Courseware:IT Plus - Connect App

Book on Connect App 

What is Connect?

Connect is a modern way to share information and engage in discussions.

Unlike email, which pushes information to users regardless of their interest, Connect offers an alternative that avoids inbox overload. Users can post information they want to share in Connect, and others can pull that information as needed. A user can choose to receive updates by following a channel, a tag, or a user.

Connect allows you to:

• Communicate digitally, but without emails.
• Collaborate, brainstorm, and develop ideas together online
• Share knowledge, documents, and media to build a long-term internal knowledge base
• Work within departments or across department boundaries
• Draw the attention of specific individuals or groups to a topic and involve them in the conversation
• Discuss and document critical issues securely
• Tap into the collective intelligence of your organization
• Keep agendas and meeting minutes organized

For a quick introduction to Connect, visit  our website or watch our connect tutorials on our  Youtube channel.

Preparation

In this book, we will explore how to use Connect efficiently. We will take a look at its technical foundation and the configuration options available to administrators.

If you don't have an AP running on the SSD of your IP411LEFT, please set up an Application Platform as described in the book. So don't proceed if you don't have an AP running on your IP411LEFT.

As we start we need a new start configuration for you. Therefore, please load a new configuration onto your devices:

Upload new configuration to your Devices

This book also has a start configuration for your AP as well. So don't forget to click on the  Load initial lesson configuration to your Application Platform button once it appears. This may take a while, so bear with us and keep trying

Once finished, use the following address to access myApps:: https://hq-dvl-ckl2.training.innovaphone.com

log in to myApps, use the username ckl and the password ip411.

Welcome to Connect

To explore Connect, click on the  Connect Icon in your myApps client. You will see a blank Connect App, which we will gradually bring to life throughout this book. Don't worry about all the design elements just yet, we will explain them step by step as we go

Let's begin by starting our first discussion. Click the  Start a new discussion button and enter something like Hello World into the editor. To send the message, click the  Send button in the bottom-right corner.

Voilà -  your first message is posted!

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Of course, the idea behind Connect is to enable a thriving, company-wide discussion. To make that happen, we will need more users. Fortunately, the initial setup has already prepared everything. Simply open a second browser (Chrome, Firefox or Edge) , go tohq-dvl-ckl2.training.innovaphone.com and log in with the username lsv and password ip411 to start a second myApps session. You are now logged into Lisa Svenssons myApps account. Please open her Connect app.

Go to the post you previously created with your own user and  click Reply (bottom left). Since it's a reply to your original post,  Connect automatically adds @ckl to tag your user. Enter a responds such as: Hello Christoph Künkel.

Voilà -  your first discussion!

If you are unsure about the meaning of an option in Connect, simply click the  question mark icon. When enabled, a short hint/explanation is displayed next to each option, so you immediately know what it does. To disable it, simply click the question mark icon again.

Badge Count & Feed

Back in your own myApps client, you will see a badge count  with the number 1 on the Connect icon in the myApps taskbar. This indicates that you have one unread message waiting for you in your feed.

So, what is the Feed?

 The highlighted login name in the navigation bar indicates that you are currently viewing your feed.  The feed appears beneath the navigation bar, in the left-hand section of the Connect interface. It displays all messages addressed to you, as well as discussions and topics you're following.

When you click on the notification you received from Lisa,  the stream - the right-hand section of the Connect UI - will automatically open the related post.

The feed consists of  three message lists, selectable at the top:

• Inbox: Shows all new or pending messages
• Noted: Shows messages that have been marked as noted
• Checked: Contains messages that have been acknowledged

Each notification offers  three action icons to move it from the Inbox to another list:

• The star icon marks a message as noted, moving it to the Noted list.
• The two checkmark icons acknowledge the message and move it to the Checked list:
• The right checkmark icon acknowledges only this specific post.
• The left icon (speech bubble with checkmark) acknowledges all posts from the same discussion.

Please click the checkmark icon now to acknowledge the message.

The message from Lisa will now move to the Checked list. In addition, the badge count on the Connect icon will disappear, since you no longer have any open notifications.

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In case your are not interested in a discussion you are a part of, you can click the bell icon.  The bell icon has three states:

• Following (default when you post in a discussion)

You will receive a message in your feed for every response in that discussion.

• Suppressed

You won't receive messages about new responses in your feed, even if you follow the hashtag connected to the discussion.

• Not Following

You will not receive a message in your feed unless you are following the hashtag used for that discussion.

Hashtags

As a core feature to enhance communication within a company, the Connect app supports the use of hashtags (#). Hashtags make it easy to group discussions by topic or project. When a user follows or searches for a hashtag, they can quickly find all related discussions, making it easier to stay informed and contribute to relevant conversations.

So let's test it and go to  Home/All messages and post a message like this into Connect: We won project #Deathstar #party-of-the-week

After posting, click on the word  Connect in the header of your message. You will see all hashtags used in that message #Deathstar and #party-of-the-week.

If you want to filter for messages that include the hashtag #Deathstar, go to MORE/#Tags, and select the hashtag. You can also search for the hashtag.

Go ahead and  filter for messages related to project #Deathstar.

Once the hashtag is highlighted, click  the three-dot menu next to it. This gives you the following options:

• Pin to Home
• Create channel
• Close
• Follow

We will explore each of these options in the following chapters except for Close, which simply exits the view and takes you back to the Home section.

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Hashtags can consist of any character except . : ; , < & ' # ) ( and white space. If a hashtag shall include one of these characters, you must enclose it in quotation marks, such as in #"Christoph's tag".

Channels

Channels can be created by combining multiple hashtags. For example, you could combine #Deathstar and #party-of-the-week into one channel. But let's look at a more practical, use case.

You are the project leader for project Deathstar. You want to add a topic to the next weekly meeting. To do this, create a new message in Connect: #Deathstar #agenda #open Do we have a design flaw in the thermal exhaust port?

• #Deathstar - Identifies the project you are working on
• #agenda - This marks the message an agenda topic for the next weekly meeting
• #open - This agenda topic is still open and not yet discussed.

Any team member can add agenda items or search for them by using these hashtags. However, this only works if everyone uses the exact same hashtags. Since humans are prone to typos, the best way to avoid inconsistencies is by creating a channel with predefined hashtags.

Even though you might remember how to create a channel from the previous chapter, her is another way to do it:

• Go to MORE/ CHANNELS
• Click on  +Add channel
• Click on Next
• Click on the tags and  add #Deathstar, #agenda, #open one by one
• Give the channel a proper name, e.g. Weekly Deathstar meeting
• (Optional) Upload a banner image to help distinguish the channel
• (Optional) Add a short description of the channel
• Click Save

Now that we created a new channel, try starting a new discussion in this channel with this text Superlaser is ready. You will notice that  all the relevant hashtags (#Deathstar #agenda #open) are automatically applied to the post. This ensures consistency and avoids manual errors.

After the meeting, once a topic has been discussed, the author of the post can edit it and  remove the #open hashtag:

• Open the post and select edit
• Click on the hashtag (#open) underneath the post's text box
• The tag will be struck through, indicating it's no longer active
• Send the post again
• The post will disappear from the channel (because it no longer matches the channel filter), but it will still be visible in Connect for documentation purposes

Home

In the navigation bar, right next to your Feed,  is your Home area. Each user can customize this area by pinning channels, zones, and hashtags. When a new message is posted to one of these pinned items, a number will appear next to it, indicating an unread message.

Let's  pin the hashtag #party-of-the-week to your Home area:

• Go to MORE/#TAGS
• Select the hashtag #party-of-the-week
• Click on the 3 dots
• Choose Pin to home

Have Lisa post the following message: The Emperor has arrived #party-of-the-week

When you return to your own Connect app, you will see a blue icon appear next to the pinned #party-of-the-week hashtag in the Home area. This icon will turn into a 1, indicating that there is  one unread message associated with that hashtag.

Main

As your Connect grows, your Home section will grow with it. You will likely follow more and more channels, hashtags, and zones over time.

To help you stay organized, you can set one of your channels, hashtags, or zones as your main page. This means that every time you open Connect and go to the Home section, discussions from your selected main page will be displayed first.

 To set a main page:

• Go to the three-dot menu next to the channel, hashtag, or zone you want to set.
• Select Set as main page.

Once set,  the Home icon will tell you which of your items is the main page.

Following

You can follow users, hashtags, channels or zones. You receive a notification in your feed if a messages is posted by a followed user or with a followed hashtag even if you are not explicitly tagged.

Following a hashtag or a channel is straightforward (as we already discussed). Simply click on the three dots next to the hashtag or channel and select Follow.

To follow a user, you have two options:

• Click on the user's avatar in the stream
• Go to MORE > USERS, find and click on the user you want to follow

In both cases you need to  click the bell icon next to the avatar image.

As an exercise, please follow Lisa.

Afterwards, have Lisa post: Alderaan is destroyed.

You will now see this message appear in your feed, and the badge count will increase by one.

Adding users

At some point, you will want to have more than two users on your system. To do this, we use a separate app called Users Admin, available in your myApps client.

Open  the Users Admin app in your myApps client.

You will see that two user accounts are already created:

• Yourself
• Lisa Svensson

Now let's  create a new user

•  Click on + Add
• Enter the following parameter
• Username: jdu
• Password: anything you like or ip411
• First name: Jean
• Last name: Dupont
• E-mail: jean.dupont.dvl-ckl2@class.local
• Template: Select Config Moderator
• Click on Confirm

Leave all other parameters as default (we will cover them in later courses).

Instead of creating each user manually, you can upload a file that contains the user parameters. You can either use a CSV or XML file.

 Try it and upload  Import users to your Users Admin app.

After the import, a new user will be created:

• Mario Rossi

Avatars

You may have noticed that Lisa's account already has a profile picture.

You can also assign avatars to Jean, Mario, and yourself. You can use either of this pictures which we got from  www.freepik.com.

As an administrator you can add a profile picture to any user.

• Click on the small  icon on the bottom of the Users Admin function icon list
• Upload or drag & drop an image.
• Resize the picture to your liking.
• Select the user(s) to whom you want to assign the image.
• Save your changes.

Groups

Just communicating peer-to-peer can get a bit boring. That's why we want to take it a step further and communicate in system-wide groups. To do this, we will create a group using the Groups Settings plugin. The Settings app is a separate app you can find on your myApps home screen.

Open your  Settings app and then  the Groups plugin.

• Create a group named stormtrooper
• Search for Lisa and Mario and add them to the group.
• Make sure both users are marked as static (S) and active (A)
•  Save the configuration by clicking OK.

It is important that group members are active, as only active members will receive notifications in Connect when the group is mentioned.

Now go back to your Connect app.

Send a message (start a new discussion) @@stormtrooper Hello Team. each active member of the team will receive the message in their feed. The syntax @@<team name> is used to tag the entire group.

If you check Lisa's feed, you will see the newly posted group message.

You can also tag the entire company in a message by simply typing @@.

Zones

Up until now, we've been posting messages in a space where everyone can read everything. While this may be appropriate in some situations, it's not ideal when sensitive information is involved.

With Connect, you can create zones, which are dedicated communication spaces accessible only to certain users or groups.

Let's assume our stormtrooper group wants a private space to discuss topics confidentially.

• click on  the burger menu in your connect (top right corner)

This menu is only visible for your user, not for Lisa. We'll explain why later in the book.

• select Zones
• click on  + Add a zone
•  configure
• the Display Name Gossip
• the Name gossip (Hint: just use small letters and no spaces or special characters)
• leave the AppID as is
• click OK

Now  click on the newly created zone Gossip to edit its access rights.

By default, the creator of a new zone is the only person with access. To allow other users or groups to access the zone, you need to manually add them.

Since we don't want your user to be part of this zone (it's only for your stormtrooper colleagues):

• click on your name
• say Yes to remove you from the zone
• click on Add a group
• select the group stormtrooper
• click  OK

For now, ignore the Administrator option. This option is only necessary in special, advanced scenarios that exceed the scope of this book.

Now, if you go to MORE > ZONES in your Connect app, the Gossip zone is invisible to you. However, if you log in as Lisa, she can access the zone.

If you do see the zone please check your groups plugin configuration or close and restart your connect app.

 Pin the Gossip zone to Lisa's home section. I am sure you know how to do this by now.

You may have noticed that we've had a zone the entire time:  the default Connect zone. This zone has no access restrictions, meaning everyone can read and write there.

Technically, the new zone Gossip is a subset of the Connect zone. You can confirm this by going back to the zone configuration — the SIP ID connect?gossip indicates that relationship.

Chat and Private Messaging

The Connect app also provides a user interface to send an instant message to another person or group on your system privately.

 Just try it

• Open the Chat section in the Connect app.
• Search for the person you want to chat with (e.g., Lisa Svensson)
• Click on her avatar and enter a message like: The force is strong in you.

If you now go to Lisa's Chat section in Connect, you will see your message displayed.

Chat group

While you are in the Chat section,  open the burger menu. The menu here is slightly different then in the other section, as it allows you to:

• Create chat groups
• Delete locally saved data (useful if you accessed chat on a shared or foreign device, so nothing remains stored locally)

 Try it

• Open the burger menu and selectChat groups.
• Optionally, click on the square to upload a group photo.
• Configure a group name, e.g. TIE fighter pilots
• Add members (Mario Rossi and Jean Dupont).

As the group creator, you automatically become a member of the group and are promoted to administrator. This means that you can add members or delete the group. If you click  on the speech bubble, the group will be highlighted in the list of users, and you can start chatting immediately.

Private posts in Connect

You can also send personal messages directly in Connect:

• Enter your message as usual in the editor.
• Before sending, click the  @ icon to mark it as private.

Non Persistent chat

If you do not have a license for Chat or Connect (note that the Chat license is included in the Connect license), you can use the standalone Chat app instead. Please be aware that messages written in this app are not persistent, they will be lost as soon as you close the app. This option can be configured on the  Advanced UI -> PBX/Config/Chat. Enter chat as App for Advanced Chat

Search

Connect includes  a Search section that allows you to find old posts. By default, Connect searches in All messages, but you can apply several filters to narrow down your results.

Search Options:

• Search in specific areas: Go to MORE -> (Channels, Zones, or Tags) and select the appropriate item and go back to Search. The search will then be limited to those messages.
• Filter by keywords: If you enter multiple words, only posts that include all of them will appear. To search for an exact sequence of words, wrap them in quotation marks.
• Filter by user: Search for posts written by a specific user.
• Filter by time: Find posts before a certain date or time.
• Filter by attachments: Show only posts that include attachments.
• Filter by noted list: Search specifically within posts you have added to your Noted list.

Considerations for introducing Connect

To introduce a tool like Connect to a company can be difficult because every company has different needs and different ways to communicate. As a result you have to understand the company structure before explaining the benefits of Connect.

Understanding the company

• What is the company’s core business?
• What products or services does the company offer?
• What communication tools are currently in use?
• How are these communication tools being utilized?

Understanding the company structure

To get an idea of the company and how to map the companies structure to Connect you could ask these question in the Initial consultation:

• Obtain the organizational chart or department overview.
• What departments are there?
• Decide if each department should have its own hashtag, channel, or zone
• The hashtag, channel or zone can be the Main page of the department
• Are there overlaps between departments?
• Plan shared hashtags/channels if needed
• Which departments should communicate openly?
• Assign public hashtags
• Where is sensitive content located?
• Create closed zones (e.g., HR, Management)

Plan groups properly

In addition to hashtags and zones, you should also consider which people in the company should be addressed and how. This will make communication more targeted, which leads to a better response.

• Which groups do you need to create?
• Examples: department-wide, project teams, sales teams, etc.
• Who should be member of a group?

Projects

To set up Connect effectively, you should first consider which topics should be communicated within the company. For Connect to deliver real added value, you should know what the company is discussing:

• What is being communicated?
• Which topics are important?
• What products or services does the company offer?
• A hashtag can be created for each of these topics.
• Which projects are currently in development or starting soon?
• Examples: new product launches, customer projects, certifications, IT changes, new locations.
• What information should be shared internally?
• Examples: announcements, ideas, feedback, events, project status, IT support, HR updates, etc.
• On which topics should knowledge be built up and documented?
• Examples: FAQs, processes, sales arguments, technical details.
• Are there internal support topics or help desks?
• Examples: IT help, tool support, travel expense questions.

Open/Closed company-wide comunication

Open (No Zone)	Closed (With Zone)
Core Idea	Core Idea
In Connect, communication is open by default. A publicly created hashtag is visible and searchable for everyone.	Content is stored in a zone accessible only to selected people. Outsiders cannot see posts or hashtags.
Advantages	Advantages
Knowledge is available company-wide; everyone benefits. Departments learn from each other, breaking down silos. Everyone can contribute, boosting collective intelligence. A central knowledge base emerges.	Confidential information stays protected (e.g., HR data, financial figures). Compliance and data protection requirements are easier to meet. Only the right people receive notifications, reducing noise and distractions.
Disadvantages	Disadvantages
The volume of posts can be overwhelming or distracting. Employees need good self-organization and filtering skills (channels, hashtags).	Knowledge stays locked away; others can't find it. Duplicate questions may arise because information isn't visible.
When to Consider Open Communication	When to Consider a Zone
Company-wide news, product feedback, idea exchange. Departments: transparent communication so everyone can see department activities. Tip: Start open and create zones only where privacy or compliance requires it.	HR topics, executive board discussions, works council, M&A projects. Departments as zones: possible, but posts are invisible to non-members, limiting knowledge sharing. Tip: Use as few zones as necessary, keeping things as open as possible.

• In short: Default = Open. Public hashtags foster transparency.
• Zones are the tool for truly sensitive information.
• Make conscious decisions: Where does openness help? Where is protection mandatory?

Benefits of Connect

Introducing Connect to a company can bring significant benefits, especially if the goal is to improve communication, collaboration, and productivity. Here's a breakdown of why Connect might be a strong choice:

Centralized Communication

Connect can serve as a centralized communication hub, eliminating scattered conversations across emails, texts and meetings. Every employee knows where to look for relevant information. If you organize communication by channel or hashtag, employees can easily find the information they need, provided it is communicated transparently.

From push to pull

Instead of pushing content to employees via email, which increases the risk of important information being overlooked, the Connect app enables employees to access relevant information as and when required. They can decide for themselves what is and isn't relevant.

Improved Team Collaboration

Combining messaging with app notifications allows teams to make quicker and more transparent decisions. Furthermore, the asynchronous communication approach enhances communication for remote or hybrid teams in different time zones.

Integration with myApps

Connect is seamlessly integrated into the myApps ecosystem, providing a single tool for numerous use cases. As a result, you don't have to switch tools, allowing you to stay focused on the task at hand.

Knowledge Base

In Connect, you can search past messages, files, links and decisions, which makes it easy to catch up if you miss something. If a topic has not already been discussed, you can start a discussion to find the best possible solution through collective effort. #SwarmIntelligence

Boosts Transparency and Culture

Connect encourages open communication between departments. This strengthens team bonding throughout the company.

Tipps for beginner

There's no need to overcomplicate things when you start using Connect. Start small and build on it as you go along. Here are a few tried-and-tested tips:

• Focus on the most important topics
• Start with topics that are discussed particularly often. For example: products with lots of questions or projects with lots of participants.
• You don't have to map everything at once. Start with a clear framework, the structure can grow later.
• Start with the topics that bring the greatest benefit, e.g., frequently discussed products or projects with many participants.

• Use hashtags in a sensible way.
• A hashtag is created with the first post in which it is used.
• Explain the purpose of the hashtag directly in the first post, e.g.: #ProjectXY We will collect all information and agreements relating to project XY.

• Select a specific starting group
• Start with a small group or department that is open to new ideas.
• This group should communicate exclusively via Connect for at least one week. No emails, no messengers, just Connect.
• This will generate real experiences and you will quickly see what works well and what is still missing.
• Gradually, the entire company will then make the switch.

• Easily adapt the structure
• The structure in Connect (hashtags, channels, zones) is not set in stone.
• Adapt it together: What is missing? What is duplicated? What could be clearer?

How to install connect?

Good news: if you use the Install, the Connect app is already installed by default.

However, if you are working with an upgraded system where no Messages App service is installed, you will need to perform the following steps:

• Open  the app installer in your Settings app.
• Install the  Messages app service
• close and restart your Settings App

Note: There is no separate Connect service. Connect is part of the Messages App service.

• Open  the messages Settings plugin
• Create a messages-api object with these parameters
• Name: MessagesAPI
• SIP: messages-api
• assign this hidden object to all users Config User
• Create an app object for connect
• Name: Connect
• SIP: connect
• Distribute Connect Modes to different user groups
• assign the Connect app to Config User
• assign the Administrators mode of Connect to Config Admin
• assign the Moderators mode of Connect to Config Moderator

The Config Moderator template is created by the Start Configuration. It is a template that inherits all settings from the Config User template. The Install does not create this template automatically, you must create it manually if you need it.

If you want to host your own Connect app for external partners, similar to our  Community Connect, you need to enable the option: App available for public access

Modes

With the release of Connect, we introduced a new concept for apps called modes. An app can run in different operating modes, which define specific access rights and functionalities.

In Connect we have three modes:

• User mode
• Admin mode
• Moderator mode

Depending on the mode the user has access to, the burger menu in the Connect app automatically adapts and shows different functions. If a user has access to multiple modes, the menu will display all options from those modes.

In the previous chapter we used so called config templates to assign the corresponding mode to the users. A config template helps us to distribute licenses, apps or standard settings to multiple users at once. Any change in the template will automatically apply to the users. While Config User and Config Admin is created by the Install, the Config Moderator template was specifically created for this lesson and is not part of a standard configuration.

User mode

Example: Lisa Svensson

A regular user can only  configure personal user settings:

• App notifications: Displays a pop-up on your device for every new message in the feed. Please be aware of the prerequisites documented  in our wiki.
• E-Mail notifications: Delivers each message in your feed as e-mail as well.
• User Inactive: Allows a user to mark themselves as inactive. When inactive, they cannot post messages.

Admin mode

Example: Your account

An administrator has full control over Connect, including  system-wide configuration:

• Manage User: Disable a user so they can no longer be addressed, or anonymize all of their messages (e.g., if they leave the company).
• Manage groups: Disable groups so they can no longer be addressed.
• Zones: Create and manage zones (private communication spaces) as we previously discussed in this book.
• Federation domains: The Connect app can also connect to a remote messages app service, which can even be hosted by a different system. Connect uses the H.323 Federation mechanism to establish a secure connection. This configuration will not be covered in the book.
• E-mail configuration: Connect to a mail server so e-mail notifications can be delivered. You will find a sample configuration  in our wiki.

Moderator

Example: Jean Dupont

 A moderator acts as a middle ground between a regular user and an administrator.

• Hashtags: Existing Hashtags can be renamed (e.g., correct typos)
• Welcome post: Create a message that is sent privately to new users upon their first login (useful for onboarding).
• Manage User: Read-only access: can see if a user can be addressed.
• Manage groups: Read-only access: can see if a group can be addressed.
• Zone: Can create and manage zones, just like an administrator.

Translation App

With the help of  the Translations App, you can enable an automatic translation service for messages in Connect. This allows users to read messages from others in their own myApps language (if supported).

The Translations App uses DeepL.com for the actual translation. While the Translations App itself is free of charge, please note that DeepL will apply its own pricing model.

For more details, please refer to the guide  in our wiki.

myApps Assistant

 The MyApps Assistant acts as an intermediary service that allows Connect (and other apps) to access and interact with remote large language models (LLMs) such as Mixtral, or DeepSeek-R1.

When used in your Connect app, the MyApps Assistant can help you with:

• Formulating texts for posts and replies
• Optimizing your own texts for better readability and correct spelling
• Summarizing long discussions for quick understanding

For more details, please refer to the guide  in our wiki.