FanDesk

Pulse — Video & Audio Meetings

Pulse is FanDesk's built-in video and audio meeting system, embedded directly inside Chat. Start a call from any channel or DM, get live transcription, record for later, and receive AI-generated summaries after the call ends. No need for a separate video app.

Starting a Pulse

Quick Call from Chat

The fastest way to start a meeting:

  1. Open any channel or DM in Chat
  2. Click the phone icon for an audio-only call, or the video icon for video
  3. Participants in the channel are notified instantly and can join with one click
  4. The call opens inline — no new tab, no separate app

From an Email Thread

Start a Pulse to discuss an email in real-time:

  1. Open the email in FanDesk Mail
  2. Click Start Pulse to launch a call with the relevant participants
  3. The email thread context carries into the meeting

Pulse Links (Shareable Rooms)

Create a persistent meeting link for recurring calls or external participants:

  1. Go to the Pulse section in the sidebar
  2. Click + New Pulse Link
  3. Give it a title and description (e.g., "Weekly Team Sync" or "Client Demo Room")
  4. Copy the link and share via email, chat, or calendar invite
  5. The link works repeatedly — no new link needed each time

Pre-Join: Device Selection

Before joining any Pulse, a pre-join screen lets you configure your setup:

  • Camera — Select which camera to use; toggle video on or off before joining
  • Microphone — Choose your input device and see the audio level meter
  • Speaker — Test your output device before the call starts
  • Virtual background — Set a blur or custom background before anyone sees you

This prevents the awkward "joining with wrong mic" moments.

In-Call Features

Audio & Video Controls

All controls are accessible from the meeting toolbar at the bottom:

  • Mute/unmute — Toggle your microphone (keyboard shortcut: M)
  • Camera on/off — Toggle your video (keyboard shortcut: V)
  • Screen share — Share your full screen, a specific window, or a browser tab
  • Virtual backgrounds — Blur your background or replace it with a custom image during the call
  • Raise hand — Signal to the host without interrupting

Participant Management

Hosts and moderators have full control over the call:

  • Waiting room — Participants see a waiting screen; hosts admit them individually or all at once
  • Mute participants — Mute any participant (useful for noisy backgrounds)
  • Remove participants — Remove a participant from the call
  • Promote to moderator — Give another participant host-level controls

See all current participants and their status (muted, video on/off, speaking) in the participant panel.

In-Call File Sharing

Share files directly inside the Pulse without switching context:

  • Open the Files panel in the call sidebar
  • Upload or attach files from FanDesk Drive
  • All participants can view and download shared files from within the meeting

In-Call Chat

Side conversations without interrupting the speaker:

  • Type messages in the in-call chat panel
  • Share links, code snippets, or quick notes
  • Chat history is saved with the Pulse after the call ends

Whiteboard

Collaborate visually during the call:

  • Click Whiteboard in the meeting toolbar
  • Draw, annotate, and brainstorm together in real-time
  • Whiteboard state is saved as part of the meeting record

DeskMate AI Panel

DeskMate can join your Pulse and provide live assistance:

  • Open the DeskMate panel during a call
  • DeskMate listens to the conversation (with all participants' awareness) via transcription
  • Ask DeskMate questions mid-call: "What's the status of the API task we discussed?" or "Pull up the Q3 report"
  • DeskMate can take action during the meeting: create tasks, look up info, or draft follow-up emails

Recording

Record any Pulse for participants who couldn't attend or for a permanent record:

  1. Click Record in the meeting toolbar
  2. A recording indicator appears for all participants — everyone knows the call is being recorded
  3. Click Stop Recording to end (you can start and stop multiple times in one session)
  4. The recording is saved automatically and appears in the Pulse's post-call view

Recording Playback

After the call:

  • Find the recording in Completed Pulses
  • Play back at 1x, 1.5x, or 2x speed
  • Jump to any moment using the transcript-linked timeline

Live Transcription

Turn on transcription during the call to get a real-time text log of everything said:

  1. Click Transcription in the meeting toolbar to enable
  2. The transcript appears live in the call sidebar as participants speak
  3. Speaker names are attached to each segment
  4. Supports 99 languages with automatic language detection — no configuration needed
  5. Full transcript is available in the post-call view immediately after the Pulse ends

Inviting Participants

During the Call

Add people mid-meeting:

  1. Click Invite in the participants panel
  2. Search for team members by name
  3. They receive a notification and can join immediately

Share the Pulse Link

Copy the Pulse link from the call and paste it anywhere — Slack, email, calendar — for external participants or latecomers.

From the Waiting Room

When someone arrives at a Pulse link, they enter the waiting room:

  1. You see a notification: "[Name] is waiting"
  2. Click Admit to let them in, or Decline to keep them waiting
  3. Admit all waiting participants at once with Admit All

Post-Call: AI Summaries

After a Pulse ends, FanDesk automatically generates a comprehensive meeting summary (usually ready within a few minutes of the call ending):

TL;DR

A one-paragraph plain-language summary of what the meeting was about and what was decided. Useful for stakeholders who didn't attend.

Key Decisions

A bulleted list of decisions made during the call, extracted by AI from the transcript.

Action Items

Tasks that came up during the meeting, with:

  • The task description
  • Who it was assigned to (if mentioned)
  • Any deadline that was discussed

Discussion Points

Main topics covered, organized by theme — useful as a structured agenda retrospective.

Full Transcript

The complete word-for-word transcript with speaker attribution and timestamps. Search within it to find any specific moment.

Convert to Page

One-click conversion of the meeting summary and transcript into a FanDesk Page:

  1. Click Save as Page on the post-call summary
  2. A new Page is created with the full meeting notes
  3. Share the page with your team or add it to a project

Completed Pulses

All past Pulses are saved in the Completed Pulses section:

  • AI summary, key decisions, and action items
  • Full transcript with search
  • Recording playback
  • In-call chat history
  • Participant list and meeting duration

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