Glossary: voice chat, meetings and data protection explained

A

AI summary

An automatic overview of a meeting created from its transcript: summary, decisions, open questions and suggested tasks. In Coviqo it is generated on Coviqo’s own servers, not by a third-party AI service.

B

Breakout room

A smaller room that meeting participants move into for group work before returning to the main session. In Coviqo, breakout rooms are part of meetings; availability depends on the plan.

C

CLOUD Act

A 2018 US law that lets US authorities demand data from providers under US jurisdiction – even when the data is stored outside the USA. Read more: CLOUD Act

D

Data portability

The right under Article 20 GDPR to receive personal data you provided in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to take it to another provider. Coviqo offers a personal export and a full space export.

Data processing agreement (DPA)

A contract under Art. 28 GDPR between a controller and a processor: instructions, security measures, subprocessors and what happens to the data at the end. Read more: Data processing agreement (DPA)

Data sovereignty

The ability of an organisation or person to decide where their data is stored, which law applies to it and who may access it. It also covers being able to take the data along when changing providers.

Deafen

Switches off all incoming audio in a call or voice room and mutes your microphone at the same time. In Coviqo your device then does not receive the audio at all, until you undeafen.

E

Encryption at rest

Stored data is encrypted on disks, in databases and in file storage; the provider’s servers can still decrypt it while you use it, so it is not end-to-end encryption. Coviqo encrypts each space with its own key (AES-256-GCM).

End-to-end encryption (E2EE)

Content is encrypted on the sender’s device and decrypted only on the recipients’ devices. In Coviqo this applies only to E2EE rooms and direct messages. Read more: End-to-end encryption (E2EE)

EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF)

The basis for transferring personal data from the EU to US organisations certified under it, recognised by the European Commission’s adequacy decision of 10 July 2023. It followed the Privacy Shield, which the Court of Justice struck down in Schrems II.

G

GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), applicable since 25 May 2018. It sets the rules for processing personal data in the EU and the rights of the people concerned.

I

IVR (interactive voice response)

A phone system that answers calls automatically and routes callers through a menu, e.g. “press 1 for sales”. In Coviqo, voice menus are part of a call flow. Read more: IVR (interactive voice response)

L

LFG (looking for group)

Gaming shorthand for searching for teammates for a round or session. In Coviqo, “Find players” lists open sessions across communities; once the leader accepts you, you join the session’s voice room.

Live captions

Subtitles of what is being said, shown in real time during a meeting. With translated captions you read them in another language.

M

Matrix bridge

Matrix is an open, decentralised standard for chat. Coviqo’s Matrix bridge connects a chat room with a room on any Matrix homeserver, so messages appear on both sides.

N

Noise gate

An audio filter that only transmits your microphone while the level is above a threshold. Quiet background noise between your sentences stays silent.

Noise suppression

Reduces steady background noise such as fans, traffic or keyboard clicks in your microphone signal. Coviqo offers the browser’s noise suppression and the stronger voice isolation (AI).

O

Opus codec

An open, royalty-free audio codec standardised by the IETF (RFC 6716) that covers speech and music at low delay, from about 6 to 510 kbit/s. It is the standard audio codec of WebRTC and is used for voice in Coviqo.

P

PBX (private branch exchange)

A company phone system that connects internal extensions with each other and with the public phone network. Coviqo brings typical PBX functions – opening hours, voice menus, queues, hold, transfer and forwarding – into the app once a phone line is connected.

Push-to-talk

Your microphone only transmits while you hold a key. In the Coviqo desktop app the key also works while Coviqo runs in the background, e.g. during a game. Read more: Push-to-talk

R

Raid protection

Protection against coordinated waves of new accounts that flood a community with spam, mass mentions or shock content. Coviqo detects such waves, can switch a space into raid mode on its own and gives moderators tools to clean up.

S

Schrems II

The CJEU judgment of 16 July 2020 (C-311/18). It invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield and requires case-by-case checks for standard contractual clauses. Read more: Schrems II

SCIM

System for Cross-domain Identity Management – an open standard that lets an organisation’s identity provider create, update and deactivate user accounts and groups in other services automatically.

SFU (selective forwarding unit)

A media server for group calls: it receives each participant’s audio and video once and forwards it to the others without mixing. Common in video conferencing. Read more: SFU (selective forwarding unit)

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)

The open standard (IETF RFC 3261) for setting up and ending internet phone calls. A SIP trunk connects a phone system to the public phone network; Coviqo uses SIP trunks for phone numbers, outbound calls and meeting dial-in.

Spatial audio (proximity chat)

Voices get louder or quieter depending on how close people are, and come from the left or right. In Coviqo map rooms you walk your avatar around a 2D map and hear the people near you.

SSO (single sign-on)

Signing in with your organisation’s central account (via SAML or OpenID Connect) instead of a separate password for each service. Coviqo supports SSO on business plans – see pricing.

Stage

A room type for talks, panels and AMAs: speakers are on stage, the audience listens and can raise a hand to speak.

Standard contractual clauses (SCC)

Model contract terms adopted by the European Commission that provide appropriate safeguards for transfers of personal data to third countries (Art. 46 GDPR). The current set was adopted on 4 June 2021 (Decision (EU) 2021/914).

Subprocessor

A service provider that a processor engages to process personal data on behalf of the controller, for example a hosting company. Under Art. 28 GDPR this needs the controller’s authorisation; Coviqo publishes its list on the Europe page.

T

Third-country transfer

A transfer of personal data outside the EU/EEA. Under Chapter V GDPR it needs an adequacy decision, appropriate safeguards or an exception. Read more: Third-country transfer

Transcription

Turning speech into text with speakers and timestamps. In Coviqo, meeting transcripts and voicemail transcripts are created on Coviqo’s own servers, and anyone can choose “Don’t transcribe my voice”.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Signing in with a second factor in addition to the password, for example a 6-digit code from an authenticator app. In Coviqo, one-time recovery codes let you sign in if you lose the app.

V

Voice activation

An input mode in which your microphone transmits automatically as soon as you speak, without pressing a key. The alternative is push-to-talk.

Voice room

A room with an always-open voice channel: you drop in and out without a link, invitation or waiting room. In Coviqo, voice rooms sit next to chat, files and tasks in the same space.

W

Webinar

An online event in which a few presenters speak to a large audience that mainly watches and listens, often with registration, questions and polls. In Coviqo, webinars with registration are part of meetings on business plans.

WebRTC

An open web standard (W3C and IETF) for real-time audio, video and data directly in the browser, without plugins; media is always encrypted in transit. Coviqo’s calls, meetings and voice rooms run on WebRTC in the browser and the desktop app.