An observer waiting room is an area where you can hold observers from entering a session until the moderator is ready to admit the observers. The waiting room helps build a fourth wall to ensure your observers only see the "show ready" details of the discussion.
When is an Observer Waiting Room Helpful?
Observer waiting rooms are great additions to your sessions if you are a moderator who may have clients or executives joining your sessions, but are also responsible for:
- testing the respondent's microphones and cameras before the start of the session
- testing stimulus before the start of the session
- testing screen sharing before the start of the session
- testing translation settings before the start of the session
Adding an Observer Waiting Room to the Project
Click on the project settings tab in the project.
Tick the box next to the 'Observers Must Wait to Enter' to enable.
Note: Once this project setting is checked on, all the sessions in the project will have an observer waiting room. This cannot be set session by session.
Admitting Observers to the Live Sessions
When all participants are ready to begin the interview, the moderator may invite observers into the discussion by clicking the "Invite Observers" button on the top right of the room. All observers entering after this button is clicked will bypass the waiting room and join the interview automatically.
After inviting observers and ensuring they can see and hear the room, the moderator can begin the recording by clicking the Recording button in the top right corner.
Observers can also be added one at a time, by clicking the "+" arrow in the participant list.