This article provides detailed information about how to use the admin-level functions of the VidyoConnect™ application. You must have admin privileges to access these functions; they are not available to end users via the VidyoConnect user interface.
- Overview of Admin-Level Functions
- Using Custom Invocation
- Customizing a Login Banner
- Using the VidyoConnect for Desktop MSI Installer
- Configuring User Authentication
- If you're new to VidyoConnect, refer to the VidyoConnect: Technical Specifications, Operating System and Browser Requirements, and Recommended Peripherals article for lists of the technical specifications, operating system requirements, and browser requirements you need to know before using the VidyoConnect desktop, WebRTC, and mobile applications. This article also includes lists of the headsets, cameras, and speakers Enghouse Vidyo recommends for use with VidyoConnect endpoints.
- If you want in-depth information about the user features available in the VidyoConnect desktop and mobile applications, refer to the Using VidyoConnect: About Each Feature article. This article describes in detail how to use each pre-call and in-call feature users can access from the UI.
- If you would like quick reference information rather than detailed steps about using the VidyoConnect application, or if you would rather view a video, refer to the Using VidyoConnect: Videos, Tutorials, and Quick Reference Cards article.
Overview of Admin-Level Functions
This following table lists the admin-level functions that are described in this article. The table also provides a brief description of each function and the minimum VidyoConnect desktop, WebRTC, and mobile version for which the function is available. For more information about each function, click on the function name in the first column.
| Function | Description | Minimum Desktop, WebRTC, and Mobile Version |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Invocation | Enables third-party partners and developers to customize the VidyoConnect client and invoke it from their platform. |
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| Login Banner | Allows the Super Admin to configure a login banner to show to all Portal registered users. |
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| VidyoConnect for Desktop MSI Installer |
The VidyoConnect desktop application includes an admin installer that enables IT admins and enterprises to provision VidyoConnect seamlessly across their tenant base. |
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| User Authentication | To safeguard user login credentials, no login information is retained by the Enghouse Vidyo soft clients. For organizations that use an external database for user account management, LDAP, SAML, and Active Directory (AD) are supported. When LDAP/ SAML/AD are used, no passwords are stored within VidyoConnect. |
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Using Custom Invocation
Vidyo understands that third-party partners and developers would like to customize VidyoConnect 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 offer Custom Invocation of VidyoConnect, which is a solution that lies halfway along that spectrum.
With Custom Invocation, third-party partners and developers can 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® ChromeTM
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.
In order to use Custom Invocation from VidyoConnect, you must have a middleware solution in place that will work with the Custom Invocation feature to enable a particular endpoint behavior. This is essentially any mechanism that will allow you to create a protocol handler so that you can use the Custom Invocation parameters.
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>
If VidyoConnect is already running at the time of execution, the URI will cause VidyoConnect to join the specified room with the customized behavior.
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.
The Custom Invocation parameters that you have specified in the URI are not visible in the room link when being invoked with VidyoConnect for Desktop.
Custom Invocation Parameters
| WINDOW PARAMETERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value |
Description |
| winSzW and winSzH | No |
592 (height) 900 (width) |
The height and width of the VidyoConnect for Desktop window. NOTE: Not available for WebRTC |
| inPosX and winPosY | No | Center of screen |
NOTE: This parameter is not available for WebRTC |
| LOGIN PARAMETERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value | Description |
| loginMod | No | Enabled |
Controls whether the Login module is displayed. When disabled, users can only access VidyoConnect as guests. |
| lockUserName | 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. |
| 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. |
| password | No | N/A |
This parameter is used in conjunction with the portal and userName parameters to log in users automatically. If provided, then the user will not have to enter the password when logging in to the application. |
| logoutIfLogin | No | N/A |
Logs out the user before logging them in with Custom Invocation. If the user is already logged in and Custom Invocation login is invoked without this parameter, VidyoConnect will do nothing. See the “Common Use Cases” section for an example of how this parameter can be used. |
| keepMeSignIn | No | N/A |
Keep users logged in to the VidyoConnect application when provided along with their username, password, and logoutIfLogin parameter. Available only if supported by the portal and only for non-SAML authentication. See the “Common Use Cases” section for an example of how this parameter can be used. |
| INVOKE TIME PARAMETERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value | Description |
| displayName | 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 | 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. |
| roomKey | 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. |
| roomPin | 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 |
| welcomePage | No | Enabled | Controls whether the user can bypass the Welcome page and join a conference. |
| beautyScreen | No | Enabled | Controls whether the Beauty screen is displayed. |
| IN-CALL PARAMETERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value | Description |
| camMuteCntrl | No | Enabled | Controls whether the camera mute feature on the in-call and beauty screens is displayed. |
| chat | No | Enabled | Controls whether all public chat-related features are displayed. |
| devSetting | No | Enabled | Controls whether the user can change device settings by clicking the Device Settings menu item or right-clicking on the muted icons. |
| invite | No | Enabled | Controls whether the Invite button is displayed. |
| labels | No | Enabled | Controls whether labels with the user’s name are displayed. |
| leftPanel | No | Enabled | Controls whether the left panel that contains the Participants List and Contacts is displayed. |
| micMuteCntrl | No | Enabled | Controls whether the audio mute feature on the in-call and beauty screens is displayed. |
| muteCameraOnJoin | No | Disabled | Controls whether the camera is muted upon entering a conference. |
| muteMicOnJoin | No | Disabled | Controls whether the microphone is muted upon entering a conference. |
| remoteContentAccess | No | Enabled | Controls whether the users are able to view content shared by other participants. |
| search | No | Enabled | Controls whether all search-related features are displayed. |
| share | No | Enabled | Controls whether the Content Sharing button is displayed. |
| shareOnJoin | No | Disabled |
Controls whether the Content Share Preview Selection dialog is displayed when the user first enters the conference. NOTE: Not available for WebRTC |
| DISCONNECTION PARAMETER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value | Description |
| quituserHangup | No | Disabled |
Controls whether VidyoConnect will automatically shut itself down after a user disconnects from a call. NOTE: This parameter is not available for WebRTC. |
| AUTO-UPDATE PARAMETER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value | Description |
| autoUpdate | No | Enabled |
Controls whether to automatically check for new versions. NOTE: This parameter is not available for WebRTC. |
| DIRECT DIAL PARAMETER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value | Description |
| directDial | No | N/A |
Specifies which entityID to invoke a Direct Dial call to. NOTE: This parameter is not available for WebRTC. |
| OTHER CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Required | Default Value | Description |
| disableAudio | 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. |
| autoAns | No | Disabled |
Controls whether incoming calls and invitations are answered automatically. IMPORTANT NOTE: This custom invocation parameter is not supported on VidyoConnect for WebRTC. |
| participantNot | No | Enabled | Controls whether an audio indicator is heard when other participants join or leave the conference. |
| perfProfile | No |
Low Other supported values: High, Voice, Share |
Defines the Video Preferences profile. The perfProfile Custom Invocation parameter is ignored if VidyoConnect was installed with the MSI performance profile parameter. |
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:
- 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¶ms
- Obtain a room link from VidyoPortal or VidyoConnect.
- 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¶ms.
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.
Keeping VidyoConnect Users Logged In
Admins can keep users logged in to the VidyoConnect app by providing their credentials along with the logoutIfLogin and keepMeSignIn parameters.
For example: vidyo://login?portal=https://portal address&username=user&password=password&logoutIfLogin=true&keepMeSignIn=true
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:
- beautyScreen= 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.
For security reasons, iFrames cannot be passed as parameters using the protocol handler approach. However, iFrames can currently be passed as parameters using the Web Services APIs via the VidyoPortal. The VidyoConnect application will only support the iFrame URLs provided in the endpoint behavior object.
To configure iFrames, do the following:
- 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - Install the VidyoConnect for Desktop app if not already installed.
- 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.
We recommend that all iFrame URLs be hosted on the same domain.
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.
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Customizing a Login Banner
The Login banner displays every time your users access the login pages of the Super Admin portal, Tenant Admin portal, or VidyoConnect application (version 18.3.0 or later only). The Welcome banner displays after your users successfully log in to the Super Admin portal, Tenant Admin portal, or VidyoConnect application (version 18.3.0 or later only).
In order for the banners to appear, they must be enabled by a Super Admin using VidyoPortal version 17.1.0 or later. The Super Admin must also enter and format the text that appears on the banners.
The banners could display, for example, a welcome message, information about your company, or security information that users need to read and acknowledge. In addition, if the Super Admin enables both the Login banner and the Welcome banner, users will also see their login history.
To customize your Login and Welcome banners:
- Log into the Super Admin portal using your Super Admin account.
For more information, see Logging in to the Super Admin Portal.
The Components page displays by default. - Click the Settings tab.
The Upload System License page displays by default. - Click
next to Customization on the left menu. - Click Banners from the submenu.
The Banners page displays.
- Select the Login Banner checkbox to activate the Login banner.
- Enter and format the text for your Login banner.
- If you select the Welcome Banner checkbox as well as the Login Banner checkbox, users will see a dialog box displaying their login history (regardless of whether there is any Login banner text).
- You must select both checkboxes in order for the login history to display.
- Any information added to the Welcome Banner text input field will not be displayed in VidyoConnect.
- The Login History dialog box displays the date and time of the last five login attempts, whether the login was successful, and the IP address used when the user logged in. When this dialog box appears, users must click the Acknowledge button to continue logging in.
- Click Save.
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Using the VidyoConnect for Desktop MSI Installer
VidyoConnect for Desktop includes an admin installer that enables IT admins and enterprises to provision VidyoConnect seamlessly across their tenant base. This is an admin-level function.
The VidyoConnect MSI installer supports the following parameters:
| Parameter | Description | Value Type | Default Value |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALWAYSONTOP |
Causes the VidyoConnect desktop application window to always remain on top of other windows. |
Boolean: 1 to enable; 0 to disable |
Disabled |
If the parameter is passed with a value = 1, the VidyoConnect desktop application will always remain on top of other applications. If the parameter is not passed or is passed with a value = 0, the VidyoConnect desktop application will remain on top of other applications only while content is being shared. |
| AUTOANSWER |
Sets VidyoConnect to accept any incoming calls automatically. |
Boolean: 1 to enable; 0 to disable |
Disabled |
Calls are answered after three seconds. Once an admin specifies a value for this parameter, a user will not be able to override this behavior. |
| AUTOSTART |
Sets VidyoConnect to automatically start when the user logs in to Windows. By default, VidyoConnect is disabled for autostart. |
Boolean: 1 to enable; 0 to disable |
0 = Disabled |
If set to true (=1), auto start is enabled on the local machine and the user cannot disable it. If set to false (=0) or the parameter is not passed by the admin, auto start is disabled and users can enable it for their own account. |
| DEFAULTTAB |
Specifies the default tab VidyoConnect will select after login to one of these values: [Meetings|Contacts|Rooms| |
String | Rooms | Once an admin specifies the default tab, a user cannot change it. |
| DISABLENOTIFI-CATIONSOUNDS |
Disables notification sounds. By default, notification sounds are enabled. |
Boolean: 1 to disable; 0 to ignore |
0 = Enabled |
None |
| PERFORMANCE-PROFILE |
Specifies the video preferences by passing the argument with one of these values: [High|,Low,|Voice, or |Share]. |
String | The default value is Low. | If this parameter is configured, users will not be able to change these settings. |
| PORTALURL |
Specifies the VidyoPortal tenant URL. |
String | None | None |
Starting with the 19.4.1 release of the VidyoConnect desktop application, any .msi argument passed will be stored under HKLM.
Storage of Values
The values are stored in: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\VidyoConnect\InstallParameters.
Installation
There are two ways to execute the MSI:
- Execute the MSI with command line properties.
- Pass the parameters through an MST file.
Both of these are described below.
Executing the MSI with Command Line Properties
To execute the MSI with command line properties, you must run the MSIEXEC command with the properties as the command line arguments. For example:
msiexec /i path_to_the_msi_folder\VidyoConnectMsiInstaller-winXBitX-TAG_VCOND_X_Y_Z_R.msi
PORTALURL="https://vidyocloud.com" AUTOSTART=0 DISABLENOTIFICATIONSOUNDS=0
Providing the Parameters Through an MST File
The MST file is a settings file used by the Microsoft Windows Installer. It contains software configuration options that allow custom parameters to be used for the installation, and is used to configure test software.
Several tools are available that enable you to generate a .mst file. For example, one such tool is called Orca. In the following steps, we explain how to generate the .mst file using Orca.
To generate the .mst file:
- Install Orca.
If you would like information about how to install Orca, you may find the following article helpful https://www.hass.de/content/how-install-microsoft-orca. - Copy the .msi file to a local folder and open it with Orca.
The .msi is generated as a part of the VidyoConnect build process and should be available in the release folder. - Create a new transform:
- Click Properties in the list of tables on the right-hand side.
You will see all the properties that are already programmed as well as the custom secure properties that can be programmed externally. The properties that are in capital letters are public properties and can be modified. - Right-click in the Property/Value section, select Add Row, and insert the property and value.
You can look up the property from the list of custom properties.
- Click Properties in the list of tables on the right-hand side.
- Once all the required changes to properties are done, select Transform > Generate Transform.
This creates a .mst file. - Save the .mst file.
- Execute the MSI with the transforms by running the following through a command line or in a batch script:
msiexec /i path_to_the_msi_folder\VidyoConnectMsiInstaller-winXBitX-TAG_VCOND_X_Y_Z_R.msiTRANSFORMS=path_to_the_mst_folder\demomsi.mst - Launch the app either from the Start menu or from Program Files > VidyoConnect.
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Configuring User Authentication
There are several available methods for provisioning and authenticating users' Vidyo accounts. If you do not want to use the local VidyoPortal database to authenticate your users, you can configure your tenant to use LDAP, Web Services, or SAML authentication. For more details about authentication and how to configure it, refer to the "Configuring Authentication" section in the Tenant Admin: Configuring Settings article.
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