Preparing and Managing Breakout Rooms

By default, only the host can assign participants to breakout rooms. The co-host can leave and join any breakout room only if they join a breakout room assigned to them by the host.  As a host or a co-host you can jump between different Breakout Rooms.  Once the host creates and opens the rooms, the participants will be presented with a pop-up inviting them to join their assigned breakout room. If the co-host has been assigned to a breakout room, they will join that room just like any other participant.

Options for breakout rooms

After creating the breakout rooms, click Options to view additional breakout rooms options.

Check any options that you would like to use for your breakout rooms.

• Allow participants to choose room: Participants can select and enter rooms on their own once rooms are launched. 
• Allow participants to return to the main session at any time: If this option is checked, the participants can move back to the main session from their meeting controls. If this is disabled, they need to wait for the host to end the breakout rooms.
• Automatically move all assigned participants into breakout rooms: Checking this option will move all participants into the breakout rooms automatically. If this option is unchecked, the participants will need to click Join to be added to the breakout room.
• Auto close breakout rooms after () minutes: If this option is checked, the breakout rooms will automatically end after the configured time.
• Notify me when the time is up: If this option is checked, the host will be notified when the breakout room time is up.
• Set Countdown timer: If this option is checked, the participants will be given a countdown of how much time they have left before being returned to the main room.

Follow the steps below to assign participants to rooms or click Open All Rooms to start the breakout rooms.

Assigning participants to rooms

To assign participants to your rooms, select Assign next to the room you wish to assign participants to and select the participants you want to assign to that room. Repeat this for each room.

Once a participant has been assigned (manually or automatically), the number of participants will show in place of the Assign button.

Preparing breakout rooms

After manually or automatically assigning participants to rooms, you can rearrange the participants. Participants who are not assigned to breakout sessions will remain in the main meeting when the rooms are started.

Move to (participant): Select a room to move the participant to.

Exchange (participant): Select a participant in another room to swap the selected participant with.

Delete Room: Delete the selected room.

Recreate: 

Recreate all Rooms: Deletes existing breakout rooms and allows the host to create new ones. 

Recover to pre-assigned rooms: Recreate the breakout rooms with the pre-assigned arrangement. This is only available if using the pre-assign breakout rooms feature.  

Add a Room: Add another breakout room.

Open All Rooms: Start the rooms. All assigned participants will be moved to their respective rooms after confirming the prompt to join the breakout room. If allowing participants to choose their own room, they can open the list of rooms and choose which to join. The host will be left in the main meeting until manually joining one of the rooms. The participants (and the host when manually joining a room) will see the following message shown when joining the breakout room.

Managing breakout rooms in progress

Once the breakout rooms have been started, the assigned participants will be asked to join the Breakout Session.  The host will stay in the main meeting until joining a session manually. If a participant has not joined the session yet, it will be noted by (not joined) next to their name.

Join: Join the breakout room.

Leave: Leave the room and return to the main meeting (only shows when in a breakout room).

Close All Rooms: Stops all rooms after a 60 second countdown, shown to the host and participants, and returns all participants back to the main meeting.

Responding to requests for help

Participants in breakout rooms can request that the meeting host join their meeting by clicking Ask for Help.

You will be prompted to join the room where the request originated from. Click Join Breakout Room to join the room.

Broadcasting a message to all breakout rooms

The host can broadcast a message to all breakout rooms to share information with all participants.

Click Breakout Rooms in the meeting controls.

Click Broadcast a message to all, enter your message and click Broadcast.

The message will now appear for all participants in breakout rooms.

Screen Sharing 

Participants can share your screen in a Breakout Room just as you would in a regular meeting. However, the host must enable participants to share their screens in Breakout Rooms.