The viewing experience

We explain what your viewers can expect when they participate in a webinar.

Dina avatar
Written by Dina
Updated over a week ago

System requirements

WebinarGeek is built in such a way that you can bring your webinar to as many viewers as possible. It does not matter where a viewer is located or on which device someone is logged in. Take a look at our system requirements for what the viewer needs (and what we recommend) to properly follow the webinar.

Before the webinar starts

The viewer has received a personal watch link or a direct link to join the webinar (via the confirmation email, for example). The viewer can join the webinar by clicking the link. This can be done in advance, but also during the webinar.

Before the webinar starts, viewers enter a ‘waiting area’ (the countdown page) with a timer that counts down until the start of the webinar. Once the countdown hits 5 minutes remaining (or earlier, if configured), viewers will be redirected to the webinar room. You can configure how long before the start of the webinar viewers will be redirected to the webinar room. The style of the countdown page can be customized.

Countdown page

When the webinar page opens, the viewers will be automatically taken to the page where the webinar will take place. This is where they wait for the presenter to start the webinar. If you’ve set up a start slide, your viewers will now see it.

The webinar page

The webinar page is optimized for different devices and browsers. So, if someone watches the webinar on a phone, the page looks different than on a laptop. For example, on a phone, the chat is displayed below the video instead of next to it.

If the webinar happens to have reached the viewer limit, viewers will see a message that they cannot join at this moment.

Changing the webinar theme

The webinar page comes with two themes: dark and light. You can either permanently set a theme for all viewers or have viewers decide themselves which theme they would like to use. In the latter case, viewers will find a button at the bottom of the page to change the webinar theme. By default the theme will be set to match the theme of their device.

This article explains how to change your webinar theme settings.

Changing the webinar theme

Starting the webinar

As soon as a viewer opens the webinar page, it is tested behind the scenes to see if the browser allows the webinar to play automatically. For example, this is often not allowed on mobile devices. If the video does not play automatically, we clearly show a play button. This button contains a subtle animation that points out to the viewer that the webinar will only start when they click on the play button.

Warning for viewer to click the start button to start the webinar

During the webinar

As soon as the webinar starts, the 'Please wait' message or your starting slide will be replaced by the video of the webinar.

Webinar screen during the webinar

Interactions during the webinar

Interactions that you start during the webinar are shown in the sidebar to the right of the video. The 'Interactions' tab opens automatically to ensure that the viewer can’t miss the interactions.

Example of interaction during the webinar

Sending chat messages during the webinar

If the chat is enabled, the viewer will see it during the webinar. Messages in the public chat are visible to everyone. To send a message, a viewer has to press enter after typing.

Chat screen during the live or automated webinar

Fullscreening the webinar

Viewers can fullscreen the webinar at any time by clicking the fullscreen button at the top right of their webinar page.

The fullscreen button

They can exit fullscreen mode at any time by pressing the 'Escape' button on their keyboard or clicking the exit fullscreen button at the top right.

The exit fullscreen button

If the viewer is in fullscreen mode, starting an interaction will automatically close it. This ensures that viewers don’t miss anything you share.

Resizing the sidebar during the webinar

Viewers have the ability to resize or hide the panel to the right when viewing webinars on a computer.

To hide the sidebar, they can press the arrow button next to it.

To resize the sidebar, viewers can drag the panel’s edge.

Resizing the sidebar

These options ensure that the viewer can modify the webinar view to their taste.

If the viewer has the sidebar closed, starting an interaction will automatically open it again. This ensures that viewers don’t miss anything you share.

Please note! The resizing option isn't available on mobile devices due to the fact that the sidebar is located beneath the video, rather than next to it. People watching the webinar from mobile devices can only close and open the sidebar.

Requesting an invitation to the stage

If the webinar has the 'Allow viewers to request to go on stage' feature enabled, viewers can "raise their hand" to request being invited to the stage.

All they have to do to request a stage invitation is click the button with the hand icon below the video.

Request to go on stage button

Being invited to the stage

Any webinar team member with the ability ‘Manage the stage’ can invite viewers to the stage to (temporarily) join in the discussion. Viewers have to take action to appear on the stage; they will not suddenly appear without warning.

System requirements for viewers on stage

Internet speed

A viewer on stage has their own connection to the webinar. The minimum required upload speed for speaking during a webinar is about 250 kilobytes per second (equal to about 2 Mbps).

Supported operating systems

For computers

  • Windows: 10 or higher

  • Mac: OS X Mojave 10.14 (latest update) or higher

  • Linux: Ubuntu 10.04+, Debian 8+, openSUSE 13.1+ or Fedora Linux 21+

For mobile devices

  • iOS: 14 or higher

  • Android: 5.0 and above with current security and platform updates

Supported browsers

For computers

  • Chrome: Latest two versions or higher (including derivatives like Edge and Opera). Click here to see the most recent version.

  • Safari 14 and above

  • Firefox 78 ESR and above

For mobile devices

  • iOS Safari (in iOS 14 and higher)

  • Android Chrome, Firefox, Samsung Internet, and Chromium-based 3rd-party browsers

Accepting or rejecting an invitation to the stage

When a viewer receives an invitation to the stage, their webinar page will automatically open a new tab labeled ‘Prep room’.

Inviting a viewer to the stage doesn’t mean they will immediately be visible and audible to the attendees; they first have to configure their camera/microphone and accept the invitation. If they don’t accept, they cannot appear during the webinar.

These steps apply to both viewers on a computer and viewers on a mobile device.

Accepting the invitation

  1. Once a viewer has been invited, a new tab called ‘Prep room’ will appear for them and automatically open

  2. The viewer should select their camera and microphone in this tab

  3. Then, the viewer should click the ‘I am ready to join the stage’ button or use the arrow at the right side of the button to join with audio only

Please note! If the viewer was invited with audio-only, they will not be able to select a camera and the button to join the stage will read ‘I am ready to join on stage with audio only’.

After these three steps, the viewer will appear in the ‘Off stage’ list in the ‘Stage’ tab of the webinar team’s sidebar. On the viewer's end, an indication will show that a webinar team member has to take action.

A webinar team member with the ability ‘Manage the stage’ has to move the viewer to the stage. When they do, the viewer will be visible and audible to the attendees.

Please note! The webinar team will be able to see the viewer’s camera feed while the viewer is ‘off stage’ after accepting the invitation, even if the attendees don’t.

Declining the invitation

  1. Once a viewer has been invited, a new tab called ‘Prep room’ will appear for them and automatically open

  2. The viewer should click the ‘Decline invititation’ button in this tab

You can find info on the process of inviting a viewer to the stage in this article.

Configuring the camera and microphone as viewer on stage

The viewer configures their camera and microphone before accepting the stage invitation, but they can still change their settings after being brought on stage or waiting off stage.

These steps apply to both viewers on a computer and viewers on a mobile device.

  1. The viewer should open the tab ‘Settings’

  2. They can then change their camera and microphone settings

The changes will apply immediately; the viewer doesn’t have to save them.

Returning to the audience as a viewer

Viewers can leave the stage on their accord.

These steps apply to both viewers on a computer and viewers on a mobile device.

  1. The viewer should click the ‘Return to audience’ button in the bottom right of the webinar page

or;

  1. The viewer should open the tab named ‘Settings’

  2. They can then press the ‘Return to audience’ button to exit the stage

If you want to learn how to remove a viewer from the stage as a webinar team member, please check this article.

After returning to the audience as a viewer

The viewer that was on stage will be shown a ‘Thank you’ tab, indicating that they’ve returned to the audience and are no longer visible or audible.

This tab will disappear as soon as they open another tab, such as ‘Chat’ or ‘Interactions’.

Troubleshooting viewer video or audio issues

When a viewer is experiencing audio or video issues there are some steps they can follow to find a solution. Below the video the viewer will see a button stating “no audio or video?”, clicking this button will prompt some possible solutions for issues of the viewer.

The following solutions are given:

  • Refresh the page with the button below

  • Check whether sound is enabled on your device

  • Try clicking 'Use different player' below (not always available)

  • If you're watching on an Android phone, open the browser menu and use the desktop version of this page

  • Use a different browser, preferably Google Chrome on a desktop or laptop

  • Use a different device

  • Use a different internet connection if available

After the webinar

As soon as you end the webinar, the webinar video will be replaced by a notification that the webinar has ended or by your end slide. Have you set up an evaluation form and/or sales page? Then they will be shown to the viewer after the webinar.

When the webinar is over, viewers can no longer enter the webinar, but viewers who were already logged in will automatically be logged out after 30 minutes. This allows you to chat with your viewers after the webinar has ended.

If you set up an external sales page, the viewer will be forwarded to this page after the webinar has ended. The viewer won't see an evaluation form and will no longer be able to chat.

Have you made the replay available to your viewers? Viewers who click on the watch link after the webinar has ended will automatically be taken to the replay if it is available.

Behind the scenes: the technology and delays

As soon as the webinar has started, the magic that ensures the video and audio comes across well to all your viewers starts. For this, we look at the circumstances of each viewer, so that we offer each viewer a 'personal' solution.

The internet speed, browser and computing power of the device with which the viewer participates in the webinar is considered. Viewers with an optimal internet speed, a modern browser and a fast computer will receive the video and audio without delay and in high quality.

For the other viewers, WebinarGeek converts the video and audio behind the scenes into a format and quality that suits their circumstances. As a result, they see the webinar with a small delay. In practice, this means that if the presenter says something on second 1, the viewer will see it after, say, 15 seconds. The delay is different for each viewer and is normally no longer than 20 seconds.

WebinarGeek ensures that all interactions, slides and videos come along with the same delay, if there is one. This way everything appears at the right time and all viewers see exactly the same webinar.

Keywords: experience, viewer, audience, visitors, delay

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