Multilingual Conferencing – ZipLine 3.0 Web Phone Update

Hello again fans of multilingual conferencing! There has been much progress hereabouts with respect to the ZipLine 3.0 web phone that interpreters use to work their magic using ZipDX.

If you’ve had a multilingual conference very recently you may have noticed some of the changes. Nonetheless, I’d like to describe them for you’re here and now.

Chrome Release 49

We are pleased to welcome the release of Chrome 49, which actually occurred late in March.

This release of Google’s industry-leading browser includes a few very nice new features that we have leveraged in an update to the ZipLine web phone.

In order for the rest of this to make sense you should ensure that your instance of Chrome is up-to-date.

How to Update Chrome

You can do this by visiting the Chrome menu, selecting Help, then About Google Chrome. This will open a page that shows you the current installed version (pictured below.)

Chrome Version Page Framed

It will also automatically check for the availability of a new version. If there isn’t one it will indicate that it’s up to date. If there is a new version it will download and install it.

If an update is installed you will be prompted to restart Chrome to complete the update.

This entire process takes only a couple of minutes, even if there’s an update to be downloaded.

Can you hear me now? Speaker & Microphone Selection

The most significant change to the ZipLine 3 web phone is that we’ve added menus that allow you to select the devices for audio playback and the active microphone.

These menu items make it faster & easier to ensure that your headset is selected for use while interpreting.

The “Speaker” Setting

If your computer has more than one audio playback device you can change the “speaker” setting on-the-fly, even while connected to a live conference.

webphone-selecting-playback-device

For example, with a USB headset connected to my laptop I see several options listed in the speaker pull-down menu. While connected to our test & demo service I can choose default, and hear the call via the laptop speakers. If I select the headset the call audio immediately plays on the headset earpieces.

The “Microphone” Setting

Changing the active microphone can’t be done while a call is connected. If you are connected to our test & demo service click the Hangup button to end the call. Once disconnected the pull-down menu for microphone selection becomes available.

webphone-selecting-microphone

Returning to the example of my laptop (pictured above), I see several microphones listed..including the VXi Envoy Office Headset. Selecting this, I then click on the Call button to rejoin the test call.

I still hear the call on the headset. When I speak I see my voice creates movement in the sound level meter. If I tap the headset microphone firmly I can see the meter bounce in response to the action. This confirms that the headset microphone is actually the one being used.

Launch a Test Call

Launch a test call! If you're using Chrome at this very moment you can try this for yourself right now! Just click on the big blue button to launch a test call.
Click to launch a ZipDX test call.

Click to launch a ZipDX test call.

The relevant online documentation, from intro to FAQ and Starting Guide, has been updated to reflect this new release of Chrome and the ZipLine 3 web phone.

Tick-Tock: Now There’s a Clock

We realize that interpreters working in teams need to co-ordinate hand-off between partners. From the outset we’ve provided language-specific text chat to facilitate private messaging between interpreters.

However, we’ve also found that most interpreters reference a clock when planning how hand-offs will occur.

For example, a conference may begin at 8 minutes past the hour. The interpreters have agreed to switch every 15 minutes. Thus they would plan to switch at 23, 38 and 53 past the hour.

Keeping track of the time can be a distraction if the clock isn’t always readily in-view. To make this easier we’ve added a clock to the ZipLine 3 web phone as shown below.

web phone clock

The clock gets the time from your computer, displaying minutes and seconds very near the most used controls in the web phone.

Displaying only minutes & seconds eliminates the complexity of considering interpreters in different time zones.  Locating the display in the center of the web phone allows the team to stay in-sync while remaining focused in one place.

This is yet another example of how the system continues to evolve based upon observing real users, and listening to their feedback.

Questions?

If you have questions about any aspect of ZipDX please contact our support team at:

We’re here to help you get down to business.

Posted in: Multilingual

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