Group Dynamics

Team Chat with Mattermost

Starting the Mattermost service completes the integration. The WebApp client now displays a new tab with the group chat (Figure 5). When using the service for the first time, you need to take into account some special features that the integration imposes. The first Mattermost user is automatically the Mattermost admin. Additionally, you have to complete the SMTP configuration so that Mattermost can send email (e.g., for invitations).

Figure 5: The Mattermost Slack alternative can also be integrated directly with the Kopano WebApp client.

From the users' point of view, integration is essentially limited to their ability to access the Mattermost window directly through WebApp. Single sign-on is still missing, so you have to create and manage all users twice. You can load and add new users from the command line with:

$ sudo mattermost-platform user invite <user>@<example>.com home

More in-depth integration (e.g., sharing email and appointments in Mattermost) is planned according to a blog post [13].

Secure Video Meetings

As a newly implemented solution for video calls, Kopano Meet replaces the old WebMeeting module. The open source solution can be operated as a standalone utility in your private cloud, as well as on-premises and combined with your own Kopano installation. The company also offers a SaaS variant [14]. Within the framework of publicly available conferences, completely free use is also possible [15], much like Jitsi.

Kopano Meet can handle audio and video calls in groups and enables screen sharing. According to the Kopano Meet FAQ [16], it includes peer-to-peer encryption and therefore does not need to store sensitive data on the participating servers.

Meet is a progressive web app (PWA) based on React and the Kopano Web Meetings JavaScript Client Library (kwmjs ). It transmits images and voice over the WebRTC standard and therefore runs smoothly in most current browsers.

Bandwidth

Kopano Meet limits the bandwidth for connections to a maximum of 1Mbps per participant for video and audio and 2.5Mbps for a screen-sharing session. It uses the free Opus codec for audio transmission and VP8 to encode the stream for video. Both codecs offer good compression and still deliver good results, even when facing low bandwidth. Kopano promises acceptable audio quality, even at 8Kbps.

The number of people who can use Kopano Meet simultaneously is not really answered in the project's FAQ. For the free version, the project page specifies up to 10 users and two group meetings. Payment packages start at $75 per month, supporting 25 users and five groups [17].

Meet integrates as a menu item in a separate tab of the Kopano web app and has access to the Kopano address book. Invitations can be generated by email. Authentication is handled transparently with the Kopano Konnect service as the single sign-on provider.