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Calls for work, business and study in the new simple app

ВКонтакте·18 Apr 2022

Unlimited video calls are a convenient option for everyone. Businesses can use them to stay in touch with clients and teams. Teachers can hold classes. Bloggers can chat with their followers. All of us can learn and work at a fast pace and see our loved ones' smiles more often.

That's why we at VK have been creating and developing reliable communication tools for business and everyday life. We make them different by experimenting and taking into account what's more convenient to use in various situations. Users who often make and join calls from their phones can enjoy the separate VK Calls app we've created for iOS and Android. It includes all the features of VK's unlimited calls.

Let's quickly go over how VK Calls works as well as answer some important questions:

🔗 Which features are available for free?

🔗 Why have a new app if calls can be made right on VK?

🔗 Is VK Calls good for holding webinars and online events?

🔗 How are calls used in communities?

Which features are available for free?

Long story short, all of them. This includes premium features for video conference calls, which many people have become accustomed to in corporate services. These features are free of charge in VK Calls. Online calls can also be made more convenient and interesting thanks to our technological solutions and integrations with VK.

  • Calls with no time limits. For everyone, at any time and on any device. You can chat as much as you want, one-on-one or in a big group, as well as schedule unlimited calls from your community.
  • Unlimited participants — and everyone is seen and heard. VK Calls has no technical limits for turning on cameras and microphones even in large group calls.
  • Schedule calls — you can create group calls ahead of time, set a reminder in your calendar and send the invite link to others by email or any messenger. The call will become active at the set time, and participants will be able to join it then. For regular meetings, you can set up a call to repeat. This feature is available on the VK Calls and VK mobile apps and will soon also become available on the website and desktop app.
  • Everything for call quality and productivity — screen sharing in 4K, smart noise suppression, live streams and call recording, management features, such as a waiting room, options for allowing anonymous participation via a link, camera and microphone settings, as well as Raise hand and Request to speak functions.

Why have a new app if calls can be made right on VK?

All call features are available on both the VK social network and the mobile and desktop versions of the VK Calls app. This lets you choose the most convenient option for you depending on the situation. For example:

  • Let's say you regularly host work calls, classes and online meetings.

The separate desktop app isn't limited by browser capabilities, making it more optimized for advanced features, such as screen sharing in 4K. This way, sharing your screen with call participants allows them to see everything, including detailed graphs, tables and mockups.

  • There's an urgent meeting you need to join, or just need to always be on call.
  • Solution: the VK Calls mobile app.

The mobile app is designed to accept calls or connect with others instantly, with stable high quality. The app is easy to use and saves network and device resources. You can still create group calls with an unlimited number of participants and use all VK Calls features. For example, if you get an urgent call while at the gym, you can quickly set a virtual background and turn on noise suppression.

The app also supports 4K screen sharing. This means that the caller's picture will appear on your phone in the highest possible quality, which you can zoom in on to view graphs, tables and mockups.

  • You want to bring everyone from a VK chat together to hang out in a call.
  • Solution: call right from the chat in the desktop or mobile version of the VK app.

Just press the 📞 button at the top right of the chat to start discussing ideas, playing Alias or sharing travel experiences. You can also minimize the video call to send stickers in the chat or browse the news feed.

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Is VK Calls good for holding webinars and online events?

Yes, VK Calls has convenient tools for such events.

  • You can quickly create or schedule group calls. Send invite links in messengers, by email or in thematic chats and save them in a work calendar.
  • Join group calls even without an account. Users just need to install the VK Calls app and press Join via link. However, anonymous participants won't have access to the chat or call recording. If this is important for your event, suggest participants to sign up using their phone number.
  • All the features for group calls you're used to available right in the call. To start recording a call, just press Stream call. Privacy isn't a problem. By default, these mini-streams appear only in the call chat and only for participants not joining anonymously. There's also a Raise hand feature and a chat: anyone can request to speak, give feedback or ask something.
  • You can rename chats according to the subject of the meeting and upload all necessary files in advance, including study materials for students or reports for colleagues.

Management tools. Administrators can enable the waiting room in order to manage join requests. Anonymous participation via link can be restricted in the call settings. Microphone management will help maintain order. Microphones can be turned off during presentations and requested to be turned back on for discussions. Administrators can easily pin any speaker's video, as well as transfer their rights if necessary.

If you haven't used VK Calls yet, you can check out everything without any other participants in the call. Create a call via link and test all the different features of VK Calls, such as sound, camera and screen sharing.

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How are calls used in communities?

There are many options and formats offered by this way of chatting with community followers.

  • On VK Calls, you can arrange online concerts, presentations of products and services, master classes with discussions and specialist consultations, and live stream them in your community. Followers, as well as guests, can watch these streams live. All call participants will be able to video chat, not just watch and listen. This is useful for large interactive events, such as seminars, meet-and-greets and round tables.

If you manage a verified community, you can create calls as your public page. This is convenient for brands when talking about new products, special offers for followers, or giving expert commentary. You can also join calls from other organizers if you decide to hold a joint event with partner groups.

Calls for work, business and study in the new simple app, image #3

VK Calls is available for free on all platforms:

If you still have questions about VK Calls, check out the answers from Support.

Businesses and developers of IT services can use SDK VK Calls, a set of tools for implementing group video calls. Find out what is included in the SDK as well as how to get test access and seamlessly integrate calls into your product here: vk.com/calls-sdk (available in Russian).