Open Channels at Loudtalks

In the new release of Loudtalks, which we released on the last day of April, there is an interesting feature that I want to talk about.

Loudtalks is a push-to-talk voice messenger. Instead of typing messages like in ICQ or calling like in Skype, you press a hot key, speak and the sound in real time is transmitted to the interlocutor. It turns out quickly and in many cases is more convenient than calls or IM.

Until recently, it was possible to communicate only with those who were clearly added to contacts - that is, with friends, colleagues. We wanted to give users a way to find new contacts, so we made open channels .

Open channels allow groups of up to 100 people to communicateon the same wave". It’s not necessary to add interlocutors to your contacts, just find an interesting channel, connect to it and you can talk. Skype used to have a similar feature called Skypecasts , but for reasons unknown to me, they removed it from the program.

The very first conversation, after the launch of the new version, took place on the Lobby channel between me, a German merry fellow from Bavaria and a Google programmer from San Jose.

Instructions for use

1. Download and install the client application for a PC or Windows Mobile device (unfortunately, only Windows so far).
2. After installation, the registration screen will appear. Required fields - only username and password
3. Use the menu command Actions> Add Channel ... and add the desired channel.
4. I recommend adding the channel Lobby (English) and habr
5. Enjoy the conversation!

If you wish, you can create your own channels. Both public channels and personal channels are supported, where only you can broadcast. In order not to break away from the audience, you can create a separate channel for comments and discussion of your personal radio station.

The function is completely new, so crashes and bugs are possible. Please report them and we will all try to fix it. Even more interesting is your assessment of the usefulness (unnecessaryness) of this function and generally this type of communication.

PS Before joining a dialogue with live people, you can (and should!) Check the microphone's performance and practice using the echo robot . If you managed to achieve that he answers you approximately the same thing that you told him, then everything is fine.