🛡️ Make secure audio and video calls

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Secure audio and video calls

You can make secure audio and video calls with crystal-clear sound and the same cryptographic security as with your messages and attachments. Everything is beautifully end-to-end encrypted between your device and those of your correspondents.

• Allowing access to the microphone and camera is required by the OS (operating system) of your device. This is necessary to make secure audio and video calls. It will also be necessary to record and send voice or video messages.

• Audio and video calls are available for Android phones and tablets, iPhones, iPads, macOS. They are in development for Windows and Linux and should be available in the middle of this year.

Secure group audio calls

The crystal clear sound and security of Olvid’s encrypted phone calls, but with more than one user.

You can call all members of a group by tapping the 📞 phone at the top right of the group’s chat.

The initiator of a multi-party call (and them alone) can add participants to an ongoing call by pressing the + button.

There is no limit to the number of participants, but each participant must maintain a connection with each of the other participants. So unless everyone has a very stable connection, it’s difficult to have a quality call with more than 10 people. With 4 or 5, it works just fine!

Secure three-way video calls

You can call up to two contacts on a video call.

Free uses

• Receiving Secure audio and video calls is free for everyone and forever, with no limits on duration, quantity, or geographical areas. Olvid works worldwide.

• Initiating Secure audio and video calls is free for all during a one month trial which is easily activated from the Profile/ID Settings. This activation does not entail any billing or automatic subscription and stops de facto at its expiration.

Obtain one or more licenses

• Beyond the free trial period which ends automatically and without any billing or automatic subscription, the sending of Secure audio and video calls is subject to the acquisition of a license per user, always without any limit of duration, quantity, or geographical zones.

• You can acquire licenses in three ways:

  • directly in the application through an in-app purchase, with your device’s store. This monthly subscription will always be managed by this store and only by this store. We have no knowledge of your purchases, nor any power over them. You manage everything through these stores, and your accounts with them. Any license activated after an in-app purchase is available for all your profiles and devices connected to the account you used on the store for that purchase.

  • directly with us, from 10 licenses and with a billing address. Here’s how the Business and Enterprise Offers work.

If you wish to acquire and distribute several licenses directly, please consult our pricing and make an appointment with our sales team.

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Troubleshooting

If your secure audio calls don’t go through

A simple and immediate solution is to send a text message to your correspondent just before the call and ask them to confirm receipt with a reply message.

This may be enough to wake up the device and everything will be much better.

If they don’t reply, check the message info to see if your message has been delivered and downloaded to the recipient’s device.

If this is not the case, the user should check his device settings by following these recommendations: If a device does not receive message or call notifications when connected to a network.

Share the information with your contacts to make sure the problem isn’t on their end.

As far as we know, calls that never start ringing and remain on initialising call are due to the fact that the first message (notifying of a call) does not reach the recipient in time.

• On Android, this can happen if the device is in sleep/power saving mode. It may then take more than 30 seconds to receive a notification. This is simply because the device went to sleep after a while.

• On iOS, with VoIP-specific notifications, this normally happens less.

To improve this, each user should check the settings of their device by following these recommendations: If a device does not receive message or call notifications when connected to a network.

With a bad data connection (roaming, antenna changes, bad bandwidth, etc.), VoIP is less stable than traditional GSM. It’s the case for all IP communications.

If these problems persist, we will be able to provide a better diagnosis after learning about the specific environments and configurations of the affected devices and networks.

If you need help with your connection or call quality

• Check that no specific network restrictions or third-party applications interfere.

A slow or congested Wi-Fi network can disrupt your Olvid audio calls.

1. Make sure you and the person you are calling are using a fast enough Wi-Fi or cellular connection. Olvid calls require a low-speed connection.

2. Check for issues that might be slowing down your connection, such as someone uploading or streaming content over your network.

3. If you have questions about your Internet speed, contact your Internet service provider or network manager.

If the microphone doesn’t work

Here’s what to do if the microphone doesn’t work.

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