This article contains guidelines for logging in, connecting, monitoring the event, and answering questions in real time for Simu-live and Sim-2-Live events. Producers, Presenters, and Q&A moderators have different functionality in the interface to control presentation elements and interact with the audience.
Things to Know
Timing
- Record and publish your webcast at least two hours before the scheduled start time.
- Two hours before the event, the webcast switches to live mode, and all settings are locked. After this cutoff, you can’t:
- Change the date or start time
- Record or replace the audio
- Rearrange the slides
- Change the recording
- Select or remove Rollover to Live
- On the event day, the webcast starts automatically at the scheduled time.
Presenter Access and Pre-call
- You can open Elite Studio at any time before the event to preview the platform with presenters.
- The Connection Panel opens 45 minutes before the scheduled start time.
- Presenters and Producers will connect their webcams and microphones during this 45-minute pre-call.
- Before the Connection Panel opens, presenters can access Elite Studio but can use only the team chat to communicate.
- The dial-in option isn’t available until the webinar rolls over to live.
Presenter & Q&A Limits
During the live portion of the webcast, standard login and Q&A limits apply:
- Up to 10 Presenters/Producers
- Up to 12 Q&A moderators
Presenter Media & Video Clips
- In Simu-live and Sim-2-live webinars, Presenter Media and video clips are delivered through different tools:
- Presenter Media plays in the Media Player
- Video clips play in the Slides tool
- This difference affects mobile playback when both types of media are used:
- Presenter Media plays normally on mobile devices.
- Video clips aren’t supported on mobile devices.
- When a mobile attendee views a video clip, they’ll see this message in the slide area:
“The video being shared is not yet supported for this device. Please stand by.” - To make video content available on mobile devices, include it in the Presenter Media file. To do this, combine the individual video clips into one file, then upload the combined file as Presenter Media.
Monitoring Simu-live Events
Standard Simu-live webcasts are entirely pre-recorded and will be played to a live audience on your chosen date and time. While the presentation plays to the live audience, you may have Q&A moderators log in to monitor the event and answer questions in real-time via text using the Q&A tool. Up to 12 people can log in at a time as Q&A Moderators.
Moderators will use the Presenter Link to log in and have full access to the Q&A, Team Chat, and Attendee Chat (if available on the Audience Console), and will be able to listen and watch the webcast in the live interface.
The webcast will start automatically at the chosen start time. A Simu-Live in Progress message will appear in the top corner of the live interface for your Q&A moderators, indicating when the webcast has begun.
There is no dial-in number or phone bridge for the Q&A moderators while the webinar is live, but they can communicate using the Team Chat. Team Chat messages are not visible to the audience but are captured in the webinar reports.
The webcast will end automatically after the recorded portion has played out. The event archive will be available a few hours later for your audience to watch on-demand.
If you want the audience console to remain open after the presentation to give attendees additional time to submit questions, consider extending the event by recording extra silence on the last slide so the console remains open.
Monitoring Sim-2-Live Events
Sim-2-live webcasts are Simu-live webcasts with the Rollover to Live box checked, providing live time at the end of the recording to address questions.
Sim-2-live webcasts start automatically at the chosen start time. After the pre-recorded portion plays out, the system will automatically switch to a live webcast.
While the pre-recorded portion plays to the live audience, the Q&A will be text-only, but your presenters can address audience questions both verbally and via text once the rollover to live occurs.
Elite Studio for Sim-2-Live events works the same as Elite Studio for fully live events. Check out the Elite Studio User Guide for more details on using the interface.
Logging in and Connecting
Your presenting team can log in and connect to the webcast 45 minutes before the scheduled start time using the Presenter Link. However, we recommend that those with a speaking role log in at least 30 minutes beforehand so they have plenty of time to set up and test their connection.
A maximum of 10 users (mix of Producer/Presenter) may connect to Elite Studio simultaneously. The Q&A Moderator role does not count towards this maximum.
Note: Every Sim-2-live event must have at least one person log in as a Producer to stop the event after the live portion is complete.
| Producer | Presenter | Q&A Moderator |
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Producers and Presenters will connect to Elite Studio just as they would for a fully live webinar. The connection options available are:
- Webcam
- PC Microphone Only
- Phone
Find more information on how to connect to Elite Studio.
Switch to Live Mode
A Simu-live message will show at the top of the interface once the webinar has begun. The webcast will automatically stream to your live audience based on the chosen date and time.
A countdown will appear two minutes before the pre-recorded portion ends, alerting presenters to get ready.
At the end of the countdown, the interface will automatically go into full live webcast mode. An automated message will also play to your presenting team: "You are now in the live stream," followed by a tone. The audience will not hear the automated message.
Important: The audio message comes after the platform switches to live mode. Producers and Presenters should wait until they hear the message before speaking or pushing slides. This will not align exactly with the live start countdown. A 10-15 second delay is normal, and any speaking before the audio alert will not be broadcast. Please wait for the alert to begin speaking.
Stopping the Webcast - Producers Only
When the event is over, the Producer must press the End Event button. After you press it, a confirmation window will appear. Clicking End Webcast from this point will disconnect the presenting team from the live audience and end the webcast.
Note: If the webcast is accidentally stopped, it cannot be restarted.
The event archive will be available a few hours later for your audience to watch on-demand.
Audience View
If you recorded your presentation in Elite Studio, any videos added to the Storyboard will play in the Slides tool, not the Media Player.
By default, Google Chrome automatically mutes the video in the Slide Area. Attendees using Chrome will need to unmute the video using the speaker icon in the Slides tool.
Watch the Video
The UI shown in the video may differ from yours, but the functionality will remain the same.
Comments
8 comments
This is a great feature. Is there any way to have the live portion of a sim-2-live be recorded and saved to an archived version?
Hi Eniko - thanks for feedback! Yes, as long your event is being archived then the live portion will be recorded and included as part of the Presenter Media in the archive. If you have any trouble or have more specific questions about this, please don't hesitate to file a support ticket. Thanks again!
I am a little confused about the live Q&A portion of the sim-2-live.
When presenters are live for Q&A and want to speak their answers do they have to use the dial in phone number to be heard in the webinar?
Or will there webcam/mic work so that people will see and hear them?
Is the dial in phone number optional or required to speak during the live Q&A?
Thanks!
-Kathy
Hi Kathy,
During the live portion of the Sim-2-Live, your presenters will be able to connect with a camera and a microphone if your event is video based. Thanks!
can we upload more than 1 video for simu-live
can close captioning be activated during a simulive since it is recorded?
Hi Yasminka,
Yes, you can add captioning to standard simu-lives using the automated on-demand captioning package. Contact your ON24 account rep to discuss pricing. Here's more information so you can see what's included.
Hi Shazia,
It depends on the type of video you’re uploading.
If you’re using a single pre-recorded video for the entire presentation, upload one
.mp4file.If you’re recording your slides and plan to insert shorter video clips throughout the presentation, you can upload up to 20
.mp4files.For more information about the types of video you can include in a simu-live event, see Using Presenter Media in the Elite Studio Recording Interface.
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