Intercom, discussion lead and listen-in (Funk, Gesprächsleiter, Mithören)

Intercom (German: Funk) lets you talk into other voice rooms without leaving your own: hold a key, speak, let go. Everybody in the target rooms hears you with a short chirp – like a radio in a team that is spread over several rooms (shift lead to all tills, reception to the workshop, raid lead to every squad). Two related features use the same audio stage: the discussion lead (German: Gesprächsleiter) is heard first in a busy call, and listen-in (German: Mithören) lets you hear another room quietly in the background – with strict privacy rules.

Intercom channels#

Space admins (permission Manage intercom) set up the channels in Space settings → Voice & media → Intercom. A channel has a name, a colour, a suggested key and exactly one kind of target:

Who may use a channel can be narrowed to roles; without a choice everybody with the permission Use intercom may use it. Plans limit the number of channels (Free 1, Community Pro 10, Business and Enterprise unlimited).

Binding keys#

Open Settings → Intercom & shortcuts → Intercom. You see every channel you may use, from all your spaces.

• Browser: record a key per channel. The keys work while the Coviqo tab has focus (not while you type in a text field).
• Desktop app 0.5.2 or newer: every channel has its own keys – one or more, set under Settings › Intercom & shortcuts (Add keybind › Intercom: plus the channel name, button Set keys); the channel list here shows them. Keys you had on the old slots Intercom 1 … 5 were moved to their channels once. Older desktop apps: pick a slot Intercom 1 … 5 per channel. The keys of the slots, Intercom: reply and Speak as discussion lead are set under Settings › Intercom & shortcuts (button Set keys). They are global – they also work while Coviqo is in the background. A single key such as a numpad key or a mouse side button works too.
• Phone / tablet: the voice panel shows a hold button per channel. Keep it pressed while you speak.

While you hold the key the voice panel shows Intercom to {channel}. If nobody is in the target rooms right now it says so. You stay in your own room; your own room only hears you when your microphone is open there anyway.

Receiving intercom#

When intercom comes in you hear a short chirp, your room gets quieter (about 12 dB) while it plays, and a banner shows Intercom from {name} · {channel}. The sender does not appear as a member of your room.

Reply: for 30 seconds after hearing somebody, the reply key (or the Reply to {name} button in the voice panel) answers that person directly – only they hear it, wherever they are.

Mute intercom: the button Mute intercom in the voice panel (or the switch in the settings) stops all incoming intercom for you – no sound, no banner.

Whether a room receives intercom at all is the room permission Receive intercom (room settings → Access → Permissions). Rooms shared with external guests do not receive intercom unless an admin allows it explicitly there. Meetings never receive intercom.

Discussion lead (Gesprächsleiter)#

In a busy call the discussion lead is heard first: while a lead speaks, everybody else is lowered on every listener's side (by 10 dB by default, per room between 0 and 20 dB in the room settings → Voice & media → Audio & video). Your own volume sliders still apply.

• Lead key: people with the permission Discussion lead (admins and moderators by default) hold Speak as discussion lead – it opens the microphone like push-to-talk and makes them lead while they hold it.
• Assigned lead: a moderator (room management or "Move members") picks Make discussion lead in the participant menu of a voice room. In meetings the organizer does it. The person is then prioritised whenever they speak, until they leave or it is removed. At most two leads at the same time.
• Meetings: the meeting setting Organizer is discussion lead makes the organizer lead automatically.

A small microphone icon marks leads on their tile and in the participant list. A short note tells you when a lead is lowering the others.

Listen-in (Mithören)#

Listen-in means hearing another voice room quietly in the background while you are in your own voice room. Because this can feel like being monitored, Coviqo only allows it under strict rules:

• Only in Business and Enterprise plans.
• A room must allow it: Allow listening in in the room settings → Voice & media → Audio & video. Only space admins can switch it on, and they see a privacy warning first.
• Never in rooms shared with external guests, never in meetings, never in direct messages and never in lobby sessions. When an external guest joins, listening ends immediately.
• You need the permission Listen in, and you must be in another voice room yourself.

Everybody in the room sees it: a label {n} listening in with the names stays visible on the room's voice view and in its member list (with an ear icon). When somebody starts listening, everybody in the room hears a short notice sound and sees a message. Start and end (with duration) appear in the room activity.

People listening in hear the audio only – no cameras, no screen shares – and they cannot record or transcribe the room through Coviqo. Moderators of the room can remove a listener (then they cannot come back for a while). A room can also require Only with approval: then a moderator in the room has to allow each listener first.

Permissions at a glance#

Guests only ever receive intercom in the rooms shared with them. Bots can never listen in, make announcements or be discussion lead.