Communication is a vital part of our lives. We interact with people every day in a variety of settings and through a variety of methods. Phone calls, video calls, email, and instant messaging are used every day in our professional and personal lives when in-person conversation is not possible. Many of these services rely on a third-party service provider to provide the resources needed to facilitate communication. This can result in privacy concerns over the possibility of an unauthorized third-party having access to sensitive voice and text conversations. There are, however, secure alternatives to these traditional communication methods available for anyone to use. Nextcloud provides one such tool in its Nextcloud Talk tool.
Nextcloud Talk is Nextcloud’s own built-in tool for communication. In Nextcloud Talk, you create “conversations” that allow for text and voice communication between users. You can limit who has access to a conversation based on specific users or groups of users. You’re not limited to inviting Nextcloud users to conversations either; you can generate a link to the conversation that allows external users to join conversations as a guest.
Using Nextcloud Talk
Creating conversations is quick and simple. Clicking the text bubble icon in the top left of Nextcloud Talk’s interface allows you to create a new conversation or join an existing conversation that you’ve been granted access to. Creating a conversation allows you to assign it a name, a description, and an image while also letting you set whether the conversation will be open to all registered users, whether external users can join, and whether the conversation is password-protected. You can also add individual users or groups of users to the conversation at this point.
To create a call within a conversation, you just have to click the Start Call button at the top-right of the user interface. This lets you set your call devices and pick a background. After creating a call, you can add users to the call by adding them from the side-pane or by sending them a link to the call. Like conversations in general, external users can join calls as guests.
Having tested out a call in Nextcloud Talk with three other colleagues, we encountered no issues in joining the call and talking with each other. Joining the call was quick and easy for everyone involved. Like any video call, the number of attendees you can have in a stable call will depend heavily on bandwidth. We encountered no issues during our call, but that’s something you should keep in mind.
Nextcloud Talk Settings
Nextcloud Talk has many settings that allow you to fine-tune how it is used. There are settings available for specific conversations and for Nextcloud Talk in general. For conversation settings, you can set notification settings for new messages, set what permissions users have within the conversation, create breakout rooms, delete individual messages, or delete the entire conversation. For permisson settings, you can give users full access to all features, restrict their ability to use microphones, cameras, and screen sharing, or you can set custom permissions which allow you to fine-tune what permissions you want users to have. For general settings, you can designate a folder as an Attachment folder which allows you to share files in that folder with conversation participants. You can also set privacy settings and keyboard shortcuts in this window.
Overall, I was quite impressed with Nextcloud Talk. I personally believe that it can be a great tool for personal and professional use. My primary reasons for this belief are its ease of use and the privacy that it offers. I was able to quickly set up conversations, have video calls with colleagues, and modify settings to what I needed. Since Nextcloud is being self-hosted, there is no third-party service provider who could potentially access the content of these communications, offering additional privacy and security. For a self-hosted cloud alternative, Nextcloud continues to showcase how there are quality alternatives to traditional cloud solutions.
