A voice chat can be scheduled instead of started. The group gets a countdown bar under its title, members can ask to be told when it opens, and nobody's phone rings.
That last part is the whole design. A scheduled room is an invitation; a group call that rings everybody is an interruption, and people forgive the second one far less than hosts expect.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Announce a live session with a countdown rather than a message.
- check_circle Pick a time that works for an audience in several places.
- check_circle Open the room early for a soundcheck without starting the event.
- check_circle Decide whether the session runs under your name or the channel's.
The countdown sits at the top of the chat for everybody, which is why it does the work an announcement message cannot.
schedule A banner beats an announcement
A message saying the session is on Thursday is read once and scrolls away. The countdown bar stays at the top of the chat until the moment the room opens, so anybody who visits the group between now and then is told.
It shows each person the time in their own, which removes the single most common failure of an international community event: half the audience arriving an hour out because somebody wrote a time without a zone.
Scheduling also fixes the awkwardness of starting. Rather than hoping enough people are around, you have a stated moment, a queue of people who asked to be notified, and a room that is already waiting.
Four decisions when you schedule one
Three affect how many people come. The fourth affects whether it sounds professional.
public Choosing across time zones
alarm The length of the countdown
switch_account Personal account or channel
mic Opening the room
A scheduled room asks; a ringing call demands. The first one fills, the second one empties.
settings Scheduling one
- Open the group or channel profile As an admin with the right to start voice chats.
- Choose to start a voice chat, then schedule it The option sits beside starting one immediately.
- Pick the date and time Members will see it in their own zone.
- Choose the identity Your account or the channel.
- Post a short message about the topic The banner says when; you say why.
- Open early for the soundcheck Then let the audience in.
This page schedules one live event. The curriculum step is the habit behind it: scheduled messages, choosing times from your own audience data, and running a calendar rather than posting when you happen to be free.
At a glance
- 1Schedule a session
Announce a voice chat with a countdown banner.
- 2Time zones
Everyone sees the start in their own local time.
- 3Open early
Start a little early for a soundcheck.
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