Ideas for improving the in-game voice chat

[parry the platypus]

Hey there fellow train drivers and dispatchers!

I think this topic has already been discussed many times on the forum, also on Discord I've seen some people talking about it.
Regarding the in-game voice chat system, I would like to share my ideas, thoughts to improve it, and I'm also interested in your opinions.

So currently, the voice chat is functioning on the basis of radio channels. Everybody, who is on the same channel can hear the others speaking regardless of their distance, etc. (e.g. you're driving on the main line somewhere from Zawiercie to Katowice (channel R2), you can basically hear the Grodzisk M. dispatch many hundreds of kilometers away). 

My proposals are the following:

• Possibility of "private connection" between drivers and dispatchers: 
  
  From dispatcher side: a dispatcher can call a driver by their train number, regardless their position of the map. The driver could accept the phone call by picking up the radio in the cabin, and there will be a private channel between them. 
  
  From driver side: The ZEW1, ZEW3 buttons. The driver picks up the radio (in case of EU/EP, Kibel trains), or the "phone" (e.g. in case of E186). And then he presses the buttons ZEW1, or ZEW3: one for calling the upcoming-, one for calling the past station. The dispatch then just has to pick up the phone.
  I know in real life the function of these buttons is not exactly the same as this, but it would be a nice addition, just for adding a bit of detail, and maybe this could make the usage of voice a bit more popular, and communication more "fluent".
  
  Reasons:
        Of course the advantage of being able to hear all the information provided by dispatches to the drivers on the same channel is not negligible. BUT! Think of language barriers. Not every "nation" has a dedicated server (and not every single person speaks english at all). Most of those, who don't have a dedicated server for their native language tend to use EN1, because the majority of players (germans and poles not included) plays here. I'm quite sure they would like to use their language between themselves somehow (that's my experience with the hungarians - since the update we're up to 10-15-20 ppl on EN1 during the late afternoons, evenings). 
  
        The language of chat and voice chat throughout the servers, (especially on EN, EU) is not clearly defined by the rules (correct me if I am not right). English is preferred, since I haven't seen anybody in my playtime during half a year banned for speaking another language apart from english (until he also speaks english with those who only speak english). Despite this, for some people it is frustrating to hear something non-english thingie. I think this proposal might resolve these kind of issues. 
  
        Finally, I do think there are quite a few situations where it would be more useful if this system were optional. (Longer messages to the driver, like informing him what will happen, or what is happening at a red light for long time at entry signal, requesting entry/exit from driverside, waking up the AFK dispatch by calling him, etc.)
  
   
• Possibility of making a call between dispatchers regardless if a station is next to the station
  
  This feature has been already requested by several players, it would be a nice addition of being able to catch up with informations (e.g. if a train is deleted) How I could imagine this system is: numbering the stations from 1-... (AI stations also being numbered, just to avoid renumbering the stations when a new dispatchable station is added), and then calling the number of the station. Like, I pick up the phone, press the number one, and the telephone log would be like "Calling Katowice"/ "Outgoing call to Katowice". 
  
  In case of those who unfortunately hasn't got a microphone, after making the call, a direct chat window would appear where they could write, etc. This would disappear when the phone call has ended.

Obviously it would not be obligatory to use these features, but it would offer more alternatives of communication, and a bit of depth into the gameplay, not to mention the language issues.

Thanks for reading this small article! If you have any thoughts, critics, other additions on this, leave a comment.

Edited December 2, 2023 by parry the platypus
containing misinformation

[GoppelPL]

2 godziny temu, parry the platypus napisał(a):

Possibility of "private connection" between drivers and dispatchers: 

Not happening, that's not how the train radio works in Poland.

[Christophe]

Communication in Poland is done by analog Radio. That you are suggesting is the GSM-R... Maybe on a later Stage SimKol will add the function to Simrail, if there will be a route in an country using GSM-R 🧐

[DazT]

On 11/25/2023 at 12:13 PM, parry the platypus said:

Everybody, who is on the same channel can hear the others speaking regardless of their distance, etc. (e.g. you're driving on the main line somewhere from Zawiercie to Katowice (channel R2), you can basically hear the Grodzisk M. dispatch many hundreds of kilometers away)

It doesn't, the radio has a very limited range, not sure of the exact range but driving you won't hear anyone beyond say 15km. 

Sometimes you only hear half a conversation if a train is between you and the box further away. 

You definitely don't hear what's going on at GM from Katowice / Zawiercie etc