Communication
How your team talks in HyoNova — spatial voice in the office, chat, calls and meetings — and what keeps working when calls are unavailable.
On this page
HyoNova gives your team four ways to talk, from a quick word with the person next to you to a scheduled meeting with an agenda. They all use the same people, the same roles and the same company, so you never switch tools to reach a colleague.
Four ways to talk#
| Way | What it is | Where you start it | Needs the media service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spatial voice | Talk with the people standing near you in the office. Voice fades with distance and stops at walls. | Walk up to someone in the office and turn your microphone on. | Yes |
| Chat | Text messages: one-to-one direct messages and named group conversations. | Message on a nameplate or in People, or the Chats tab. | No |
| Calls | A private audio or video call between two members. The other person's screen rings. | Call on a nameplate or in People. | Yes |
| Meetings | A call with several people, with a waiting room, meeting chat, notes, files and host controls. | New meeting in Meetings & calls, or Meet here in a meeting room. | Yes, for audio, video and screen sharing |
Details are on Proximity and voice, Chat, Calls and Meetings.
Presence: who is available#
Before you talk to someone, their status tells you whether now is a good moment. Everyone has one of three statuses they set themselves: Available, Away or Do not disturb. Focus mode switches you to Do not disturb.
Do not disturb matters for communication:
- Nobody can call you. The Call button is hidden for you, and a caller is told "This person is not taking calls right now. You can send a message instead."
- You leave spatial voice, so people nearby no longer hear you.
- Chat still reaches you, so colleagues can leave a message.
HyoNova does not change your status on its own — there is no automatic away. See Presence.
What needs the media service#
Voice, video and screen sharing run on the media service that HyoNova provides. Text does not. When calls are not available for your company, HyoNova tells you why and text keeps working:
| Message you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Calls are not set up yet. Text chat keeps working." | The media service is not configured for HyoNova yet. |
| "Calls are turned off for your company. Text chat keeps working." | Your company has switched calls off. |
| "Calls are not included in your company plan. Text chat keeps working." | Your plan does not include calls. |
| "Calls are unavailable right now. Text chat keeps working." | The media service cannot be reached at the moment. Try again later. |
In every case, direct messages, group conversations and visitor messages keep working, and so do meeting notes, meeting chat and meeting files for meetings you can open.
Where to find everything#
In the office
- Click a person's nameplate for Message, Call, Go to and Profile.
- Open People in the left rail for the member list, with Message and Call on each row.
- Open More › Meetings & calls for the communications panel. It has two tabs: Meetings & calls and Chats.
- Use Mic in the bottom bar for spatial voice. Outside a call, Camera and Share open the meetings panel.
In the company workspace (the 2D dashboard)
- Meetings lists your meetings. Open meetings opens the same communications panel, including Chats.
- Home has Open chats for your unread messages.
Who can use what#
| Chat | Calls | Meetings | Spatial voice | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner, Admin, Manager | Yes | Yes | Create, join and run meetings | Yes |
| Employee | Yes | Yes | Create and join meetings | Yes |
| Restricted | No | No | No | No |
| Guest (office visitor) | Messages to their host and the members in the office with them | No | No | Yes |
Restricted members can still enter the office, walk around and see who is there; they cannot talk, chat or call. Hosting controls such as letting people in from the waiting room need the Owner, Admin or Manager role. See Roles and permissions and Meetings.
Privacy#
- Spatial voice is opt-in. HyoNova asks before your microphone is used, and your camera never turns on for spatial voice.
- Calls and meetings always start with your microphone and camera off.
- Audio and video are Encrypted in transit. End-to-end encryption is not available.
- Nothing is recorded. Recording and transcripts are planned — see Recording and transcripts.
Status#
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Spatial voice | BetaWorks today in early-access workspaces. Behaviour and limits may still change. | Talk to people near you, the way you would in a real office. Opt-in, with clear distance rules. |
| Direct messages | BetaWorks today in early-access workspaces. Behaviour and limits may still change. | One-to-one chat with any colleague, from the People list or a nameplate. |
| Group conversations | BetaWorks today in early-access workspaces. Behaviour and limits may still change. | Named group chats you create and add colleagues to. |
| Calls | BetaWorks today in early-access workspaces. Behaviour and limits may still change. | Ring a colleague for a private audio or video call from their nameplate or the People list. |
| Meetings | BetaWorks today in early-access workspaces. Behaviour and limits may still change. | Start or schedule meetings, join from a room in the office or from the dashboard, with a waiting room and host controls. |
| Channels | PlannedOn the HyoNova roadmap. Not built yet and has no release date. | Open, topic-based channels anyone in the company can join. |
| Chat attachments and reactions | PlannedOn the HyoNova roadmap. Not built yet and has no release date. | Attach files and react to messages in chats. |
| Meeting recording | PlannedOn the HyoNova roadmap. Not built yet and has no release date. | Record meetings with everyone’s consent and keep recordings in a meeting library. |
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