The conference dashboard provides a comprehensive suite of tools for managing a conference in-progress. This task falls to the conference organizer, who is always a host. The organizer may also designate additional hosts to help moderate a larger or more complicated conference.

When the conference is in-progress those assigned as Hosts can log into the ZipDX web portal and access the conference dashboard.

The blue strip across the top of the conference dashboard (shown above) are the Host Controls. This document is a reference to the items shown in the Dashboard Host Controls.

1. Lecture Mode

1. Lecture Mode

Lecture Mode controls the mute state for all participants.

• Lower All Hands – Clears all raised hands shown in the dashboard.
• Lecture Mode (Soft) – All participants are muted, but can unmute themselves by pressing *6 on their telephone keypad.
• Lecture Mode (Hard) – All participants are muted, only a host can unmute them from the conference dashboard.
• Clear All Muting – Sets all participants unmuted.

Note that Hosts remain unmuted regardless of the lecture mode setting.

For more about Lecture Mode see Feature Profile:Lecture Modes.

2. Conference Settings

2. Conference Settings

• Lock Conference – Presents any new participants from joining the conference. Once the conference is locked, if someone leaves the conference for any reason they cannot rejoin.
• Reset Votes – Clear the dashboard of any past vote results.
• All to Waiting Room – Move all participants to the waiting room. While in the waiting room they hear only music. They cannot chat as a group.
• Uninvited to Waiting Room – Any participants who connected without being positively identified (usually those who joined using a conference code) are moved to the waiting room.
• Announce Names – Toggles the setting to automatically play a participants name when the join the conference.
• Join/Exit Chimes – Toggles the setting to play a chime as participants join or exit the conference.

For further information about voting see Feature Profile: In-Conference Voting.

3. Rooms

3. Rooms

 

• Everyone to Main or All Rooms to Main– Move all participants to the main room.
• Send Room X to Main – Offered when you are in Room X, moves all participants to the main room.
• Disconnect Main – Disconnects all participants in the main room.
• Disconnect Room X – Offered when you are in Room X, disconnects all other participants in the room.
• Breakout Participants – Moves participants to their pre-assigned breakout rooms. Participants with no breakout room assignment stay in the main room.
• Auto-assign Breakout – Prompts for number of breakout rooms to use, then automatically assigns breakouts rooms, splitting participants evenly into groups.
• Participants to Wait Room – Move all Participants to the waiting room. Others (Hosts, Interpreters and Auditors) remain in the conference.

For further information about breakout rooms see What are breakout rooms?

4. Record/Transcribe

4. Record/Transcribe

• Record – Toggles conference recording on/off. Turning recording on/off repeatedly results in the creation of several recordings.
• Scribble($) – Toggles the automated, real-time transcription service.
• Scribe($$$) – Offered when allowed, invokes the automated, real-time transcription service, while also ordering a professionally edited transcript upon completion of the conference.

For details about conference recording see: Three ways to invoke conference recording.

$ indicates that Scribble involves an added cost. Scribe is indicated with $$$, emphasizing that it is costly, and should not be invoked on a whim.

Note that recording and transcription can be disabled in the account settings. In that case the menus for the restricted features are not displayed.

5. Dialout

5. Dialout

• Dialout – Allows a host to have ZipDX dial out to anyone, anywhere.
• Disconnect Dialout – Disconnects the last call leg resulting from dial-out.
• Contact Lists – Accesses a pre-defined set of contacts lists to make Host Dial-out more convenient.

For an example of using Host Dialout see Dashboard Magic #1: Bringing someone into a conference call.

6. End

6. End

End – After a confirmation, ends the conference, disconnecting everyone.