Help Talking with people
Talking to people (voice & video)
How proximity voice works, private areas, your mic and camera, and screen sharing.
Walk up and talk
Out in the open, you can hear and see people within about 3 tiles of you. Up to 2 tiles they're at full volume; then their voice fades as you move apart, and at the edge the connection ends. Their video appears at the top of the screen while you're close.
Groups chain together: if Asha is next to you and Karthik is next to Asha, you're all in one conversation.
Private areas
Meeting rooms, desks and booths are private areas (shown with a coloured outline in the room). Everyone inside the same area hears everyone else, however far apart. People outside can't hear you — and you can't hear them.
See “Private areas, knocking & locking” for locking an area and asking to come in.
Meal Area
Stepping into a Meal Area disconnects your audio and video — a banner says “You are in a Meal Area”. Nobody can hear or see you there, and you can't turn your mic or camera on until you step out.
Your mic, camera and screen
| Mute / unmute | ⌘/Ctrl Shift A |
| Camera on / off | ⌘/Ctrl Shift V |
- The mic and camera buttons are in the middle of the bottom bar. The small arrow next to each picks a different device.
- Background blur and noise reduction live in the camera and mic menus.
- Share your screen with the screen button; everyone you're talking with sees it.
- Auto idle muting: when you switch to another browser tab, your mic and camera turn off (unless you're mid-conversation), and come back when you return.
Wear headphones in conversations — it stops echo for everyone.
Video layouts
- Map view — the office, with the people you're talking to at the top.
- Meeting View (top right) — everyone nearby in a big grid. Back to map returns.
- Full screen — when someone shares their screen, open it full size. From the ⋮ menu you can move the other participants to the side or the bottom.