Meetecho guide for participants

Meetecho is the main IETF meeting participation tool used by both remote and onsite participants. We recommend that all meeting participants familiarise themselves with Meetecho.

PLEASE NOTE

Most sessions during the IETF 117 meeting will include an experimental automated transcription feature that will be accessible from the Meetecho client and visible in the San Francisco meeting rooms.
This feature is not yet documented and has several known limitations: It does not currently recognise when the speaker changes and so the text appears as one stream without a break or other indication of a speaker change.
We will develop this feature further after IETF 117 using the feedback we expect to receive from the community.

Basics

Meetecho is a WebRTC application that is accessed through a web browser, so you do not need to install anything, just follow the appropriate link.

Meetecho provides all of the normal features of a video-conferencing service, as as well as some IETF-specific features, including integrated Zulip chat and links to the sessions materials in the Datatracker.

Onsite participation at IETF meetings requires using Meetecho to register for each session, to enter the microphone queue, to participate in polls initiated by session chairs, use the chat feature, and to share and control any slides presented. A special mobile-friendly "lite" version of Meetecho is available from the IETF Datatracker agenda.

There are two versions of Meetecho, the simple mobile-friendly client with very limited functionality that is only intended for onsite participants, and the full client that is used by both remote and onsite participants. Both versions are accessed from the Datatracker meeting agenda page which shows a list of icons next to the name of each session:

The icon of a camera is the link for the remote "full" client, and the icon of a mobile phone is the link for the onsite "lite" client.

Features of the onsite "lite" client

The client provides two basic features:

  • Join/leave the queue. NOTE, the queue is shown on the main screen in the session, not in the client
  • Request to share preloaded slides. Once accepted you will then have buttons to control the slides.

Meetecho have produced a short video that explains how to use Meetecho to participate in IETF meetings.

Remote "full" client

The remote "full" client provides the full range of features of Meetecho.

Connect to Meetecho

  1. Follow the link by selecting the appropriate icon on the meeting agenda page next to the session that you want to join. For interim meetings, links can be found on the IETF Datatracker upcoming meetings webpage.
  2. If you are not already logged into Datatracker, you will be redirected to login using your Datatracker credentials. This is required to check you have registered for the session and to provide Meetecho with your details for it to display.
  3. Meetecho will prompt your browser to ask you for permissions to access your selected camera and microphone. At this stage please select the camera and microphone that you want to use as changing those in the middle of a session will likely break audio.

Please note:

  • Meetecho does not provide an option to join by phone call.
  • A headset is highly recommended for audio quality and good lighting is helpful for video quality.
  • When you join, you will start with you microphone muted and camera off, by default. That cannot be changed.
  • The meeting Bluesheets (list of participants) are automatically generated using your Datatracker information.

Testing your setup before a session

For IETF meetings, a variety of testing opportunities are usually available in advance of and during meeting week. Even if you have used Meetecho previously, you are encouraged to test your set up ahead of the meeting as updates to Meetecho, browsers, and operating systems may have introduced changes.

Participating in the session

Please read the separate Meetecho documentation, which is an illustrated user guide, for full details on how to use the product.

The general expectation is that participants will send audio or video only when recognized by a session chair as part of the queue.

When speaking, please start by stating your name and any affiliation information you would like to share so that information is available to people listing to the audio, including the audio-only recordings of the session.

If you will be presenting using slides, coordinating with the session chair in advance is strongly recommended as there are several options for sharing slides during the session.

Getting help

If you run into trouble setting up for an IETF meeting using Meetecho, or would like additional information, please contact support@ietf.org.