Nowadays, Internet technologies are developing at an extraordinary speed. Therefore, online conferences and webinars occupy a special place in modern society. Of course, there are many webinars, but they all have several common goals, including training (seminars, courses), conferences (scientific, social, business), meetings of employees working remotely, etc.
Creating and conducting a webinar is not difficult, especially with automated webinar platform. Everyone can do this without much effort. But there are still some nuances that we will discuss in this article on the example of the online platforms ZOOM and BIZON 365.
How do I set up a webinar?
To hold this online event, you need to register on the selected platform.
Start by setting up the room.
Open BIZON 365. To create a room, open “Rooms,” click “New Room,” enter the name of the webinar, the room ID (you can insert a domain here), click “New Room.”
Go to room settings, and after - “General menu.” Enter expert's name (remember, there are always two roles in the webinar: expert and listener). If two speakers participate in the webinar - we indicate their data through "and" or only one name. Next, select the date and time of the online event and save all settings. Below you will see a direct link that helps promote and share your webinar.
Congratulations! The first block is configured.
Next, go to the "Preference menu." You can request an email address or phone when someone is logging in, but this is unnecessary.
Chat settings menu – where you can manage your chat. You can choose to show the number of participants in the webinar, their names, and you can hide this information. Optional. Do not forget to click "Save settings" if you have changed something.
The next step is the Banner settings menu. Select a picture and insert a link to the page you're selling. The banner is the item that will appear in your webinar room as a button. It appears immediately, but for us, it must appear at the right time when the speaker will talk about it. Therefore, at this stage, we turn it off, click "Save settings." The moderator at the time of the broadcast will have to watch what is happening and when it will be necessary for this button to appear, press the banner and save the settings so that it appears at the right time during the webinar.
What about the File-Button preference menu? For example, we need to add checklists, etc. Then, we insert a link or select a file. Save the settings.
As with the banner - now this button is not needed. It should appear in the webinar process at the right time; because of this, we click "Turn off" → "Save settings." The button disappears, but when the right time comes, we press "Enable" again and save all settings so that it will appear at a certain moment.
In the next Miscellaneous preferences menu, the most important part is Images. This is a picture that will appear on the page before the webinar starts. You can also insert music here - you download the track and save all the settings. Then, when the page is opened, music will automatically play.
You can also add not only a picture but also a video, an advertising video, etc.
The room is set up. Date, day, preview, chat. Done!
Important! BIZON 365 does not have its own broadcast service.
To go on air with an expert, we need YouTube. The account on YouTube should already be upgraded; in other words, some live broadcasts should already have been translated from it.
Now the turn of the ZOOM platform, the main thing for you is to have a paid account here.
The speaker from his device should click the "Schedule" button, where he indicates the webinar's topic, the date, start and finish time (recommended with a margin of 2 hours).
Under "Meeting Options," check "Automatically record," select 'On the local computer."
Important! We select the "Share Computer Sound," and then we begin to connect with BIZON 365.
Click "More →" Broadcast on YouTube "and connect. The topic of the webinar must be duplicated. We choose "Private" so that randomized viewers cannot watch the webinar on YouTube. Click Activate. If you used YouTube for broadcasts at least once - everything is fine. You need to take care of this nuance in advance, since according to the rules of YouTube if this is your first broadcast, you need to wait 24 hours to activate.
Turn off the sound on YouTube, press "Share." Then we copy the link, go to BIZON 365, click "Broadcast," → "Automated webinar," insert the link → "Convert," → "Save all settings," → "Go to the room."
Click Room Settings and leave this tab open.
Then go to ZOOM, expand the screen, turn on the video, and then click "Start Webinar.” From now you are ALREADY visible and audible.
If part of your webinar is a presentation that you can turn on and start showing, include the "Share screen." It will be better if your presentation is converted to PDF format.
Important! ALL windows must be viewed in full-screen mode.
The speaker can click on the broadcast link throughout the webinar and check what participants write in the chat. Since the presenter will broadcast with ZOOM, the chat will not be visible from the computer, but the host can look into the phone, and this is absolutely normal.
If you want to play video, video reviews, etc., tap "Stop Share" to stop sharing. Then click Share Screen again, and select a new video tab. If you have Windows, you will not be able to switch between windows simply; in Windows, this can only be through the lower control panel. If you have a MacBook, you do not have to stop sharing and then press "Share Screen" again, you can always do it simply through the desktop, and there will be no need to interrupt the broadcast.
If two experts speak, before the first speaker passes the word to the other, he must stop the screen share, and the second must launch a screen demonstration. There is no need to be afraid of awkward moments in the broadcast. If several experts speak, the one who speaks will appear on the screen. Once the second speaker is turned on, the first speaker is turned off.
Completion of the broadcast
When the webinar comes to an end, and you need to finish the broadcast - go to BIZON 365, click "Finish," and choose “Stop sharing” → "Finish." After that, wait for the record from ZOOM to be converted.
Important! Go back to YouTube because the broadcast was going on exactly from there, go to the Creative studio, and stop the broadcast. This can be done by either a producer or an expert. Not necessarily in the first seconds after the end, but it needs to be done.
Go to the "Broadcasts" menu, click "Broadcast control panel," and here you can complete the broadcast. Here you can immediately cut and edit broadcast video.
How do I set up an automated webinar?
Automated webinars — are webinars that have a live overlook but are actually pre-recorded.
To set up the automated webinar, open the room in which it was recorded. Click the item “Automated webinar.” Here you can edit the online event script. Go to the script editor and manage all possible functions. It is possible to set up an additional number of participants via bots, change the video's start time, etc.
If you need webinar statistics, go back to the list of rooms, click "Reports," select a webinar, and find all the information about the event that can be downloaded in PDF, tables, etc.
What if we need a record? In this case, take the record with YouTube, not with BIZON 365. Why? Because we launched it with ZOOM: we have a broadcast, a presentation, and a camera connected already on YouTube. So go to YouTube, copy the link from this video and send or paste it where you need it.
Also, it would help if you made a schedule.
Important! You should disable banners and files at this stage. But! They must be in the script editor. The script should remember them. You must do the same with files and buttons.
Please note that the webinar link remains the one we generated and sent out first at the primary webinar.
If you have any questions related to the settings of webinars and automated webinars, do not hesitate to leave comments, we are always ready to help!