Locking a conference and allowing participants to join a locked conference

You can lock a conference if you want to prevent any further participants from joining a conference after it has started. A conference can be locked and unlocked by conference participants using Infinity Connect or using DTMF-enabled endpoints, or by using the Administrator interface.

When a conference is locked, any new participants who attempt to join the conference are held at a waiting screen. They can be allowed in individually by Infinity Connect participants (Hosts only) already in the conference.

The exact locking behavior depends on whether or not the Virtual Meeting Room or Virtual Auditorium being used has a Host PIN.

If the service does not have a Host PIN:

  • Participants are able to join the conference until it is locked.
  • When the conference is locked:

    • A conference locked indicator is displayed.
    • Any further participants who attempt to join the conference (including any Automatically Dialed Participants and manually-invited participants who have been given a role of Guest) are held at the Waiting for the host screen. However, any ADPs and manually-invited participants with a role of Host will join the conference immediately.
    • All participants who are already in the conference are notified of any participants who are attempting to join the locked conference, and can allow the waiting participants to join. Notifications take the form of an on-screen message and an audio message/alert for each participant attempting to join.
  • If the conference is unlocked, any participants who are still waiting will automatically join the conference.

If the service has a Host PIN:

  • Host and Guest participants are able to join the conference until it is locked.
  • When the conference is locked:

    • A conference locked indicator is displayed to Host participants.
    • New participants who enter the Host PIN will join the conference immediately — locking does not apply to them.
    • Any new Guest participants (including any Automatically Dialed Participants and manually-invited participants who have been given a role of Guest) are held at the Waiting for the host screen.
    • All Host participants who are already in the conference are notified of any Guest participants who are attempting to join the locked conference, and can allow the waiting Guest participants to join. Notifications take the form of an on-screen message and an audio message/alert for each participant attempting to join.
  • If the conference is unlocked, any Guest participants who are still waiting will automatically join the conference.

All of the on-screen indicators, messages and the Waiting for the host screen can be fully customized via the theme associated with your services.

Locking using the Administrator interface

To lock or unlock a conference from the Administrator interface:

  1. Log into the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface.
  2. Go to Status > Conferences.
  3. From the Service name column, select the conference you want to lock or unlock.
  4. At the bottom left of the page, select Lock conference or Unlock conference as appropriate.

Locking using Infinity Connect

Host participants using Infinity Connect can lock and unlock the conference they are in by going to the side panel, selecting Control and then selecting Lock meeting or Unlock meeting as appropriate:

Host participants using Infinity Connect can also use the commands /lock and /unlock.

Locking using DTMF

If DTMF controls have been enabled, Host participants using telephones or SIP/H.323 endpoints can lock and unlock the conference using DTMF. The default DTMF entry to do this is *7 but this may have been customized. For more information, see Using a DTMF keypad to control a conference.

Allowing waiting participants to join a locked conference

When a new participant attempts to join a locked conference, all Host participants (on any endpoint) in the conference are notified that a participant is waiting to join. However, only Host participants who are using Infinity Connect can admit individual participants into the conference.

Participants who are waiting to join a locked conference are shown in the Participant list with a tick and cross next to their names. To allow these participants to join the conference, select the green tick. If you do not want them to join, select the red cross.

Note that if the Host has joined as presentation and control-only (and there are no other Host participants), the Host is not offered the telephone icons. However, they can use the Start the meeting menu option, which will let in all Guest participants.

If a conference is unlocked, all participants who are still waiting will automatically join the conference.

Rejecting a request to join a locked conference

If a Host (who is using Infinity Connect) does not want a waiting participant to join the conference immediately, they have two options:

  • To reject the request completely, the Host participant must click on the red cross icon next to the waiting participant's name. The waiting participant's call will be disconnected.
  • To leave the participant at the waiting for Host screen, the Host participant should do nothing. The waiting participant will remain at the waiting screen until:

    • a Host participant chooses to let the waiting participant join the conference, or
    • the conference is unlocked (after which the waiting participant will automatically join the conference), or
    • the participant has been waiting for longer than the specified waiting time (after which the participant will be disconnected)
    • the conference finishes (after which the waiting participant's call will be disconnected).