Call Types

When you create a call like this:

var callType = StreamCallType.Default;
var callId = "my-call-id";

var streamCall = await _client.GetOrCreateCallAsync(callType, callId);

or when you join a call like this:

var callType = StreamCallType.Default;
var callId = "my-call-id";

var streamCall = await _client.JoinCallAsync(callType, callId, create: true, ring: true, notify: false);

Apart from setting the callId you also pick the StreamCallType.

There are 4 built-in call types, and you can also create your own.

The Video SDK uses a set of pre-defined call types that come with different default permissions and feature configurations. Depending on your use case you can also extend those and use custom types that suit your needs.

Let’s start with some clarification on naming.

Call Type: 4 default call types come with a set of pre-defined user roles and capabilities that are assigned to these roles. These default types can be used but it’s also possible to define custom call types via the dashboard.

User Role: Users can have different roles (note: one user can have multiple roles). Again, there are pre-defined user roles that each come with a certain set of capabilities. You can use the existing user roles or define custom ones via the dashboard.

Call Capabilities: Each participant of a call has certain capabilities (such as send-video or end-call). These are associated with a certain user role. The associations can be found further below and can also be customized via the dashboard.

Call Types

There are 4 pre-defined call types, these are:

• default: simple 1-1 calls for larger group video calling with sensible defaults
• audio_room: pre-configured for a workflow around requesting permissions in audio settings (speaking, etc.)
• livestream: access to calls is granted to all authenticated users, useful in one-to-many settings (such as livestreaming)
• development: should only be used for testing, permissions are open and everything is enabled (use carefully)

Before we go into more detail about what the different call types are for, let’s take a look at some of the concrete permissions and settings that each call type comes with.

Each call type comes with a set of settings. One important concept is called backstage. It means that calls can be created but not directly joined. That means you can schedule a call. It would then have backstage enabled until you call goLive() with it.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the call types in more detail.

Development

The development call type has all the permissions enabled and can be used during development. It’s not recommended to use this call type in production, since all the participants in the calls would be able to do everything (blocking, muting everyone, etc).

For these call types, backstage is not enabled, therefore you don’t have to explicitly call goLive for the call to be started.

Default

The default call type can be used for different video-calling apps, such as 1-1 calls, group calls, or meetings with multiple people. Both video and audio are enabled, and backstage is disabled. It has permissions settings in place, where admins and hosts have elevated permissions over other types of users.

Audio Room

The audio_room call type is suitable for apps like Clubhouse or Twitter Spaces. It has a pre-configured workflow around requesting permissions to speak for regular listeners. Backstage is enabled, and new calls are going into backstage mode when created. You will need to explicitly call the goLive method to make the call active for all participants.

Livestream

The livestream call type is configured to be used for live streaming apps. Access to calls is granted to all authenticated users, and backstage is enabled by default.

Call type settings

Each call comes with a number of settings. Depending on the type of call these are enabled or disabled.

First, we’ll describe the different settings that exist in different categories.

Audio

Backstage

Video

The target resolution object is an advanced resolution. Changing this from the default values can lead to poor performance. This is how you define it:

Screensharing

Recording

Broadcasting

HLS Settings

Geofencing

More information can be found in the API docs.

Transcription

Ringing

Push Notifications Settings

In order to define the event notification settings object, here is the structure of how it should look:

APNS Settings Object

Remote notifications can only be customized if your application implements a Notification Service Extension. For simple customizations, you can change the title and body fields at the call type level. Both title and body fields are handlebars templates with call and user objects available in their scope.

Defaults for call type settings

User roles

There are 5 pre-defined user roles, these are:

• user
• moderator
• host
• admin
• call-member

As mentioned before each user role is associated with a set of call capabilities. You can access the default roles and their capabilities in the Stream Dashboard.

In general, it makes sense to have a solid setup of roles as it makes handling permissions and requests easier.

Call Capabilities

A capability defines the actions that a certain user is allowed to perform on a call. There are many different available (see a full list in the next chapter). Each user has a certain set of capabilities attached to them. You can change these default capabilities in the dashboard. It is also possible to dynamically change these.

That means that if a user has permission to assign new capabilities they can assign them to other users. This is our approach to an effective permission system.

Default call capabilities

When a call is fetched from the API by a user, the response includes the list of actions that the user is allowed to perform on the call.

These are the following:

• join-call
• read-call
• create-call
• join-ended-call
• join-backstage
• update-call
• update-call-settings
• screenshare
• send-video
• send-audio
• start-record-call
• stop-record-call
• start-broadcast-call
• stop-broadcast-call
• end-call
• mute-users
• update-call-permissions
• block-users
• create-reaction
• pin-for-everyone
• remove-call-member
• start-transcription-call
• stop-transcription-call