Using Custom Invocation

Vidyo understands that third-party partners and developers would like to customize VidyoConnect^TM by embedding Vidyo technologies into workflows in various ways. This includes everything from slightly changing features that are available out-of-the-box to embedding our C SDK libraries. Therefore, we are introducing Custom Invocation of VidyoConnect, which is a solution that lies halfway along that spectrum.

With Custom Invocation, third-party partners and developers can now customize the VidyoConnect client and invoke it from their platform. You should use Custom Invocation only if you want the existing client features and interactions, as well as a little more of your own functionality, such as passing behaviors for in-call screen features like public chat, device control, and content sharing.

Requirements

You can customize the VidyoConnect for Desktop behavior either during installation or at runtime. However, before you can do so, you must install the VidyoConnect for Desktop app. 

The following VidyoConnect clients are supported:

• VidyoConnect for Desktop
  • Windows® 32-bit
  • Windows 64-bit
  • macOS®

• VidyoConnect for WebRTC
  • Mozilla Firefox®
  • Google® Chrome^TM
    
    

Invoking VidyoConnect with Parameters

The VidyoConnect application can be executed using a platform protocol handler. Platform protocol handlers allow you to inform the browser that your web app can handle URIs with certain schemes. Multiple schemes can be created with the protocol handler approach such as registering a web application to invoke parameters that we have defined in the Custom Invocation Parameters section below.

By using a platform protocol handler, you can pass the parameters listed in the Custom Invocation Parameters section. This allows you to use a room link to execute the customized VidyoConnect application behavior. For more information about executing VidyoConnect directly from within your web application or a third-party web application to start a video conference with the customized behavior, see the Using VidyoConnect Custom Invocation with Web Applications section below.

The URI that should be used to modify the VidyoConnect application behavior upon joining a room is as follows:

• If using Windows, the URI should look similar to the following:
  explorer vidyo://join?portal=[portal URI]&roomkey=[room key]&isCustom=true&<Custom Invocation parameters> start neo and join the room and modify XXX.
  
  
• If using OS X, the URI should look similar to the following:
  open vidyo://join?portal=[portal URI]&roomkey=[room key]&isCustom=true&<Custom Invocation parameters>
  
  

To further clarify how Custom Invocation works, let’s use an example where the VidyoConnect application is executed from a platform protocol handler via a web server. At a high level, the following occurs:

• HTTPS sends a request to the web server with a room link.
  
  
• The web server processes the room link and redirects the web application to a page that contains the Vidyo URI scheme, which also includes all of the Custom Invocation parameters similar to the URI shown here:
  
  vidyo://join?portal=&roomKey=&isCustom=true&userName=&displayName=Guest&beautyScr=true&loginMod=true&welcomePage=true&labels=true&chat=true&share=true&leftPanel=true&camMuteCntrl=true&micMuteCntrl=true&muteCameraOnJoin=false&muteMicOnJoin=false&devSetting=true&autoUpdate=true&participantNot=true&remoteContentAccess=true&shareOnJoin=false&invite=true&search=true&lockUserName=false&quituserHangup=false&autoAns=false&winSzH=592&winSzW=900&winPosX=23&winPosY=23
  
  
• The web server executes VidyoConnect via the platform protocol handler using the Vidyo URI scheme.

 

Custom Invocation Parameters

WINDOW PARAMETERS
Parameter	Required	Default Value	Description
Window Size	No	592 (height) 900 (width)	The height and width of the VidyoConnect for Desktop window.
Window Position	No	Center of screen	The center of the computer screen for all screen sizes.

INVOKE TIME PARAMETERS
Parameter	Required	Default Value	Description
Username	No	N/A	The username that the user enters in the Username field upon logging in to the application. If provided, then the user will not have to enter the username when logging in to the application.
Display Name	No	Guest	The user's display name upon connecting to VidyoConnect for Desktop. If passed, the VidyoConnect for Desktop client should display the name instead of prompting the user to enter the Guest Display Name. If the admin has disabled the Welcome screen, then the default string "Guest" should only be used. Otherwise, the value should remain empty, forcing the user to specify their own Display Name.
Portal FQDN	Yes	N/A	The Fully Qualified Domain Name of the VidyoPortalTM. If passed, VidyoConnect for Desktop logs in to the VidyoPortal when launched. The HTTPS prefix should be assumed if not specified.
Room Key	Yes	N/A	The key for the room retrieved from the room link. If passed, VidyoConnect for Desktop logs in as a guest and joins the specified room.
Room Pin	No	N/A	The PIN used to protect the room. If passed, VidyoConnect for Desktop prompts the user to enter the room PIN prior to joining a conference.

WELCOME PAGE PARAMETERS
Parameter	Required	Default Value	Description
Welcome Page	No	Enabled	Controls whether the user can bypass the Welcome page and join a conference.
Beauty Page	No	Enabled	Controls whether the Beauty screen is displayed.
Login Module	No	Enabled	Controls whether the Login module is displayed. When disabled, users can only access VidyoConnect as guests.

IN-CALL PARAMETERS
Parameter	Required	Default Value	Description
Public Chat	No	Enabled	Controls whether all public chat-related features are displayed.
Left Panel	No	Enabled	Controls whether the left panel that contains the Participants List and Contacts is displayed.
In-Call Search	No	Enabled	Controls whether all search-related features are displayed.
Invite Participants	No	Enabled	Controls whether the Invite button is displayed.
Content Sharing	No	Enabled	Controls whether the Content Sharing button is displayed.
Show Content Share Dialog on Join	No	Disabled	Controls whether the Content Share Preview Selection dialog is displayed when the user first enters the conference. This does not affect the ability to start a content share later in the conference.
Display Labels	No	Enabled	Controls whether labels with the user’s name are displayed.
Remote Content Access	No	Enabled	Controls whether the users are able to view content shared by other participants.
Camera Mute Control	No	Enabled	Controls whether the camera mute feature on the In-call screen is displayed.
Audio Mute Control	No	Enabled	Controls whether the audio mute feature on the In-call screen is displayed.
Mute Camera On Entry	No	Enabled	Controls whether the camera is muted upon entering a conference.
Mute Audio on Entry	No	Enabled	Controls whether the microphone is muted upon entering a conference.
Device Settings	No	Enabled	Controls whether the user can change device settings by clicking the Device Settings menu item or right-clicking on the muted icons.

DISCONNECTION PARAMETER
Parameter	Required	Default Value	Description
Exit on User Hangup	No	Disabled	Controls whether VidyoConnect will automatically shut itself down after a user disconnects from a call.

AUTO-UPDATE PARAMETER
Parameter	Required	Default Value	Description
Automatically Update	No	Enabled	Controls whether to automatically check for new versions.

OTHER CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
Parameter	Required	Default Value	Description
Lock User Name	No	Disabled	Controls whether the username can be modified by the user. When this option is enabled, the Mac username is used as the default username.
Disable Audio	No	Disabled	This controls all audio including notification sounds and hides all audio related controls. Enable this parameter if you want to use the VidyoConnect video capabilities, but not its audio capabilities.
Enable Auto Answer	No	Disabled	Controls whether incoming calls and invitations are answered automatically. This only applies to the default tenant that is provided to users that are logged in.
Participant Notification	No	Enabled	Controls whether an audio indicator is heard when other participants join or leave the conference.

Common Methods

There are various ways in which you may choose to use Custom Invocation, but the most common method involves customizing the VidyoConnect behavior and executing that behavior from your own web application or a third-party web application.

Using VidyoConnect Custom Invocation with Web Applications 

With URI schemes, you can communicate with other apps through a platform protocol handler that you have defined. If you would like to execute VidyoConnect directly from within your web application or a third-party web application to start a video conference with the customized VidyoConnect behavior, please follow the steps below:

1. Provision a mapping from the VidyoPortal URL room key to a platform protocol handler that is structured as follows: <portal><key> = vidyo://join/?portal=xxx&key=yyy&params
   
   
2. Obtain a room link from VidyoPortal or VidyoConnect.
   
   
3. Point your web application to a link that is structured as follows:
   https:/myapp.com/linkredirect?https://portal/join/key
   
   The initial web application link is redirected to a page that executes vidyo://join/?portal=xxx&key=yyy&params.

Common Use Cases

There are various use cases that you may want to implement for your users. We have provided only some of the most common use cases below.

Bypassing the Welcome, Beauty, and Login Pages to Join a Conference 

To bypass the Welcome, Beauty, and Login pages to provide users with direct access to a conference, use the following parameters and values:

• beautyScr= false
• loginMod= false
• welcomePage= false
• displayName= Enter a unique value (e.g. Agent_007)

Disabling the Left Panel

To disable the left panel, set the leftPanel parameter to ‘false’.

Muting the Camera and Microphone Upon Joining a Conference

To mute the camera and microphone upon joining a conference, use the following parameters and values:

• muteCameraOnJoin= false
• muteMicOnJoin= false

Invoking VidyoConnect with iFrames 

iFrames are the pre-call, in-call, and post-call URLs that allow enterprise organizations to load content from their domains or a third-party system into VidyoConnect per tenant.

• Pre-call iFrames appear before the user joins the call.
• In-call iFrames appear around the window (i.e., top, bottom, left, and right) of the main in-call experience. By default, in-call iFrames are hidden.
• Post-call iFrames appear at the conclusion of the call.
  
  

To configure iFrames, do the following:

1. Select the Enable Custom Roles checkbox on the Settings > Feature Settings > Custom Roles page using your Super Admin VidyoPortal account.
   
   For additional information, refer to the VidyoConferencing Administrator Guide.
   
   
2. Select the Enable Custom Roles checkbox for the appropriate tenants on the Tenants page using your Super Admin VidyoPortal account.
   
   For additional information, refer to the VidyoConferencing Administrator Guide.
   
   
3. Configure the iFrame window size using the appropriate IframeSize, windowSizeHeight, and windowSizeWidth Web Services APIs.
   
   These specific window dimensions can be passed along with the iFrame. For additional information, refer to the Web Services API User Guide.
   
   
4. Enable the endpoint behavior object and provision it via the SOAP endpoint APIs (i.e., createEndpointBehavior, getEndpointBehavior, and updateEndpointBehavior).
   
   For more information about these SOAP endpoint APIs, refer to the “4. Web Services Admin API” section of the Web Services API User Guide.
   
   
5. Install the VidyoConnect for Desktop app if not already installed.
   
   
6. Launch the VidyoConnect for Desktop app and log in.

When the endpoint behavior becomes available, the following occurs:

• The VidyoConnect application joins the room with the specified behavior.
• VidyoConnect receives the endpoint behavior data from the login response for both guest and logged-in users.
  
  

Using Pre-Call iFrames

The pre-call iFrame displays after the user logs in to the VidyoConnect for Desktop app or clicks a guest link. You can use the pre-call iFrame as a welcome page, which allows you to display your company’s branding, to invite your guests into a call. By default, the pre-call iFrame size is set to full. You can configure the time in which the pre-call iFrame remains open before the user joins the call.

Using In-Call iFrames 

You can use the in-call iFrame to display content at the top, bottom, left, or right of the main in-call window. By default, the in-call iFrame is set to 20% of the window’s default height and width dimensions. However, you can change this value when necessary.

Using Post-call iFrames 

You can use the post-call iFrame, for example, to display a simple “Thank you” message to your users after the call ends. For VidyoConnect for Desktop, the post-call iFrame displays until the user closes the VidyoConnect app; for VidyoConnect for WebRTC, the post-call iFrame displays until the user closes browser window.