Setting Up Meet & Stream and the Backstage

Meet & Stream is PheedLoop's own native streaming solution. It isn't just an RTMP ingest or the option to embed a third-party service (though those are available in PheedLoop). Meet & Stream offers the convenience, integration, and streamlined functionality of a native solution. It is built on top of PheedLoop Meet, which is PheedLoop's native meeting system, allowing for rich group video/audio calls, screen sharing, and more. The Meet product is coupled with our Stream product (allowing you to stream your PheedLoop Meet meetings to hundreds or thousands of people), resulting in Meet & Stream!

Quick Start

Step 1 - Enable Backstage Streaming for a Session

If you'd like to test Meet & Stream or are certain you want to use it for a session, the first step will be to enable Meet & Stream for the session's backstage. To do this, visit the Sessions module in your dashboard, select any session, and toggle on the Enable Backstage Meet & Stream checkbox. You will not be charged anything at any point or consume any credits, that is optional and comes later when you're ready to go live.

Step 2 - Visit the Backstage

Open up your event's Virtual Event Portal via your dashboard's Event Portals menu. Ensure you are logged in to the portal with your admin credentials. If you are not, then you will be unable to see the Backstage and all the sessions within. Click on Backstage on the left hand menu, and navigate to the session you enabled Meet & Stream for in the previous step. Click on the Meet & Stream tab.

Step 3 - Join PheedLoop Meet

Now that you're in the Meet & Stream interface for the session, you need to join the meeting. You'll notice the familiar PheedLoop Meet interface pop up under the Meet & Stream tab. You will likely need to grant permission from your browser for Meet & Stream access to your camera, microphone, and screen. Once you’re ready to begin, click on Join Call to start the stream. 

Under the Select Stream Source field, select Meet to access Meet & Stream features.

The controls are very straightforward and similar to popular videotelephony software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. If you’ve used either software or similar ones, you’ll likely get the hang of Meet & Stream immediately. Existing controls for Meet & Stream include toggles for cameras, microphones, and screen sharing. It allows up to 16 simultaneous video feeds from speakers/panelists who join, and will broadcast in gallery view mode.

Any speakers who are also in the session's backstage and joined PheedLoop Meet there will show up in the meeting, and you're welcome to chat with them. 

Once you have gotten the hang of Meet & Stream and it’s controls, proceed to the next step to begin broadcasting. 

Step 4 - Broadcast Your Meeting

Now that you are in the meeting, you're welcome to begin broadcasting it whenever you like by toggling on Enable Stream and Broadcast. Broadcasting allows your meeting to start being captured and recorded, and whenever you're ready you can toggle the Stream option to share the broadcast publicly to attendees (more on this in the next step).

To start broadcasting, toggle the Broadcast option. You're likely going to be in Test mode right now (if the Test toggle is turned on), so you can run unlimited and free 5-minute broadcasts to test things out. 5 minutes after you start your broadcast, it will automatically be stopped. You're welcome to start it again if you like after that. We'll talk about applying actual credits to your broadcasts later in this article.

It takes about 60 seconds for your broadcast to start. When it does, the broadcasted view of your Meet will show up in the mini-player (muted by default). The broadcast is usually 5 - 10 seconds behind the real-time meeting, and the mini player is there only for you to have a convenient view of what your attendees will see when you choose to start streaming.

Step 5 - Stream Your Broadcast

Now that your broadcast is running, if you're all set and ready to raise the curtain, all you need to do is enable the stream by toggling the Stream switch. 

Doing so will immediately start streaming your broadcast to all attendees viewing your session via the Sessions section in your virtual event portal. This setting to enable the stream is identical to the Enable Stream setting in your dashboard. You can toggle your stream on and off as often as you like; it does not affect the broadcast or the meeting itself. Really think of it as just a curtain preventing your attendees from seeing what you're broadcasting behind the scenes.

Step 6 - Ending Your Session

After your session has wrapped up, stopping and shutting things down is very simple. Simply disable the stream, and disable the broadcast (ideally in this order). You can restart these as often as you like within the time duration your streaming credit (if applied) allows, or as often as you like in the 5-minute test bursts PheedLoop provides for free.

Purchasing Credits

In the Quick Start guide above, we walked you through Meet & Stream in the Test mode. Eventually, you may want to broadcast and stream a real meeting to a large number of attendees for more than 5 minutes. In that case, you'll need to purchase credits via your dashboard's 

1. From the Event Dashboard, select the gear icon on the top right corner of your screen and select Settings

   

2. From the settings page, navigate to Account & Billing > General Credits tab

   

3. Under the Add Meet and Stream Credits field, enter the number of credits you wish to purchase under Quantity 
4. Select the maximum number of viewers that can watch the stream from the dropdown

5. Select Add

   

6. In the new prompt, enter your credit card information

7. Select Confirm and Pay to complete the transaction

   

Once you have purchased your Meet & Stream credit(s), you can apply them to your session to disable test mode and go live. Keep in mind that you'll need to start with the broadcast (not the meeting) turned off prior to switching off the Test switch.

1. From the Meet & Stream menu, toggle off Test Mode

   

2. A new prompt will appear, select the checkbox of the credit you wish to use and select Actions > Apply Credit

   

The prompt will now close and your stream will now be broadcasted live without the limitations placed by test mode. Please note, it may take up to 30 seconds for stream to be fully live and there will be a 10 second delay between what the Speaker is saying and what attendees see from the session.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if the viewer limit is reached?

If you've reached the viewer limit based on the streaming credit you have purchased and applied, new attendees trying to join the session will not be permitted and will see a pop-up notification saying the session is at capacity. As soon as an attendee chooses to leave, someone new can take their spot and join in.

What is the difference between broadcasting and streaming?

In PheedLoop Meet, your speakers and moderators convene in a dedicated meeting space. Broadcasting functions much like pressing a “record” button—it is as if a camera operator were filming the meeting. Importantly, broadcasting or recording alone does not make the meeting publicly viewable.

This means you may use Meet and Broadcast together if your sole objective is to capture a recording of the session. However, most events not only wish to record their meetings but also deliver them to attendees in real time. That is the role of streaming.

In short, the sequence is: Meet → Broadcast → Stream.

How many speakers/presenters can Meet & Stream support?

Up to 25 speakers/presenters can be in the meeting. Up to 16 camera feeds can be visible at any given time, plus any optional screen shares.

How many viewers can Meet & Stream support?

The simple answer is there's no limit. If you anticipate more than 5,000 viewers for a session, let us know and we can offer further discounts as our standard pricing goes up to 5,000 viewers only.

What are the other streaming options PheedLoop supports?

Several! Check out a full list here.

Does Meet & Stream support picture-in-picture mode?

Yes! This is a supported aspect of Meet & Stream. Select the option in the attendee-facing player when your stream is enabled to switch to picture-in-picture mode. This allows for the opportunity to explore other parts of the event while watching the live stream on the side. The player also sticks around as the attendee navigates outside the virtual event portal in other tabs or other computer applications.

Can I disable the backstage entirely?

Yes, easily! Visit Experiences > Virtual > Settings in your dashboard, and toggle off the Enable Backstage Section checkbox.

Will attendees see the backstage?

The backstage tab will only ever be seen by Event Admins or Speakers. Event Admins by default will see all sessions within the backstage. Speakers will only ever see the sessions that they are assigned to in the backstage. Attendees will not see the backstage tab.