Overview

This page provides a complete overview of the vacs interface, including layout structure, button groups, basic call handling and basic call source selection.

General Layout

The interface is divided into several functional areas:

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Top Status Bar

The top bar displays:

• The current time
• The VATSIM CID used for your vacs connection
• The active station (e.g., 'LOWW_APP')
• The running vacs version
• (If you are not using the latest version, that an update is available.)

The small status indicator in the top-left corner shows call state:

• 🟢 Green → Ready / Connected
• 🟠 Orange → Connecting
• ⚫ Gray → Idle / Not connected

This can also be supplemented by an audible indication. For futher information, see Call Settings.

Function Buttons

The upper button row contains operational controls such aus:

• PRIO: Initiate PRIO Calls, see below.
• HOLD
• PICKUP
• SUITE PICKUP
• TRANS
• DIV
• PLAYBACK
• PLC LSP on/off
• SPLIT

Of these buttons, currently only the PRIO button is simulated.

A PRIO Call indicates to the reciever of the call, that the caller considers this call to be urgent. It is highlighted with a yellow border in the recievers vacs, and uses a special sound, to gain attention.

PRIO-Calls can be disabled, see Call Settings.

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Direct Access Page

Terminology Definition

For clarity within this documentation, the following terms are used:

• Direct Access Page → The central station grid containing all available coordination positions.
• Direct Access Key → An individual station button within the Direct Access Page used to initiate or receive calls.

These terms are used consistently throughout the documentation.

The direct access page contains all available coordination stations.

Each title represents one station and my appear in different states:

1. Button that does not reference a station (disabled button with grey text).
2. Station that is online and callable (enabled button with blank text).
3. Button referencing a station not currently online on vacs (disabled button with black text).
4. Station currently controlled by your position (enabled button with grey text).

The direct access page is the primary interaction area for initiating and receiving calls.

Bottom Control Bar

The lower section contains further buttons, which are important during the useage of vacs.

Radio

The Radio button indicates the current state of the radio integration and allows reconnecting when necessary. The button color and state reflect the current radio status.

Button Color	Text Color	Enabled	State	Description
Gray	Gray	Disabled	Radio Integration not configured	Radio integration is not configured. This occurs when another transmit mode is selected or when the required radio key configuration is missing (e.g., no second key configured in AfV).
Gray	Black	Disabled	Not connected	Radio integration is configured, but no connection to TrackAudio exists. (In Audio for VATSIM this state usually does not occur.)
Gray	Black	Enabled	Connected, no RX	A connection to the radio client exists, but no frequency is currently being received. (In Audio for VATSIM this state usually does not occur.)
Emerald	Black	Enabled	Idle	At least one frequency is tuned and ready, but nobody is currently transmitting and you are not transmitting.
Cornflower Blue	Black	Enabled	Active transmission	Either you or someone else (pilot, other station in general) is currently transmitting on the tuned frequency.
Red	Black	Enabled	Error	A radio-related error has occurred.

CPL

This button is not implemented.

Remark: This button is only available if you are using the GEO-Page Layout.

RADIO PRIO

This button allows you to prioritize Radio Calls while being in vacs-calls in certain transmit modes. For a more detailed explanation depending on your chosen transmit mode, please refer to Transmit Modes.

Phone

The Phone button provides quick navigation back to the main phone interface and indicates active phone communication.

Button Behavior	Description
Grey	When no phone call is active, the button remains unchanged (grey).
Solid green	When a phone call is active, the Phone button lights up continuously in green, matching the call display.

On click behavior

Clicking the Phone button always navigates back toward the top level of the phone interface.

Current Location	Result
Inside any menu (e.g. settings page, sub-settings page, mission page, telephone directory)	The interface exits the current menu and returns to the phone interface.
Inside a tabbed profile	The interface navigates one page level upward within the tab structure.
Inside a non-tabbed profile	The interface navigates directly to the top-level page.
Already on the top level	The fallback profile is displayed.

END

The END button is used to terminate calls and to exit menus, returning the interface toward the main level.

Button Behavior	Description
Static	The END button does not change its appearance and does not indicate any state.

On click behavior

Clicking the END button performs two actions depending on the current interface state.

Current Situation	Result
Active outgoing call	The outgoing call is cancelled.
Active call	The call is terminated.
Rejected / error call display	The call entry is cleared from the display.
Inside any menu (e.g. settings page, sub-settings page, mission page, telephone directory)	The interface exits the current menu.
Inside a tabbed profile	The interface navigates one page level upward within the tab structure.
Inside a non-tabbed profile	The interface navigates directly to the top-level page.
Already on the top level	The fallback profile remains displayed.

Tabs (Tabbed Layout)

If you are using the Tabbed-Layout, the pre-configured tabs will be visible in the right part of the Bottom Control Bar.

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Call States

Incoming Call

When a station calls you:

• The calling station is highlighted.
• The call can be accepted by clicking on one of the blinking green buttons.
• Visual and audible feedback indicates, that the call has been established (sound + green indicator).

In the shown example, the sector ACC N1 EC (Caller) calls APP-VB EC (Recipient).

Outgoing Call (No Call Source)

In the simplest terms initating a call in vacs (which is without selecting a specific source, for that, see below) can be done as follows:

• Click the Station you intend to call.
• This corresponding button will be displayed in green with a grey border, until the recipient of the call has picked up. The button will then turn green without a grey border.
• As no recipient was selected in this case, a generic sector identifier is displayed as call origin on the recipients end. Here this would be LOWW APP.

In the shown example, the sector ACC E1 EC (Recipient) is being called without manually selecting a source.

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Call Source Selection

vacs allows selecting the originating station (call source) for outgoing calls. By using this, the recipient of your call, recieves a more precise description of the caller, rather than just a generic identifier of your position (e.g. APP-VB PLC instead of LOWW APP).

The selected call source is indicated in orange color on the direct access page:

There are two different types of call sources:

• Fixed Call Source (indicated in dark orange, APP VB-EC in this screenshot).
• Temporary Call Source (indicated in light orange, APP VN-EC in this screenshot).

These will be discussed in the following subchapters.

Fixed Call Source

The fixed call source (APP VB-EC in the screenshot above) is the default station used for outgoing calls.

It remains active until manually changed.

Temporary Call Source

A temporary call source (APP VN-EC in the screenshot above) can be selected for the next call only.

After the call ends, vacs automatically reverts to the fixed call source, if available.

Recommended Configuration

It is recommended to configure a fixed call source representing the station you most frequently call from.

This ensures that outgoing calls use the correct caller by default and avoids the need to manually select a call source for every call.