Important information about player communication #
There are a few points to keep in mind when communicating with your players.
Your players can be contacted directly via the operator call or the chat. However, these functions are only available in the professional event and only work in the native Serious Games Scavenger Hunt App, not in the web app.
In addition, both operator calls and chat only work when the app is online.
In addition to these functions, there are a few workarounds to reach your players in the event or to provide them with information. Please ask the espoto team about this.
The operator call #
The operator call is a practical tool for sending “push messages” to your players. Operator calls appear as a pop-up with a signal tone on the devices of the respective players and thus attract particular attention. Your players can also contact you directly via the operator call, ask questions or report problems.
Special features of the operator call #
Operator calls can be sent to a single team/player or to several teams/players at the same time.
It is possible to time messages or send them in several stages. Messages that have already been sent can also be used several times.
To send an operator call, you can use the chatbox widget or the separate operator call widget.
To receive operator calls, your players need a connection of at least 3G or higher. No messages are received or sent on Edge, even if attempted solutions are still synchronized in the app.
The chat #
Chat messages can only be sent via the chatbox widget and will not appear as a pop-up for your players. The notification of a new chat message is indicated by a small red icon (similar to WhatsApp) on the power button in the app’s submenu. Your players must actively go into the chat to read the messages.
While the operator call is a single channel for communication between players and event managers, there can also be several different chat rooms. As an event manager, you can put your players/teams in different chat rooms and, with permission, your players/teams can even create their own chat rooms and get in touch with others.
Activate operator call and chat feature #
Step 1 #
Go to the event configuration from the event dashboard. If your event is already set to professional, switch on the operator call and/or chat feature under step 5 of the configuration – “Interaction”. Alternatively, switch your event to professional event first.
Step 2 #
As soon as one of the two features has been switched on, you will find the selection to open the chatbox in the side menu of the dashboard, which you can use to create both operator calls and chats.
Step 3 – Optional #
You can also add the respective widgets to your event in the dashboard. To do this, click on the red pencil at the bottom right of the dashboard. Click on “Add widget” and add the operator call widget and/or chat widget. The respective widgets are then in your dashboard.
Write an operator call #
Option 1 – Via the chatbox #
The quickest and easiest way to write operator calls is via the chatbox. To do this, go to the side menu in the dashboard and click on “Chatbox”. Select a player/team there and write an operator call directly to the player/team. If you want to send a message to several players at the same time, use the megaphone icon at the top and select the desired options.
Option 2 – Via the operator call widget #
The separate operator call widget is ideal for sending messages to multiple players at the same time. You can better view all your sent messages there and also better prepare future messages! All messages are presented in list form.
Write chat messages #
To send chat messages, use the chatbox. Before you get started, however, you must first create one or more chat rooms.
Important: Difference between chat messages and operator calls #
If you simply select one of the players shown on the left in the chatbox and write a message, it will automatically be sent as an operator call.
How to create chat rooms #
Click on the plus symbol in the chatbox. Choose from the available options to set up individual or multiple chat rooms. As soon as the chat rooms have been created, you can use them specifically for communication.