the user to select what they wish to do.

The user can then select one of the following options:

  • Leave: It will leave the group and keep the chat history.
  • Quit and delete: It will leave the group and delete all the chat history.
  • Cancel: It will cancel the departure process.

Finally, as a group administrator, the user can select a new group administrator by clicking the button Transfer next to their name and selecting a new group administrator.

To confirm the transfer process, the user must press the button Transfer at the bottom of the information drawer or press the Cancel button if they wish to exit the transfer process.

Files overview

You can click the file icon to see all files sent and received in the conversation.

You can search for a particular file by its name. Clicking on the file thumbnail or the file name opens the file if it is available, or offers to download it if the file has not yet been downloaded.

The file name, file size, sender and time are displayed for each file. Depending on the direction of the file (inbound/outbound) and the status of the file (loading/upload/ready to download/downloading/download), the button to the right of the file name provides certain actions:

  • Click the download icon to download the file.
  • If the file is already downloaded, click to display the menu and choose from the options Open, Show in Windows Explorer for Microsoft Windows (Show in Finder for macOS), and Save As.
    • The Open option opens the file in the default application
    • The Show in Windows Explorer / Show in Finder option opens the folder containing the file and selects the file, which is useful for locating the file on the file system.
    • The Save As option allows you to create a copy of the file at the desired location with the desired name.

Options menu (three dots)

The menu contains the following options:

  • Create a group
  • Close all chats
  • Show closed chats
  • Legacy discussion history
  • Options

The option Create a group conversation is used to create group conversations (as the creator of the group, you are automatically the group administrator). Two types of groups are available. The first type of groups are ordinary groups, which means that the chat history will not be available to newly added participants. The second type of groups are groups with visible chat history, which means that the full chat history will be available to newly added participants.

To create a group with a visible chat history, check the option Allow full history visibility.

The group name may or may not be provided when creating the group. If the user does not provide a group name, the group name will simply be Group. However, the user can modify the group name at any time after the group is created by clicking the group name.

Filtering and selecting contacts is the same as described in the conference section. The user can filter contacts by name, extension number and department. Created groups are permanent, which means the user will remain a member of the group after closing the application.

It is possible to have multiple groups with the same participants and the same or different names. Two groups can have the same participants, and the user can use them for different topics, so that unrelated topics are not mixed into a single conversation.

The option Close all conversations is used to easily close all your conversations without having to close each one manually.

The option Show closed chats is used to see all your closed conversations so that you can find them and make them active again.

The option History of previous discussions is used to display the chat history from previous versions so that you do not lose all the messages you had in your chat history before updating to Communicator version 6.0. This chat history is kept solely for these purposes, since old chat messages cannot be migrated to the new chat.

The option Options is used to quickly access the Chat section in the Preferences window.

Mention participants in group conversations

Mention as a feature represents a good way to attract someone's attention in the group conversation. It allows the user to mention one or more participants and provide the context of their mention in the message. Mentioned participants will receive a notification even in group conversations they currently have muted.

To mention a participant, the user must enter the @ sign followed by the desired participant's name. Immediately after entering the @ sign, the list of participants who can be mentioned will be displayed above the input field.

The user has a few options for selecting participants:

  • The first is to scroll through the list using the up and down arrow keys and select the participant by pressing the return key on your keyboard or by using the mouse wheel and clicking on the participant.
  • The second is to continue entering the participant's name after the @ sign. In this case, the list above the input field will only display the participants whose names match the input.

The mentioned participant will be colored blue in the conversation.

By clicking on the participant mentioned in the conversation, you get a context menu with the following options:

  • Call
  • Chat with
  • Contact information

Search and chat history

The search field at the top left of the chat window, just below the blue bar, serves several purposes:

  • Start a new conversation or open an existing one by searching for a user’s name, their extension, or a group name, then click the desired item in the list
  • Discussion history

Unlike versions prior to Communicator 6.0, chat history is now integrated into the chat window, so you do not need to open another window to search for a message. When you type a term in the search field, the application will find all users or existing conversations that match the term, and also find all messages that match the term. Users and existing conversations are positioned at the top, followed by all messages that match the term, sorted from newest to oldest.

If you click an item in the Contacts & Chats section, the application will open the selected conversation and clear the search field.

On the other hand, if you click on an item in the section Messages, the application will open the conversation, focus the desired message and load a few messages around it to give you the context of the conversation at that moment. From there, you can scroll up / down to load older / newer messages, where each occurrence of the searched term will be highlighted.

Once you have found what you were looking for, you can delete the term in the search field to exit search mode or click the arrow button on the left side of the search field. This allows you to search your entire chat history without ever leaving the chat window.

If you type more than one word in the search field, the application will find all messages that contain these two words in any order.

For example, searching for « Hi Bob » matches all of these items:

  • Hi, how are you Bob ?
  • Bob? Hi? Are you there?
  • Hi Bob, do you have a few minutes?
  • Hi Bob, how are you?

If you just want to find the last two messages explicitly, where the words Hi and Bob are right next to each other and in the right order, in this case you will need to put quotes around the search.

For example, the search « Hi Bob » matches the following results:

  • Hi Bob, do you have a few minutes?
  • Hi Bob, how are you?

As you can see in the examples above, the search in the chat window is not case-sensitive.

List of conversations

On the left side of the chat window, just below the search field, there is a list of all your conversations sorted by their most recent activity. These conversations are persistent, which means they will appear in the chat window even after restarting the application.

On the left side of the chat window, just below the search field, there is a list of all your conversations sorted by their most recent activity. These conversations are persistent, which means they will appear in the chat window even after restarting the application.

This way, you can keep visible only the conversations that currently interest you. If you want to close all your conversations, you can do so by clicking the option Close all conversations in the global dots menu of the chat window.

Any activity in the closed conversation will bring it back to active (new messages, new participants added, etc.) so that you never miss the latest messages and events. You can find any of your closed conversations by searching for them in the chat window.

You can also get an overview of all closed conversations by clicking the option Show closed chats in the global dots menu of the chat window. From there, you can move any conversation to active simply by clicking on it, or you can move multiple conversations to active without leaving this mode by clicking the icon file_back_to_active.png which appears on hover in the upper right corner. Click the label Back to active chats to return to your list of active conversations.

The conversation with a user who has been deleted from PBXware will be marked with a prefix (Deleted). You can no longer send messages to this conversation, but it is still useful due to the chat history and all the existing messages with this user before the deletion.

When you hover over a session, in addition to the x icon, there is a icon of dots in the upper left corner of the conversation. Click this icon to open a menu containing the following options:

  1. Search
  2. Call
  3. Pin chat
  4. Mark as read/unread
  5. Mute (only for group conversations)
  6. Close all except this conversation

In addition, right-clicking the chat conversation in the conversation list brings up a context menu with these options.

The search option allows you to search for messages in this conversation. This is useful for searching only the messages of a specific user, unlike the global search which searches messages from all conversations. There are two ways to exit this mode: by clicking the back arrow icon located on the left side of the search field, or by pressing the ESC

The call option allows you to call the user or create a conference call in the case of a group chat.

Pin a message allows you to pin the most used conversations at the top of the conversation list. The last pinned conversation is always at the top of the conversation list. You can unpin the conversation the same way as pinning, and also by clicking the pin icon that appears if a conversation is pinned. The user can rearrange the pinned conversations according to their needs using drag-and-drop options. This allows them to set the priority for pinned conversations.

Mark as read/unread allows the user to explicitly mark the conversation as read/non read. If they mark the conversation as unread, the Unread indicator will appear for this conversation. It informs the user to look at this conversation again and take action if necessary. Any action inside the chat conversation with the unread status will remove the Unread indicator. In addition, opening the conversation or explicitly marking it as read will remove the indicator.

The option Makemuted is used if you want to stop receiving notifications for a group chat, perhaps because there are too many messages being exchanged and it is distracting you. You can unmute a group chat the same way you mute it, and also by clicking the speaker icon that appears if a conversation is muted. You can also mute/unmute a conversation from the Chat Info screen.

The option Close all except this conversation allows you to close all conversations except this one. This is useful if you have only one conversation you are currently engaged in, so you want to hide all the others so they do not distract you.

For each 1-to-1 conversation in the list, you can see:

  • The user's avatar with their status icon
  • The name of the user
    The last message in the conversation
  • The time of the last message in the conversation
  • Number of unread messages (if any)

For each group conversation in the list, you can see:

  • The group chat icon
  • Group name
  • Last message of the conversation
  • Time of the last message in the conversation
  • Number of unread messages (if any)

In search mode, the conversation list changes its items based on the searched term, which is explained in the conversation search and history section.

Unread messages indicator

At the bottom left of the chat window is an unread messages indicator to inform the user whether there are currently unread messages. This is useful in cases where you have scrolled down and cannot see your most recent conversations, or if you are in search mode.

If there are unread messages, the label and icon are underlined in blue to draw the user's attention.

Click a label to open a menu displaying a list of all conversations with unread messages, indicating the number of unread messages in parentheses. There is also an option to mark all messages as read.

Marking all messages as read will effectively send all these conversations even if you have not yet read these messages. Clicking on any option other than Mark all as read opens the selected conversation. This can be used as a faster way to search for conversations containing unread messages instead of searching for them in the conversation list.

If there are no unread messages, the label is not underlined and serves only as an indicator, without any functionality.

Message display

On the right side of the chat window, you can see the messages of the currently selected conversation.

If there are no unread messages in the conversation, the app will load the last 20 messages and place the scroll bar at the bottom. If you want to load older messages, simply scroll up until you reach the top. This way, you can scroll to the beginning of the conversation.

If there are unread messages in the conversation, the app will load all unread messages plus an additional 20 older messages. The scroll bar will be positioned on the first unread message with the “New messages” so that you know where to continue reading the messages.

The typing indicator is shown above the input field of the message window and in the conversation list so that you can see when someone is typing to you. In the case of a group conversation, if several participants are typing at the same time, the typed message will take the form N participants are typing where N is the number of participants typing.

While you are in the group conversation, left-click on the participant's name or avatar in the messages window to display a context menu with three options:

  1. Call: Call the participant directly.
  2. Chat: start a one-on-one conversation with the participant.
  3. Contact information: show contact information.

When scrolling up in the currently selected conversation, a downward-facing arrow scroll indicator appears in the lower right corner of the message view so you can easily jump to the end of the conversation. If you receive a new message while searching/viewing old messages, the scroll indicator will display the number of received messages. Clicking on the scroll indicator will take you to the first received message.

Message statuses

For outgoing messages, there is an indicator explaining the current status of the message:

Sending: the message is on its way to the server.
Sent: the message is sent and has reached the server.
 Delivered: the message is delivered to the user(s).
 Read: thee message has been read by the other user(s).
 Failure: the message could not reach the server.

Text selection and context menu

You can select text inside messages by pressing and dragging your mouse over the message area. Click anywhere in the message area to deselect all messages.

6.6_glocom_context_menu_screen.png

When there is text selected in the message area, a right-click displays a context menu with the option Copy to copy all selected messages to the clipboard. You can also press CTRL+ Cunder Windows or Command(⌘)+ Con macOS to copy all selected messages to the clipboard.

If you right-click in a message bubble (gray or blue rectangle) while no text is selected, a context menu appears with the Answer options , Copy the message , Show plain text , Transfer , Pin the message , Info (only for groups) and Delete the message. choices.

The reply option allows the user to reply to a specific message. To reply to a message, hover over it and click the reply button, or right-click on the message, and in the dropdown menu, select the Answer option . As a result, the message the user wishes to reply to will appear above the input field. By clicking the replied message in the chat, the user will return to the original message.

The Copy option is used to copy all the content of the message to the clipboard.

The Show plain text option is used to disable all message formatting (links, emojis, etc.), so that you can see the source of the original message. If you right-click the message again after pressing the Show plain text option , there is a Show rich text option to cancel it and see the message formatted with links and emojis.

The Forward option is used to forward messages and files from one conversation to another. You can forward the message or save up to 10 conversations at a time.

The pin/unpin options are used to pin/unpin an important message or a file message at the top of the conversation window. Anyone can pin/unpin the message in the conversation. You can pin one message at a time. By clicking on the pinned message, you will be redirected to that message in the conversation.

Info allows the user to see the delivery and seen status information of a single message in a group chat conversation.

Delete allows users to delete text messages and files. To delete the desired message, users can simply right-click on it and, in the dropdown menu, select the Delete option .

After selecting theDelete option , the confirmation dialog box will appear with two options for outgoing messages:

  1. Delete for me with the following subcontent: This message will only be deleted for you. The other members of the chat will still be able to see it. Are you sure you want to continue?
  2. Delete for everyone with the following subcontent: This message will be deleted for all participants. Are you sure you want to continue?

For incoming messages, there is only one option:

  1. Delete for me with the following subcontent: This message will only be deleted for you. The other members of the chat will still be able to see it. Are you sure you want to continue?

In addition to the options mentioned above, the confirmation dialog box contains the Delete and Cancel buttons .

After deleting the message, the indicator Message deleted appears.

Clipboard

Communicator supports clipboard functionality for images and files. This means that the clipboard can now be used to copy/paste images from external applications (such as an image viewer, browsers, etc.) or to copy/paste images and files from the file explorer (Finder on macOS) directly into the chat session. With this at their disposal, users are no longer limited to simply using an image/file picker and a drag-and-drop feature to send images and files.

While using the clipboard feature to send images and files, instead of sending them immediately after pasting them into the chat, the application creates a list of attachments including thumbnails in the selected chat session. Clicking the thumbnail opens the file in the appropriate viewing application (image viewer for images, default video player for videos, etc.). This way, users have the option to double-check the selected files and images before sending them.

Adding files to the list of attachments when using the clipboard can be done in two ways:

  • Use CTRL( CMDon macOS) + C/ Vto copy/paste files or
  • Using the right mouse click to copy/paste files.

Furthermore, hovering over the file in the attachments list displays a blue circle with a white dash in the upper right corner of the thumbnail. Click on it to remove the file from the list. Deleting all files from the list can be done by clicking the x button in the upper right corner of the attachments list.

While the attachment list is active and the user selects files using a file picker or drags them into the chat, they will be attached to the attachment list. Otherwise, the application will send them immediately.

Furthermore, as long as the attachments list is present in the selected chat conversation, the user can compose a text message simultaneously. In this case, the application will first send the text message, then the attached files one by one.

The maximum number of files simultaneously attached to the attachment list is limited to five (5). Once the limit is reached, a popup message will appear displaying the following message: Cannot add files because it would violate the maximum file limit! (Maximum number of all attachments: 5) .

For larger images, the copy operation will take some time. During this time, the application will change the cursor type to loading, indicating that the file is being copied.

Input field

The message type field at the bottom of the chat window is used to send messages to the currently selected conversation. After typing a message, press the Enterkey (Back) of your keyboard to send a message. To enter a new line, press Shift+ Enteror Ctrl+ Enter( Command+ Enterfor macOS).

The length of the message that can be sent is limited to 10,000 characters .

A folder icon allows the user to send files. Clicking on it opens a dialog box in which the user can select up to 5 files to send to the currently selected conversation. In addition, the user can send files by dragging them from Windows Explorer (Finder on macOS) into the message area of the chat window.

An emoji icon allows the user to send emojis. By clicking on it, an emoji window appears in which the user can browse emojis separated into categories. At the bottom of the emoji window is a list of the most recently used emojis. 

A microphone icon allows the user to record voice messages for up to 2 minutes.

During recording, the user has the option to use the following options:

  1. Delete the voicemail: this will delete a voice message.
  2. Stop recording the voice message: the recording will stop. This way, the user can listen to the voice message before sending or deleting it.
  3. Send a voicemail: this will stop the voice message and send it immediately without the option to listen to it.

Playback of voice messages is possible within a chat by tapping the play button. It is possible to scrub through a selected voice message by clicking on the waveform.

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