Interactive webinars are highly interactive, real-time events best suited for meetings and round tables where attendees participate with mics + webcams actively. Presenters and attendees will both see the default webinar room, and there is no delay, allowing for seamless audience participation. Interactive webinars have stricter system requirements: attendees must have high-speed internet and a modern browser like Chrome or Firefox.
Note: To ensure the best possible attendee experience webcast mode will automatically be enabled for all attendees once your webinar reaches 250 total registrants or more than 100 live attendees.
How do I make sure my webinar is set up to be in interactive mode (not webcast mode)?
When first creating your webinar, under Live Event Experience, click the Interactive button.
This setting can also be adjusted for existing webinars on their Manage Webinar tabs, under Live Webinar Settings.
Will my attendees be prompted to share their microphones and webcams as they enter the webinar room?
To ensure attendees will immediately be able to share their microphones and webcams, we'll next go to the Edit tab of our webinar. Under Advanced Settings, we'll make sure to enable:
- Attendees can share mics and webcams
- Prompt attendee to share camera and mic on enter
- Use simple view to just turn on web cam and mic
With the above settings in place, attendees will be prompted to share their microphones and webcams as soon as they enter the webinar room.
Inside of the webinar room, attendees will be able to adjust these settings using the icons at the bottom of their screens.
Can I control attendees' mics and cams?
As an admin* inside of the webinar room, you'll be able to see which attendees have enabled their microphones and webcams. The list of attendees will be available to you when you're in the Presenter View, on the people tab (as shown in the screenshot below).
*To give any presenter admin access inside of the webinar room, make sure to check the Can access Host Control Panel in live webinar room box when adding them as a presenter on the Presenters tab of the webinar.
For any attendee who's enabled their microphone and/or webcam, you'll be able to make adjustments as needed, like muting/unmuting their microphone or turning off their webcam.
Clicking either the microphone or camcorder icons, you can enable or disable the attendee's devices (as long as the attendee has already allowed BigMarker to access them).
To assist attendees in enabling their microphones or webcams:
- Find the attendee in this list, and then click "⋮" next to their microphone and webcam icons
- From there, hover over either Manage Mic or Manage Camera
- You'll be able to click Request Control
- The attendee will then receive a notification of your request
- As soon as the attendee clicks Allow (Recommended), you will be able to make adjustments to their microphone or webcam by using the toggles available, and then clicking Next
- At that point, you'll see the attendee's icon(s) change to blue in the control panel
- The attendee will see these changes reflected in the icons at the bottom of their screen
How can I make sure my attendees are setup to be able to share their microphones and webcams?
Anyone wanting to share their microphones and/or webcams in a live webinar room should test their system setups using the BigMarker System Check.
Just like presenters, attendees will want to follow the instruction below:
- Use either Chrome or Firefox as your browser (especially if you intend to use your microphone and webcam in the webinar). Make sure your browser is updated to its latest version.
- If you have slower than required upload and download speeds, seen in the BigMarker System Check, please hardwire into your router or set up as close to your router as possible.
- If you experience issues with your webcam display due to slow internet speeds, please consider joining the webinar with microphone only.
What branding opportunities do I have in an interactive webinar?
Unlike webinars utilizing Webcast mode, those using Interactive mode will appear to attendees as shown in the screenshot below.
You will be able to update the logo visible in the room at upper left, and you will still be able to take advantage of BigMarker's Audience Engagement tools (eg Handouts, Offers, and Polls).
