Schedule video breakouts

Video breakouts are scheduled group video chats that you can plan as part of your event.

When added to sessions, video breakouts can be used for workshops, where participants can get together in smaller groups and brainstorm on a topic, or just for a casual break during the session.

Video breakouts can also be added to sponsor profiles or booths, to create a dedicated space where you can bring your partners and participants together.

Video breakouts includes the following capabilities:

• Video chat with up to 250 participants that can join simultaneously.
• Instant chat messaging.
• Advanced moderation - moderators have the ability to:
  • Mute attendees and other moderators.
  • Remove other attendees and moderators from the breakout.
  • Moderate other moderators, mute them and remove them from breakout.
  • Screen share content in the breakout, by selecting the screen to share.
    For screen sharing a video with audio (or just an audio), moderators must select a Chrome tab with the audio enabled.
  • Add collaborative tools to the breakout, such as Miro whiteboards or Google docs, for participants to interact and team work on.
  • Moderate (edit, approve, deny) messages that are entered in the chat by participants.
• Upload and share presentations.
• Create and control multiple polls during the video breakout.
• AI-generated simultaneous closed captions in the spoken language, selected by a moderator once the call is launched.
• Enable the use of virtual or blurred backgrounds.
• Automatically save a recording of the video call, and generate a transcript of the video call recording. Currently available to SpotMe Support (SpotMe user role).

Video breakouts are a no-download video conferencing solution that is automatically built into Backstage and SpotMe's web app (via desktop and mobile).

Video breakouts are only supported on the web app (when accessed via desktop or mobile device). Video breakouts are not supported on mobile app.

Scheduling a video breakout in a session or sponsor page

Go to the Sessions or Sponsors module in your workplace, and select an existing session or sponsor where you wish to add the video breakout. Now, click on the Schedule video call button:

You will see the following options appear, that you can use to choose the options that will be included in the video breakout:

The options include:

• Enable chat: This is the instant chat “text” messaging that can be made available in a video breakout. Users can enable moderation so that any chat messages entered by participants will need to be approved prior to being made visible. Find out more
   
• Enable polling: With this option enabled, moderators will be able to create and launch one or more polls during the video breakout. This is done directly via the web app, after having joined the video breakout. Find out more
   
• Slides: With this option enabled, moderators can start, control, and stop the sharing of any presentation that has previously been uploaded in Backstage. Find out more
   
• Virtual and blurred backgrounds: With this option enabled, moderators can upload virtual backgrounds to be used, and participants can choose to use the uploaded virtual backgrounds, or to apply a blurred background.
   
• Enable captions: With the captions enabled, the moderator will have the option to enable the captions in the call settings (once the video call is open). Only one language can be selected, and it should be the language that is spoken in the video breakout:
  Available languages to select are:
  Arabic (Saudi Arabia) / Arabic (U.A.E.) / Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) / Chinese (People's Republic of China) / Chinese (Taiwan) / Czech / Danish / Dutch (Belgium) / Dutch (Netherlands) / English (Australia) / English (Canada) / English (India) / English (New Zealand) / English (United Kingdom) / English (United States) / Finnish / French (Canada) / French (France) / German (Germany) / Greek / Hebrew / Hindi / Hungarian / Italian / Japanese / Korean / Norwegian (Bokmål) / Polish / Portuguese (Brazil) / Portuguese (Portugal) / Romanian / Russian / Slovak / Spanish (Mexico) / Spanish (Spain) / Swedish / Thai / Turkish / Ukrainian / Vietnamese / Welsh
   
• Enable embedded frame: You can enable this option in order to add an embedded frame to the video breakout, for example to use collaborative tools such as a Miro board or a Google doc.
  With this option enabled, you’ll be able to use the Embed URL field in order to paste in the link to the collaborative tool.
   
• Recordings: Option to automatically save a recording of the video call. Recorded videos are listed here once they are saved and can be downloaded. Recording transcripts can also be generated and downloaded from here. Find out more
   
• Moderators: 
  Here you can select All participants, to ensure that ALL the breakout participants will by default have the same rights as moderators (except for the chat moderation, for which they need to be assigned). 
  The moderators rights are described below. 
  You can alternatively select Assigned moderators , where you can specify exactly which of your participants will have moderator rights. 
  Moderators will be able to control and manage the video breakout, using the following controls that standard participants do not have:
  • Mute other attendees (including other moderators)
  • Remove other attendees from the video breakout (including other moderators).
  • Screen share content in the breakout, by selecting the screen to share. This can only be done by moderators once the call is launched.
  • Upload and share presentations.
  • Add collaborative tools to the breakout, such as Miro whiteboards or Google docs, for participants to interact with.
  • Enable AI generated simultaneous closed captions in a single (spoken) language. This can only be enabled by the moderator once the call is launched.
  • Moderate chat messages so that they need to be approved prior to being displayed in the chat.
    Important: Chat moderation can only be assigned to specific moderators, and cannot be used if the “Give all participants moderator rights” option is enabled.

Click on Save once you have finished adding the options you need.

Once the video call is added to a session or sponsor page, participants can simply join the call by navigating to the session or sponsor in the app.

Tip: Once the breakout is scheduled and saved in the session or sponsor page in Backstage, as a Backstage user you can also join the call by clicking on Join call in the page in the workspace.

Using the video breakouts controls in the web app

When accessing a session or a sponsor page, attendees will see a green Join video call button at the top of the session or sponsor details:

Clicking on the Join video call button will take them to the video breakout, where they will have the following controls or indicators:

Standard controls/indicators for users in the video breakout
1 - Mute/unmute their own microphone + select microphone.
2 - Enable/disable their camera + select camera.
3 - Raise hand on screen to indicate they have something to say.
4 - Screen share content (moderators only).
5 - More options, including “View”, where the user can select their preferred view in the dropdown. More information.
6 - Hang up/leave call.
7 - Display the list of participants on the call.
8 - Maximize or minimize the video call window.
9 - Change pages to display other participants in the side panel.
10 - Name tag for the attendee currently speaking.
11 - Indicator of whether the attendee has muted their mic (here they are muted).

Additional actions that only moderators can perform:

• Mute other attendees (including other moderators)
• Remove other attendees from the video breakout (including other moderators).
• Screen share content in the breakout, by selecting the screen to share.
• Add collaborative tools to the breakout, such as Miro whiteboards or Google docs, for participants to interact with.
• Enable AI generated simultaneous closed captions in a single (spoken) language. This can only be enabled by the moderator once the call is launched.
• Moderate chat messages, if enabled and if the moderator is specifically selected as a moderator (i.e. when the “Give all participants moderator rights” option is not selected).
• Create and control polls (if enabled).

Note: For video breakouts associated with an agenda session, attendees can join the breakout before the start of the session and after it has ended (up to 30 days before the start, and up to 120 days after the end of the session).

What views are available in the breakout?

The following three view types are available for attendees in the breakout:

• Dynamic
• Focus on speaker
• Focus on content

These views each have a specific purpose, and can be used in either minimized or maximized screen, with varying numbers of attendees shown at a given time.

Dynamic view

The focus is on showing as many participants as possible.

Unless content is shared, there is no large window focus on the person speaking:

• View is minimized with no shared content: up to 19 people at a time including viewer.
• View is maximized with no shared content: up to 26 people at a time including viewer.
• View is minimized with shared content: up to 3 people at a time including viewer.
• View is maximized with shared content: up to 11 people at a time including viewer.

Focus on speaker view

• View is minimized with no shared content: up to 4 people at a time including viewer
• View is maximized with no shared content: up to 12 people at a time including viewer
• View is minimized with shared content: up to 3 people at a time including viewer
• View is maximized with shared content: up to 11 people at a time including viewer

Focus on content view

During screen sharing, this view focuses on the shared content, with no speakers or participants displayed.

• View is minimized with shared content: 0 people on screen
• View is minimized with shared content: 0 people on screen
• View is minimized with no shared content: up to 19 people at a time including viewer
• View is maximized with no shared content: up to 26 people at a time including viewer

What happens if I navigate away from the video breakout during the virtual meeting?

If an attendee decides to access content in the app while they are attending a virtual meeting, the attendee will still remain in the call, and the call video window will be reduced to the bottom right corner of the app:

This will allow the user to refer to any content that is available in the app, such agenda items, forms, feeds, etc., while still being able to perform the following actions in the video breakout:

• See and hear other people on the call.
• Speak and be visible to other people on the call.
• Change/stop/start their camera and microphone.
• Move around the minimized breakout window on the web app screen.
• Leave the call.
• Restore the video breakout to full size.
• Be notified when polls are launched.

How to create, launch, and control polls in the video breakout

If the Polls option is enabled for the video breakout, moderators will be able to create and control multiple polls. This is done directly via the web app, after opening the video call.

Tip: If multiple polls need to be prepared, the moderator can access the call well in advance of the scheduled start time for the video breakout, so that they have ample time to get all their polls ready.

In the web app, the moderator can click on Create poll to start adding their polls:

The moderator can then enter the question for the poll and the possible answers:

Moderators can create up to 50 polls. There is no limit to the number of possible answers in a poll. There is also no limit to the number of characters used in the text for poll questions or responses.

Users can allow participants to select multiple answers to a poll, by enabling the option. If the option is not enabled, attendees can only select one answer.

Once the question and the answers are added to the poll, the user can click on Save to finish creating the poll. The poll is then added automatically to the To launch tab:

The To launch tab is designed to hold all the polls that are ready to be launched.
In this tab, the moderator can perform the following actions:

• Edit the question and responses for the existing polls using the button.
• Delete the existing poll using the button. The poll is permanently deleted.
• Hide the existing poll’s responses as well as the Launch now button, using the button, so that only the poll question is visible. This will provide a more comfortable view.
• Reorder the polls, by dragging them up or down in the list using the button located to the left of the poll question if multiple polls are present in the tab. This can help the moderator position the polls in the order that they wish to launch them:
  

The moderator can also choose to create more polls, by clicking on the Create poll button and repeating the steps described above. Each additional poll is added to the To launch tab, beneath the already created poll:

Here (above)  the user has created two more polls that have been automatically added to the To launch tab. The user has hidden the poll responses and the Launch now buttons for these two polls, using the button.

When multiple polls are present in the To launch tab, the user can change the order of the polls, by dragging them up or down in the list using the button located to the left of the poll question. Once the moderator is ready to launch a poll, in the To launch tab, they can select the Launch now button for the poll.

Once a poll is launched, all the attendees in the video call will see the poll in the Open tab.

Here the participants will be able to respond by selecting their own response(s). Once they have responded, they will also see in real time the responses that other respondents have selected:

As you can see above, for polls the attendees can only see two tabs: Open and Closed. The Open tab corresponds to the Live tab that the moderator can see. Attendees cannot see the To launch tab, as it is only visible to moderators.

Note: Please be aware that attendees can change their selected responses at any time, as long as the poll is live/open. The results seen by the attendees and the moderator will update accordingly in real time.

On the moderators side, the launched poll will immediately be moved from the To launch tab to the Live tab. The moderator will be able to see the results come in in real time for the launched poll.

In the above example, you can also see that the moderator has participated in the poll by selecting a response.

If multiple polls are launched from the To Launch tab, they will all appear in the Live tab (for the moderator) and in the Open tab for the attendees, in the chronological order in which they were launched:

There is no limit to the number of polls that can be launched simultaneously.

When the moderator decides that it is time to close a launched poll, in the Live tab they can select Close poll. 

On the attendee and the moderator’s side, closing the poll will stop the users from being able to vote for the poll, and move the poll the Closed tab:

For closed polls, moderators and participants can continue to see the poll results.

From the Live and Closed tabs, moderators can continue to create new polls by clicking on the Create poll button. Created polls will be added automatically to the To Launch tab. 

Moderators can also use the same button for permanently deleting polls, directly from the Live or Closed tabs. 

Polls cannot be edited or reordered once they are launched or closed.

In the Closed tab, moderators can choose to relaunch a closed poll, using the Launch again button. This will move the poll back to the Live tab for the moderator and the Open tab for attendees, and will allow all users to vote/modify their vote. 

For a poll that was launched > voted > closed > relaunched, all the votes from the previous poll launch are kept when the poll is launched again.

Summary of notes for video breakout polls:

• Only moderators can create, launch, and close polls, and only moderators can delete polls.
• Polls can be created as single or multiple choice questions (word cloud polls are not supported).
• Up to 50 polls can be created in a video breakout.
• There is no limit to the number of answers that can be added to a poll when creating it.
• All answers added to a poll must be different/unique.
• All video breakout participants can vote for a poll, including the moderators, as long as the poll is launched.
• Attendees will see all poll votes instantly, after they have submitted their vote. Moderators will see all votes instantly, without needing to vote first.
• All poll results are updated in real time. 
• Poll participants can change their selected response for a poll that is launched, as many times as they like, as long as the poll is not closed.
• A red dot appears next to the To launch and the Live/Open tabs to indicate that a new poll is available there (i.e. when a poll is created or when a poll is launched).
• Polls cannot be edited or reordered by the moderator once they are launched or closed.
• When a poll is closed, moderators and participants can no longer vote for the poll. Moderators and participants can continue to see the poll results.
• A closed poll can be launched again at any time via the Closed tab.
  Polls can be deleted by moderators via any tab. Deleted polls are deleted permanently.

How to upload and share presentations in the video breakout

Backstage users can upload presentations to the workspace in Backstage, which can then be shared and controlled by moderators during the video breakout.

• Presentations must be uploaded to the video breakout via Backstage prior to being shared in the video breakout. Presentations cannot be uploaded via the web app.
• The presentations must be in PDF format in order to be uploaded and used. This can for example be a PowerPoint presentation saved as a PDF, or Google Slides shared as PDF.
• The maximum file size supported is 150 MB.
• There is no limit on the number of presentations that you can upload, however presentations must not exceed 250 pages. If your presentation exceeds 250 pages, we recommend that you split it into multiple presentations that do not exceed 250 pages.
• Please note that slide animations are not supported.

Uploading slides to a video breakout in Backstage

Backstage users can upload presentations to video breakouts in the workspace, by clicking on the Upload slides button:

From here they can simply drag and drop or upload the presentation file from their computer:

Once the presentation file is uploaded, it will appear in the video breakout section in Backstage:

Multiple presentations can be uploaded to the same video breakout, there is no limit to the number of presentations that can be uploaded.

Remember to click on Save after uploading your presentation(s).

Once the presentations are uploaded via Backstage, in the web app the moderator(s) can share them, move through the slides, and remove the slides from the screen during the video breakout.

1. Presentations uploaded to the video breakout are shown beneath the preview, in the Slides tab.
   The Slides tab is visible to only the moderator(s). The moderator can click on Present now for the presentation that they want to share: 
   
2. The moderator will need to confirm they want to share the presentation:
3. After confirming, the presentation is added to a new Presenting tab beneath the preview (next to Slides), and is shared live for all the participants to see in the video breakout:
4. While sharing, in the Presenting tab, the moderator can use the arrow controls located at the bottom of the screen to move through the slides one by one, or they can jump to a specific slide using the slide tiles that are located at the top of the presentation preview.
   
   To stop sharing the presentation, the moderator can click on the red Stop presenting button in the bottom right, and confirm that they want to stop sharing the presentation:
   
   The presentation is then removed from the video breakout and is no longer seen by the participants. If needed, the moderator can re-share the same presentation again or choose another uploaded presentation to share via the Slides tab.

Note: Screen sharing is only supported on the desktop web app. It is not supported on the web app used on a mobile browser.

Using the instant chat in the video breakout

Video breakouts can include an instant chat feature that attendees can use to exchange text messages.

The video chat feature is only present if it has been enabled in Backstage when scheduling the video breakout.

The chat, when enabled, can be accessed in the web app by clicking on the Chat tab (1):

The chat window will appear below the video breakout window, and will by default include all the attendees that are present in the video breakout. The attendees present in the chat are visible in the form of a list (2).

Here the attendee can see any chat messages that were already exchanged (4), and can write out their own chat message in order to share it with the other attendees (3).

If chat moderation is enabled, only the chat messages that have already been approved will be visible to participants. Moderators will be able to edit chat messages before approving them if needed.

Using chat moderation in the video breakout

Chat moderation can be used in the video breakout to ensure that all chat messages are reviewed and approved by a moderator, before being made visible.

By “specifically approved”, we mean that the moderator(s) will always need to be selected in the “Assigned moderators” dropdown in order to use chat moderation.

Important: Chat moderation cannot be used if the option “All moderators” is enabled in the Moderators options.

Enabling chat moderation

To enable chat moderation:

1. In the Moderators section of the video breakouts options, select Assigned moderators.
2. In the Assigned moderators dropdown, select the video breakout participants that you want to give the chat moderation task to.
3. Enable the Chat functionality in the video breakout options, and then enable the Moderated option:
   

How does chat moderation look to attendees in the web app?

When chat moderation is enabled, only the reviewed and approved messages will be displayed in the chat for all attendees to see.

Participants who submit a new chat message in the chat will see a note saying that their chat message is “waiting for review”. While the message is waiting for review, it will not be displayed to other participants in the chat:

Once the chat message has been reviewed and approved by a moderator, the message will appear posted in the chat as follows. Note that the background of the chat message is now full color, and that the "waiting for review” text has disappeared. When the message is approved, it will be visible in the chat to all attendees:

Notes: If a chat message was reviewed but denied by a moderator, the attendee will continue to see that their chat message is “waiting for review”. The attendee will not specifically see that their message was declined. Denied messages will not be displayed in the chat for all attendees to see. Also, If a chat message was approved by a moderator, but the participant edited their chat message after it had already been approved, then the chat message will need to be re-approved by a moderator before being visible to all participants.

How does chat moderation work for the moderators?

Chat moderation is entirely controlled by the moderator(s) in the video breakout on the web app (it cannot be controlled on Backstage). This is done via the three tabs: To moderate / Approved / Decline.

These tabs will contain all the messages that were submitted via the chat, including the name of the attendee who submitted the chat message, and the date and time when it was submitted.

Note: Only moderators that are selected in the “Assigned moderators” dropdown in the video breakout options in Backstage will be able to moderate chat messages. Chat moderation cannot be used if the option “All participants” is enabled in the Moderator settings video breakout options in Backstage.

When a chat message is submitted by an attendee, it will always appear in the To moderate tab:

Here, the moderator can choose to Approve or Decline each chat message using the available buttons.

If needed, the moderator can edit any chat message in order to make any necessary changes, in particular before approving it. This is done by selecting the button and selecting Edit:

The moderator can then edit the text as needed. To confirm their changes they will select the button:

Editing chat messages can be done from any of the chat moderation tabs (To moderate, Approve, Declined).

Tip: When reviewing chat messages, please make sure you do it from top to bottom, so that approved messages will appear chronologically in the chat for participants. If the chat messages are approved in a random order, this may cause confusion for the participants.

As soon as the moderator approves a message, it will be displayed in the chat for all participants to see, and will be moved automatically to the Approved tab:

When a message is in the Approved tab, the moderator can at any time select the Decline button for that message, in order to change its status to “Declined”.

Declined messages are automatically moved to the Declined tab. From the attendee’s perspective, they will continue to show as “waiting for review” and will not be displayed to all the other participants in the chat:

When a message is in the Declined tab, the moderator can at any time select the Approve button in order to display the chat message to all attendees in the chat. The now approved message will be moved back to the Approved tab.

While the moderator is looking at the messages in the Approved or Declined tabs, a red bubble will appear in the To moderate tab if any new chat messages have been submitted and are ready to be reviewed.

Using virtual backgrounds or blurred backgrounds

Virtual or blurred backgrounds can be enabled in the session's video breakout settings in Backstage:

With this option enabled moderators can upload virtual backgrounds to be used, and participants can choose to use an uploaded virtual background or to simply apply a blurred background.

Backstage users can use the Upload backgrounds button to add the virtual backgrounds that participants will be able to select. Accepted file types: JPEG, JPG, JPE and PNG, with a maximum file size of 3.0 MiB:

Important: Please make sure that all background images are uploaded prior to the call being live. If you upload background images to Backstage while the video breakout is taking place, the participants will need to refresh the browser in order to see the new backgrounds you added.

The uploaded backgrounds appear in the settings once they are uploaded:

From the video breakout participant's perspective in the app, once they have joined the video breakout they will have the option of leaving their camera as-is, selecting one of the uploaded virtual backgrounds (if available), or they can apply a blurred background.

Note: Please note that the participant in the web app will see their own video mirrored in the "You" window. This is applied to the whole video (what’s captured by the camera and any used virtual background). This is by design in order to create a better experience for the user, but is only applied to the "You" window and not to other the attendee videos. The rest of the participants will see the image as it should be, not mirrored. 

This is done by selecting the Camera button > Effects:

In the panel to the right, the participant can choose to apply a virtual background (if at least one has been uploaded in Backstage) or a blurred background (like in the example below):

Blurred background selected

Virtual background selected:

The option to apply a blurred background is always available, as long as the Virtual and blurred backgrounds option is enabled in the video breakout settings in the session.

Utilizing virtual and blurred backgrounds only supported on Chrome and Microsoft Edge Desktop Browser (Windows and Mac) and Mac Safari Desktop. They are not supported on mobile browsers.
Please note that virtual and blurred backgrounds may use additional CPU resources on the speaker's computer, so it is recommended that their computer meets the hardware requirements.

Using background noise suppression

To provide the best possible audio experience to all participants during a video breakout, noise suppression is enabled by default when joining a video breakout.

Noise suppression focuses on eliminating unwanted background sounds such as typing sounds, fan hums, distant conversations, or street noise. Its job is to isolate the speaker's voice so that whoever is listening hears you more clearly, and reduce or remove the distracting background sounds.

When joining the video breakout, participants will be notified that noise suppression is active, and informed that it can be disabled if needed.

Noise suppression may use additional CPU resources on the speaker's computer, therefore should  the participant notice issues during the call, they can disable it at any time under the microphone options:
 

Utilizing audio effects is available only on Chrome and Edge desktop browsers. They are not supported on mobile browsers. Please note that noise suppression may use additional CPU resources on the speaker's computer, so it is recommended that their computer meets the hardware requirements.

Scheduling/removing/editing breakouts in multiple sessions or sponsors

If you need to edit, schedule (enable) or cancel (disable) video breakouts for a large number of sessions or sponsors, you can do this via the XLS import/export:

1. Go to Content > Sessions/Sponsors module, and export the session or sponsor list as an XLS file.
    
2. In the XLS file, locate the "video_call_enabled" column.
    
3. Change the data for each session in this column:
   - Set the data to "False" if you wish to cancel/disable the video breakout.
   - Set the data to "True" if you wish to schedule/enable the video breakout.
    
4. To add or remove users as breakout moderators while performing this upload, use the video_call_moderators.0 / video_call_moderators.1 etc. columns, where you can add the User fp_ext_id (available in the User export for your attendees).
    
5. Once you've made the changes to the export XLS file, save the changes and then go back to Backstage, and re-upload/import the XLS file to implement the changes to the sessions or sponsors.

Video breakouts and session registration

When you set up registration on a session for participants, you will also determine whether or not participants can join the video breakout associated with that session.

If the participant has not registered to the session, they will not see the video breakout in the session, and will not be able to join the video breakout.

How can participants share videos with sound?

When in a breakout, sharing audio from your computer is supported only when you are using Google Chrome and you share a Chrome tab.

To share a video in Video breakouts participants can:

1. Drag and drop a video file into Google Chrome to open it as a new tab.
2. Click Present > Share screen in Video breakouts.
3. Select Chrome Tab at the top of the Share your screen popup:
   
4. Select the tab with the video.
5. Check Share audio in the bottom corner of the popup.
6. Click Share.

Enabling and accessing the saved recordings and transcripts/captions for your meetings

Please note that only the content of the video window of the breakout, as well as any screen shared content that is visible there, will be included in the recording. Any external content such as shared slides, chats, polls, closed captions, or embedded frames are not included, as they are outside of the video window. 

To enable Backstage to create recordings and transcripts for video breakouts, you need to toggle on the Recordings & Transcripts option in the Breakout rooms section in the agenda session or in the sponsor page (if relevant):

Doing so will automatically record a video of the video breakout whenever it is running live. The recording starts as soon as one participant has joined the video call.

When joining the call, all participants will see that the meeting is indeed being recorded, via a "Recording has started" message on the screen:

Once the meeting is finished and the video breakout is closed, the recording will be automatically processed and saved as one or more MP4 files. The file names will include the name of the linked session or sponsor, as well as the date and time that the video breakout took place.

As soon as the video breakout recording is finished being processed, it is available for download. A captions and/or transcript file of the recording can also be generated:

Clicking on Download recording will download the MP4 recording file(s).
Clicking on Transcript & captions will allow you to generate the captions (VTT) and/or transcript (TXT) files.
Up until June 2, 2026, captions and transcripts can only be generated by SpotMe Support. Starting June 2, 2026, Backstage users with the Manager role in the workspace will be able to generate transcripts.

Video breakout recordings that exceed 4 hours in length will automatically be broken into multiple chapters that will each have a duration of up to 2 hours, and are named as numbered chapters so that users can clearly see the sequence of the files. For example:

Here, users can download the recording files by clicking on Download recording.

Whether the recording is kept as a single file or broken into numbered chapters, the name of the recording file will always contain the name of the session or the sponsor page that contained the video breakout as well as the date and time. The same applies to the transcript files.

Recording that was not broken into chapters: 
session name_date of video breakout_time of video breakout.

Recording that was broken into two chapters:
#Chapter 1 session name_date of video breakout_time of video breakout.
#Chapter 2 session name_date of video breakout_time of video breakout.

When there are multiple recording files, users can click on the overarching Generate transcript & captions button, in order to generate the captions or transcripts for all the chapters for the video breakout in one click.

Once a captions or transcript file is generated for a recording, the user can download each file.

In doing so, they can choose whether to:
Download the file as a .TXT format transcript, with speaker labels (that includes Speaker 0, Speaker 1, Speaker 2 etc.), OR
Download the file as a .VTT format captions file, without the speaker labels.

Notes:
- Even if a recording was not broken into chapters due to its length, it can occur that more than one recording/transcript file for the video breakout is available. This can happen if the video breakout was opened and closed multiple times, or if there was a network problem that caused the video breakout to close and be re-opened. If this is the case, the separate files will be available and called “session name_date of video breakout_time of video breakout”.
- Captions and transcript files only need to be generated once in Backstage, and are then always available to be downloaded, either as a .TXT format transcripts, with speaker labels or as a .VTT format captions file, without the speaker labels.
- Captions and transcript include everything that was said during the video breakout as text, with precise timestamps. Users can use the files to perform searches for key words and gather insights on what was said during the meeting.
- The transcript with speaker labels does not indicate speaker names, but does differentiate what was said by each speaker by adding speaker labels (Speaker 0, Speaker 1, Speaker 2 etc.). To identify who said a specific word, the user will need to check the VTT file, find what was said and the corresponding timestamp, and then check the video recording at the given time to see who the speaker was.

Tips: 
- To help create accurate captions and transcripts, you can associate glossaries with video breakouts. A glossary is a set of rules that guides transcription, using lists of terms. It helps the system recognize, replace, or block specific terms during a call. Find out more
- Recordings and transcripts for video breakouts and live sessions can also be retrieved via API. Find out more

Important: The transcript files are generated automatically, we therefore recommend that you always review and verify the content before using or sharing it.

Example of .TXT captions file:
As you can see here, the file name is the session name, the spoken text is broken up per speaker. 
The transcript will never include the speaker's first name or last name, and will instead include speaker 1, speaker 2, speaker 3, etc.:

Tip: During the video breakout, we recommend that speakers try not to speak at the same time or interrupt one another, as this can make it challenging for the system to attribute what was said to the correct speaker.

Example of VTT transcript file:
As you can see here, the file name is the session name, there are no speaker details, and the spoken text is not broken up per speaker:

Deleting video breakout recordings and transcripts from a workspace

Video breakout recordings and transcripts can be hard-deleted from workspaces.

This functionality needs to be enabled at the organization level, In the Default workspace settings:

This option can only be enabled by Backstage users who have an admin role in the organization.

Enabling this option will allow Backstage users that have the “Manager” role in the workspace to delete any generated video breakout recordings and transcripts.

This can be done for individual recordings and transcripts, using the available trash can button for the file located to the right:

Or it can be done for all the recordings of a breakout, using the overarching Delete button.

Please note that associated recordings and transcripts are always deleted together simultaneously. You cannot delete only a single recording, or only a single transcript:

• Users can delete just the recording if the transcripts is not generated.
• Users can delete the recording and transcript if the transcript is generated.

When deleting a file, they will always see a notification informing them that once deleted the file cannot be retrieved in any way at all (even by contacting SpotMe Support), and will be asked to confirm the deletion:

How can I see who has attended my video breakouts?

When associated with sessions, you can see whether your attendees have attended the relevant video breakouts via the Attendance report.

Here, in the Session_attendance sheet, you will find a "Session attended" column that will be populated with Yes/No based on the watch time for the associated live session or, if applicable, the associated video breakout.

Technical notes and requirements

As a general rule, make sure that all app users follow the recommendations mentioned in Requirements for remote attendees using the SpotMe web app.

Supported systems and browsers

Operating systems:

• Windows 7 or later.
• macOS 10.10 or later.
• Any Linux-based system with x64 architecture.

All browsers are supported, except for screen sharing audio, which is only possible through a Google Chrome tab.

Video breakouts are not supported on mobile app, they are only supported on web app.

Bandwidth requirements

A minimum internet connection speed of 5 Mbps is needed.

Network requirements

For participants on corporate networks, all domains and IP ranges listed on the SpotMe platform corporate firewall & network requirements article have to be allowed.

VPN

We do not recommend using Video breakouts with a VPN. Our recommendation is to turn off your VPN when joining a Video breakout, and then turn it back on after finishing the meeting.

Known limitations

• Video breakouts are not supported on mobile app, they are only supported on web app.
• Up to 250 users can join a video call. You can use session targeting to limit who can access a specific video breakout.
• Screen sharing does not share audio from the computer. Audio can be shared only when sharing a Google Chrome tab.
• Video breakout polls and chats cannot be exported.
• If a whiteboard or any collaborative tool is embedded in the breakout, participants will still be able to screen share during the breakout. The embedded frame is now displayed next to the call itself, which can contain a screen share.