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Voice and video overview

Talk and share your screen in real time.

What are voice and video calls?​

Root supports two types of voice and video communication:

  • Voice channels are persistent spaces within a community where members can join and leave freely. Multiple people can be in a voice channel at once, and there's no time limit.
  • Direct message calls are private calls you start from a conversation or a user's profile. The other person receives an incoming call notification and can accept or decline.

Both types support audio, video, and screen sharing. The controls work the same way once you're in a call.

Voice channels​

Voice channels appear in community channel lists, marked with a speaker icon. When you join a voice channel, you can hear everyone else in the channel and they can hear you. Your name appears in the channel's participant list, and a colored ring around your avatar indicates when you're speaking.

Voice channels are ideal for:

  • Hanging out casually with community members
  • Playing games together while communicating with teammates
  • Hosting meetings or events with multiple participants
  • Collaborating on something visual where screen sharing helps

See Voice channels to learn how to join and leave.

Direct message calls​

You can call anyone directly from a conversation or from their profile. When you start a call, the other person receives a notification and can choose to accept or decline. For group conversations, all members receive the notification and can join.

You can also call community members you don't have a conversation with yet—just open their profile and select the call button. A direct message conversation is created automatically.

Direct message calls are ideal for:

  • Private one-on-one conversations
  • Quick calls with friends outside of a community context
  • Group calls with a specific set of people

See Direct message calls to learn how to start and answer calls.

Common features​

Once you're in any call (voice channel or direct message), you have access to:

  • Mute to turn your microphone on or off
  • Video to share your camera feed
  • Screen sharing to show your screen or a specific application
  • Deafen to mute all incoming audio

See Control audio and video and Share your screen for details.