Convenient use of end-to-end encryption (E2EE)

Matrix not only encrypts traffic to and from the home server (in the UC.Technology data center), but also allows you to use end-to-end encryption (E2EE). To do this, cryptographic keys must be exchanged between all devices that need to write data with end-to-end encryption. This technical requirement sounds complex and is complex, but at the same time it has become very convenient for users. Many cryptographic keys created by the client are stored on the corresponding device. If this is a browser tab, for example, there is a risk that this tab may be closed unintentionally. Then all encrypted content will no longer be readable. To prevent this from happening, key protection is offered on the UC.Technology home server, where all cryptographic keys protected by a security phrase (or by a security key that can be calculated from it) are stored in encrypted form.

Other important settings

After successfully setting up key backup, enable desktop notifications:

This can be changed (disabled) later, and notification permissions can also be configured separately for individual “conversations”.

Configure the options in the settings menu ("All settings"):

The display name can be obtained from the common name in LDAP, after which there will be no need to change it manually.

The email address field is optional. In theory, you can add  an email address here, for example, so that notifications about missed messages are sent to another email address.

On this same page, you can also change the theme from light to dark.

On the Notifications tab, you can enable email notifications (to stay informed about missed messages), as well as sound notifications, and configure them in detail for specific actions by other people. For more information, see notifications.

On the “Voice and Video” tab, you can allow the UCMeetChat client or Element Matrix (if you use it) to use your media devices (camera + microphone), allow direct voice/video calls via peer-to-peer connections, and, for video calls, see yourself in a small preview:

Fortunately, 1:1 calls are end-to-end encrypted by default. To truly trust this encryption with confidence, users can compare keys with their conversation partners. To ensure that this also applies to all devices of those conversation partners, Matrix users should verify the keys of all their devices with each other (technical term: cross-signing).

Important settings in the mobile versions of UCMeetChat!

If you use the UCMeetChat client application marked [f], which does not use Google services (Firebase, Google Cloud).

For notifications during audio-video calls, we use our own push services.

You need to additionally enable some important features on your smartphone:

In future use, your smartphone will remember these settings and will no longer ask for your confirmation until you clear the cache or reset the settings.

Additionally, for some Huawei devices:

1. Enable background synchronization

2. Set the background synchronization mode to "Optimized for real-time operation"

3. Set the delay between each synchronization to -2 sec. Synchronization timeout -1 sec.