10.1. PiaChat Overview

Introduction

The PiaChat module provides conference voice chat functionality so that the participants in a session can talk among themselves at the same time.

Conference Voice Chat

Conference voice chat allows all the participants in a session to talk at the same time.

Figure 10-1. Conference Voice Chat

Figure 10-1. Conference Voice Chat shows four participants (A to D) in a conference voice chat session. Even if one of the participants (A) is currently talking, all of the other participants (B, C, and D) can still talk.

Echo Canceling

The echo canceling feature reduces the echo effect that can occur when the microphone picks up the audio from the speaker output and sends it back to the originating party. This allows for smooth conversations even without using headsets.

The echo canceling feature is enabled by default in the PiaChat module. The API for enabling or disabling the echo canceling feature is private.

Voice Activity Detection

The PiaChat module also includes a voice activity detection (VAD) feature. Enabling VAD saves bandwidth and reduces the CPU load because audio packets are not transmitted when no one is talking. VAD is enabled by default in the PiaChat module. The API function for enabling/disabling the VAD feature is private.