TeamTalk Channels
To use the TeamTalk conferencing system users must either set up
their own TeamTalk server or connect to one of the servers which are
publicly available. Once connected users are presented with a set
channels (sometimes refered to as rooms) which a user can enter and
from there interact with the other users who are in the same
channel. An example is shown here:
Figure 1. User in channel with three other people.
In Figure 1 four users have entered a channel
named "Room 11B". While in the same channel users can
write text messages in the Chat tab, see video in the Video tab, see
shared applications in the Desktops tab and download files in the
Files tab.
Audio and Video Conversations
TeamTalk supports multiple video sessions so it's possible to see
video of every user in a channel. To see the users with video simply
click the Video tab where all the active video sessions are
lined up in a grid.
Figure
2. Video conversation with two users (but there can be many more).
Users who are transmitting video have a blue frame surrounding
their user icon as can be seen in Figure 2. By clicking the detach
button in the top right corner it's possible to see the selected
user in a separate window.
Share Desktop Applications
Any application running on your computer's desktop can be shared
with other users. This can be used for doing online presentations.
Figure 3. Safari web browser shared with
channel users.
To see the shared application in a separate window simply press
the detach button in the top right corner.
File Sharing
By clicking the Files tab users can see which files can be
downloaded in the channel they're participating in. If users have a
user account on the server they too can upload files which others
can download.
Figure 4. Files available for download.
Server administrators can assign disk quota for every channel on
the server.
Server Administration
The TeamTalk client application contains a list of publicly
available TeamTalk servers you can connect to and use freely, but
some might prefer to run their own server. For this TeamTalk comes
with its own standalone server available for both Windows, Mac OS X
and Linux. Running your own TeamTalk server allows you to configure
exactly how you want your server to look and who should have access
to it. Figure 5 shows some of the server's
configurable options and Figure 6 shows how to
set up user accounts.
Figure 5. Configurable options for the TeamTalk server.
As can be seen in Figure 5 the TeamTalk server
has a wide range of options to limit what rights users have on the
server. One can e.g. deny users who do not have accounts on the
server to log on and also specify whether users should be allowed to
create their own channels. One can also set whether the server
should use its bandwidth to transmit users' audio and video which is
often required for users who have Internet connections with limited
bandwidth. Note that the maximum number of users supported by a
TeamTalk server is 1000.
Figure 6. Setting up user accounts.
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