Telegram is WhatsApp’s main rival and it is striving to offer better services, in fact, in some respects it is ahead. Fortunately or unfortunately, offering the best to users is not always enough to be the most used application.
There are more and more possibilities we have to communicate with others. Not only with written chats or voice communications to any of our contacts, now we can do group connections and, in addition, end-to-end encrypted so that no one can trace them.
Features of calls and video calls
Despite the large number of possibilities that Telegram offers us when making group connections, the application allows us to carry out these actions of two clearly differentiated ways. In addition, all functions are available on both the mobile versions of Android and iOS as well as the desktop versions for Windows and macOS.
- Individual calls and video calls
To speak individually with any contact is very simple, in the menu on the bottom bar of the application click on Calls and we will see the history through Telegram. We can click on any of the contacts within this history or on the icon in the upper right corner to make a new call (it is the symbol of a telephone and a +).
Without having to go to the calls section, we can also click on the name of the contact in the private chat and select the icon To call or Video. Once the call has started, you can switch between the two modes by activating or deactivating the camera respectively.
Everything that corresponds to group connections stop for activating the Voice chat in a group. Voice chat is, in essence, a communication like that of walkie talkies in which each participant decides when they want to speak by activating the microphone, leaving it permanently active if they wish. Several participants can speak at the same time, but, as you can imagine, it will be difficult to understand what each interlocutor is saying.
You can activate PiP mode (Picture in Picture, Picture in Picture) in your video calls so that you can continue chatting with your contacts while making a video call.
- Phone integration
In the menu Calls, within Privacy & Security, you can activate the integration with the Android or iOS listings so that the Telegram history appears integrated in the list of calls sent and received from the smartphone.
- Group call recording
When we activate a voice chat and other participants are speaking, we can click on the menu button “…” and click on the option Start recording. Later we can share those audios with the group if we want.
- Manage group calls
When you are the Voice Chat Manager you can configure it so that all participants can speak whenever they want or silence them and that they have to ask for permission. To do this, they only have to press the central button to raise your hand and you, as Administrator, will see a notification and you will give them permission when you deem it appropriate.
In any group video call in which you have the camera activated, you will be able to choose, in addition to the camera you want to use (front or rear), the option to share screen from your smartphone or your computer with the rest of the participants.
This option is enabled by default, and what it does is decrease the volume of ambient noise of each participant who is broadcasting, in this way their voice will be clearer and more legible.
Limits
When you start a Voice Chat in a group you start no limit of participantsAs long as the audio is exclusively activated there will be no limit of participants, all participants who wish to listen to you.
If we activate the camera the limit of participants is reduced to 1,000 “spectators” and 30 participants broadcasting with their cameras simultaneously. Although these limits are expected to increase with the improvement of communication networks.
Security
Telegram connections, both individual and group, are secure because they go end-to-end encryptedAt all times, the information flow is encrypted so that it cannot be traced.
Also, in the Telegram settings menu, within Privacy & Security, if you click on the section Calls You will be able to choose who can call you (Everyone, My contacts or Nobody), with exceptions and activate or deactivate the Peer-to-Peer system so that all connections go through Telegram’s servers and thus no one can trace communications.
Differences with voice chats
Voice chat is the initial option to communicate in real time with other participants within a group. You can start a voice chat in a group where there is only one other participant, but you can add as many participants as you want from your contact book by pressing the Invite members button.
A voice chat is basically a group call with the features mentioned above but not a group video call, because for this we have to activate the camera. As we have explained before, voice chat is the first step before starting the group video call.
How to make group calls
Telegram channels all the options to communicate in groups through Voice Chat.
Calls
Group calls are the Voice chats that we can activate in each group of which we are administrators. We just have to enter the group, click on the group name at the top and choose Voice chat.
In this way the Voice Chat for group connections is already activated and each member of the group will see the button Join me on top.
From here on, the control of commands as participant and administrator is very simple. In case the new participants are muted they can press the middle button to raise hand and administrators will give you a voice whenever they want.
If we click on the menu button “…” On the left side we will access the Voice Chat settings being able to modify the name of the same, silence to all new members, activate or deactivate the noise suppression, share screen, Record voice chats or finish it.
Video calls
Once we have created the Voice Chat to make a group call in the way that we have just explained, we can turn it into a group video call by activating the camera pressing the button Video located in the lower left corner. Before issuing we will have to choose between the frontal camera, the rear camera or share screen, then click on Continue and we will be broadcasting live.
Once we have activated our camera, if we click on the menu button “…” a new option will appear: Audio. This allows us to choose where we want to listen to the chats of the other participants, through the loudspeaker or through the smartphone’s earpiece.
This can be done up to a maximum of 30 participants as we have said above and up to 1,000 people can see us.