Staff Communication & Group Chat

A comprehensive real-time communication suite for frontline restaurant teams, enabling instant messaging, group chats, announcements, voice transcription, and AI-powered translation.

Overview

The Staff Communication platform keeps all work-related communication within Olympus Cloud for compliance, reduces reliance on personal messaging apps, and breaks language barriers with AI translation.

Key Benefits

• Unified Communication: All team messaging in one platform
• Compliance Ready: Message retention and audit logging
• Language Agnostic: AI translation for diverse teams (20+ languages)
• Voice-First: Hold-to-record with automatic transcription
• Hierarchy Aware: Tenant → Brand → Location → Department structure

Features

1. Direct Messages (DM)

One-on-one messaging between staff members.

Feature	Description
Real-time Delivery	Messages delivered instantly via WebSocket
Read Receipts	See when messages are read
Typing Indicators	Know when someone is composing
Message History	Paginated history with search

2. Group Chats

Team-based communication channels.

Group Type	Description	Auto-Created
Location Groups	All staff at a location	Yes
Role Groups	Servers, kitchen, management	Yes
Custom Groups	Manager-created teams	No
Cross-Location	Multi-location for managers	No

3. Announcements

Broadcast messages to teams.

Feature	Description
Broadcast Scope	All staff, specific roles, or locations
Read Tracking	See who viewed the announcement
Pin Important	Keep critical messages at top
Brand-Wide	Executive announcements across all locations

4. Voice Transcription

Hands-free messaging for busy environments.

Feature	Description
Hold-to-Record	Simple voice capture UI
Whisper Transcription	Powered by OpenAI Whisper v3
Choice on Send	Send as voice OR text
Playback	Listen to voice messages inline

5. AI-Powered Translation

Break language barriers across diverse teams.

Feature	Description
Auto-Detect	Identify message source language
Real-Time Translation	Translate to reader's preferred language
20+ Languages	Support for major world languages
Cost-Optimized	Routes through ACP T1/T2 models

Architecture

Components

Component	Location	Purpose
Chat Service	Rust Platform	Business logic, access control
Chat Repository	Rust Platform	Spanner persistence
WebSocket Handler	Go Gateway	Real-time message delivery
Translation Service	Python AI/ML	AI-powered translation
Voice Transcription	Python AI/ML	Whisper STT integration

API Reference

Conversations

# List my conversations
GET /api/v1/chat/conversations
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN

# Create conversation
POST /api/v1/chat/conversations
Content-Type: application/json
{
  "conversation_type": "group",
  "name": "Kitchen Team",
  "location_id": "uuid",
  "participant_ids": ["uuid1", "uuid2"]
}

# Get conversation details
GET /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}

# Update conversation settings
PATCH /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}
{
  "name": "New Name",
  "settings": { "muted": true }
}

# Leave/delete conversation
DELETE /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}

Messages

# Get messages (paginated)
GET /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}/messages?limit=50&before=timestamp

# Send message
POST /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}/messages
{
  "content": "Hello team!",
  "message_type": "text",
  "attachments": []
}

# Edit message (within time window)
PATCH /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}/messages/{mid}
{
  "content": "Updated message"
}

# Delete message
DELETE /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}/messages/{mid}

Participants

# Add participant
POST /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}/participants
{
  "user_id": "uuid"
}

# Remove participant
DELETE /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}/participants/{uid}

# Mark as read
POST /api/v1/chat/conversations/{id}/read

Search

# Search messages across conversations
GET /api/v1/chat/search?q=inventory&limit=20

WebSocket Events

Client → Server

// Subscribe to conversation updates
{ "type": "subscribe", "conversation_id": "uuid" }

// Send typing indicator
{ "type": "typing", "conversation_id": "uuid" }

// Send message via WebSocket
{ "type": "message", "conversation_id": "uuid", "content": "Hello!" }

Server → Client

// New message received
{
  "type": "message",
  "data": {
    "id": "uuid",
    "conversation_id": "uuid",
    "sender_id": "uuid",
    "content": "Hello!",
    "created_at": "2026-01-07T12:00:00Z"
  }
}

// Typing indicator
{
  "type": "typing",
  "data": {
    "user_id": "uuid",
    "conversation_id": "uuid"
  }
}

// Read receipt
{
  "type": "read",
  "data": {
    "user_id": "uuid",
    "message_id": "uuid"
  }
}

// Presence update
{
  "type": "presence",
  "data": {
    "user_id": "uuid",
    "status": "online"
  }
}

Data Models

Conversation

Field	Type	Description
id	UUID	Conversation identifier
tenant_id	UUID	Tenant ownership
location_id	UUID	Optional location scope
conversation_type	Enum	DM, Group, Announcement
name	String	Display name (groups only)
participants	Array	List of participants
settings	JSON	Conversation settings
created_at	Timestamp	Creation time

Message

Field	Type	Description
id	UUID	Message identifier
conversation_id	UUID	Parent conversation
sender_id	UUID	Message author
content	String	Message text
message_type	Enum	Text, Voice, File, System
attachments	Array	File attachments
mentions	Array	@mentioned user IDs
reactions	Map	Emoji reactions
translated_content	Map	Translations by language
created_at	Timestamp	Send time
deleted_at	Timestamp	Soft delete time

Participant

Field	Type	Description
user_id	UUID	User identifier
role	Enum	Member, Admin, Owner
joined_at	Timestamp	Join time
last_read_at	Timestamp	Last read marker
muted_until	Timestamp	Mute expiration

Database Schema

-- Conversations table
CREATE TABLE chat_conversations (
    id STRING(36) NOT NULL,
    tenant_id STRING(36) NOT NULL,
    location_id STRING(36),
    conversation_type STRING(20) NOT NULL,
    name STRING(255),
    settings JSON,
    created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    updated_at TIMESTAMP,
) PRIMARY KEY (id);

-- Participants (interleaved)
CREATE TABLE chat_participants (
    conversation_id STRING(36) NOT NULL,
    user_id STRING(36) NOT NULL,
    role STRING(20) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'member',
    joined_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    last_read_at TIMESTAMP,
    muted_until TIMESTAMP,
) PRIMARY KEY (conversation_id, user_id),
  INTERLEAVE IN PARENT chat_conversations ON DELETE CASCADE;

-- Messages (interleaved)
CREATE TABLE chat_messages (
    id STRING(36) NOT NULL,
    conversation_id STRING(36) NOT NULL,
    sender_id STRING(36) NOT NULL,
    content STRING(MAX),
    message_type STRING(20) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'text',
    attachments JSON,
    mentions ARRAY<STRING(36)>,
    reactions JSON,
    translated_content JSON,
    created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    updated_at TIMESTAMP,
    deleted_at TIMESTAMP,
) PRIMARY KEY (conversation_id, id),
  INTERLEAVE IN PARENT chat_conversations ON DELETE CASCADE;

-- Index for message retrieval
CREATE INDEX idx_messages_created
ON chat_messages(conversation_id, created_at DESC);

Push Notifications

Event	Notification	Priority
New Message	"John: Hello team!"	Normal
@Mention	"John mentioned you in Kitchen Team"	High
Announcement	"Manager: Important update"	High
Quiet Hours	Notifications suppressed	-

Best Practices

1. Use Groups for Teams: Create role-based groups rather than large DM threads
2. Pin Announcements: Keep important messages visible
3. Enable Quiet Hours: Respect staff work-life balance
4. Voice for Busy Times: Use voice messages during rush
5. Verify Translations: AI translations are helpful but not perfect

Performance Targets

Metric	Target
WebSocket Latency	under 100ms
Message Delivery	99.9% reliability
Voice Transcription	Powered by Whisper v3
Search Response	under 500ms
Concurrent Connections	10,000+ per location

Security & Compliance

Control	Implementation
Tenant Isolation	All queries scoped to tenant_id
Access Control	Participant membership required
Message Encryption	TLS in transit, encrypted at rest
Audit Logging	All actions logged for compliance
GDPR Compliance	Message retention policies
Data Export	User data export on request

Related Documentation

• ACP AI Router - Translation model routing
• WebSocket Connection
• WebSocket Events

Changelog

Version	Date	Changes
3.0.0	2026-01-07	Initial release with DM, groups, voice