Voice

Voice channels are places to hang out and talk. You can also turn on your camera or share your screen. Voice channels have a speaker icon in the sidebar, and every new community comes with one called Lounge.

Join a voice channel

Select a voice channel in the sidebar. You’ll see who’s already there, or “No one’s here yet” if it’s empty.
Select Join voice.
If your browser asks to use your microphone, choose Allow.

Once you’re connected, the main area shows everyone in the call as a tile, and a Voice connected panel appears at the bottom of the sidebar, above your name.

You can be in one voice channel at a time. If you’re already in another one, the button says Switch here instead, and selecting it moves you over.

Leave a voice channel

Select Disconnect (the red phone button) in the call controls, or the phone icon in the Voice connected panel.

Mute and deafen

Control	What it does
Mute	Turns your microphone off or on.
Deafen	Stops you from hearing everyone else, and mutes your microphone too. When you undeafen, your microphone goes back to how it was. Unmuting while deafened also undeafens you.

You’ll find both controls under the call and in the Voice connected panel. When they’re on, the buttons turn red, and other people see a muted microphone or crossed-out headphones next to your name.

Turn on your camera

Select the camera button under the call (Turn on camera). Your video appears in your tile. Select it again (Turn off camera) to stop.

Select the screen-share button under the call (Share your screen).
Your browser asks what to share, such as a window or your whole screen. Pick one and confirm.
To stop, select the button again (Stop sharing), or use your browser’s own stop-sharing control.

Shared screens appear as a large tile at the top of the call, labeled with the sharer’s name.

The camera and screen-share buttons only appear if you have the Video permission in that channel. The screen-share button also needs a browser that supports screen sharing, which most desktop browsers do.

See who’s talking

In the call, the tile of whoever is speaking gets a green outline.
In the sidebar, everyone in a voice channel is listed under it, so you can see who’s there before you join. While you’re in that channel, the people speaking get a green ring around their avatar.

Next to each name in the sidebar, you may see:

Indicator	Meaning
Muted microphone (red)	They’re muted.
Crossed-out headphones (red)	They’re deafened.
Camera icon	Their camera is on.
LIVE	They’re sharing their screen.

Stay connected while you move around

Your call keeps going while you read other channels, open direct messages, visit other communities, or change your settings. Select the channel name in the Voice connected panel to get back to the call.

Some pages open outside the main app and end your call if you open them in the same tab: a game’s player, Rally Studio, and public pages such as someone’s full profile. To keep talking, open those in a new tab.

Fix microphone and camera problems

Rally uses the microphone and camera your browser picks by default, and it turns on your browser’s echo cancellation and noise suppression automatically.

What you see	What to do
“Rally can’t use your microphone. Allow access in your browser’s site settings.”	The microphone is blocked for rally.place. Open your browser’s site settings (usually from the icon next to the address), allow the microphone, then select the microphone button (Unmute) to try again. For the camera, allow it the same way and select the camera button again.
“No microphone found.”	Plug in or turn on a microphone, then try again.
“Your microphone is being used by another app.”	Close the other app that’s using it, then try again.
“Your browser paused the call’s audio.”	Select Play audio. Browsers sometimes block sound until you interact with the page.
Rally is using the wrong microphone, camera or speakers	Change the default device in your browser’s site settings or your computer’s sound settings, then leave and rejoin the call.
You can’t share your screen on a computer	Some operating systems also need you to give your browser permission to record the screen. Check your system’s privacy settings.
Reconnecting… in the voice panel	Rally lost the connection and is trying again. If it doesn’t come back, select Disconnect and join again.

Why you might be removed from a call

A moderator timed you out, kicked you or banned you. See Moderation and safety.
The voice channel was deleted, or you lost permission to see or join it.
You left the community.

Permissions that affect voice

Permission	What it allows
Connect	Join voice channels.
Speak	Talk. Without it, you can listen but not speak.
Video	Turn on your camera and share your screen.

Everyone has all three by default. To learn how to change them for a role or a single channel, see Roles and permissions.

Rally doesn’t record calls.