Virtual Lobby Tools

Virtual Lobby is a tool that allows your events to happen virtually. An online environment that can broadcast from a large networking event, a single session, or even several simultaneous sessions of individual conversations.

This article intends to show you how to set up the Virtual Lobby Tools.

How do I set up the Virtual Lobby Tools?

To edit your Virtual Lobby tools, go to Event > Virtual Lobby > press Tools.

Under Tools, you can enable or disable functionalities by pressing Edit in the upper right corner and ticking the corresponding checkboxes to the following features:

1. Feed

if you enable it, the Virtual Lobby will display a series of content, overriding the event information.

1. Sponsors

if you enable it, a list with all sponsors of the event will be displayed.

1. Files

if enabled, all files used in the event and its activities will be downloadable.

1. Random sponsors

if you enable it, sponsors booths will be sorted randomly on the Virtual Lobby each time the users access the main page. In case you disable it, the sponsors will be sorted alphabetically.

1. Random group rooms

If you enable it, group rooms will be sorted randomly on the Virtual Lobby each time the users access the main page.

1. Meetings

If you enable it, attendees will be able to schedule one-to-one meetings with other participants.

1. Networking

If you enable it, the Virtual Lobby will show the list of attendees who are online in your event.

1. Question

If you enabled it, participants will be able to send questions or post live Q&A during activities.

1. Comments

If you enable it, the Virtual Lobby will allow comments to be sent out during activities. You should see a Chat tab inside the room if Comments is enabled.

1. Polling

If you enable it, the Virtual Lobby will allow live polling and dynamic quizzes to be created and answered during activities. You should see a Poll tab inside the room if Polling is enabled.

1. Dedicated WebRTC IP

It enables a dedicated IP range for WebRTC video conferencing. Having a dedicated IP address means your domain is assigned an IP address that isn't shared or used by any other domains.

Once enabled, a WebRTC dedicated IP list will be displayed at the bottom of this page, as shown below:

1. Dial-in

The dial-in feature allows speakers to join online events from their phones. This option is useful for the ones who do not own a computer, do not have a microphone or speaker on their computer, or do not have access to a Wi-Fi network at the moment of the session. Click here for further information.

1. Collapse networking area

If you enable it, Networking and Group Rooms should collapse on the top bar instead of appearing on the bottom on the right-hand side of the screen.

The image on the left is how it would look like with this option disabled and the one on the right shows this option enabled with the Networking and Group Rooms section collapsed on the top bar.

1. Hide people count

If you enable it, it will hide the eye counter icon that is displayed in the upper left of each room and shows the number of people inside it.

Besides that, it will also disable the label count for the number of presenters and viewers present in each session under the People tab.

In the image on the left, you see a label that displays the number of viewers in that room. On the right, since the Hide people count was enabled, that label is not displayed.

1. Show end times on activities

If you enable it, the end times of the activities will be displayed in the online rooms in the Virtual Lobby.

In the image above the arrow, the option to Show end times on activities is disabled and only the start time of the activity is being displayed. In the image below the arrow, the option is enabled and both start and end times of activities are being displayed.

1. Virtual Background

If you enable it, presenters will be able to customize their virtual backgrounds.

In the image on the left, the Virtual background option is disabled, and the Background options don't appear. In the image on the right, the option is enabled and the presenter can select which image they would like to use as their virtual background. Click here for further information on virtual backgrounds.

1. Speed Networking: timer renew

You should enable this option if you wish to allow the participants to extend the timer when their Speed Networking sessions are about to end, as shown below:

If this option is disabled, all Speed Networking sessions will follow the length determined by the event organizers, with no option to extend the meeting's duration.

1. Profile lock

If you enable it, you will be restricting access to all the tools with personal data such as networking and profile editing.

In the image on the left, the Profile lock is disabled and the attendee profile is displayed. In the image on the right, the profile lock is enabled and no profile is displayed, which means that personal data will not show up and a regular popup to request a video call will be displayed.

1. Email lock

If you enable it, you will be blocking email from attendees on registration, networking, and interactions.

1. Hide welcome

If you enable it, the welcome card will be hidden so you will not have a banner with a description and cover at the top of your Virtual Lobby.

In the image on the left, the Welcome card is being displayed. In the image on the right, the welcome card is hidden.

1. Hide sponsor logo

If you enable it, sponsor logos will not be displayed on the right side of your activities titles in the Virtual Lobby.

1. Block content share

If you enable it, it should block the content share popup with options besides screen sharing, which means the presenters will not be able to share a PDF file or a video.

In the image below, on the left, you see three screen sharing options, which means the Block content share isn't enabled. On the right-hand side, the Block content share is enabled and there's only one option: to share the screen, the presenter will not see the options to share a PDF File or Video.

Click here for further information on screen-sharing capabilities.

1. Block content library

When using the Live Studio as the room video mode, you have the option to use a native Library when sharing Videos and PDFs. In case you wish to activate this tool, the Library pop-up will not be displayed as shown in the image below, and instead, you need to upload/share the file from your computer.

1. Block emoji

If you activate the Block emoji tool, users can't use them on the Virtual Lobby. In the image below you find an example on the Chat tab, where the emoji icon will not be available.

1. Native websockets 

   WebSockets

   WebSockets are an advanced technology that makes it possible to open a two-way communication session between the user’s browser and a server.

If your audience includes attendees from China, we highly recommend enabling the Native websockets.

By doing so, the entire Virtual Lobby connection will go through our native WebSockets instead of Google’s Firebase service, which means that users from China will be able to fully experience the Virtual Lobby.