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Version: 3.0

Webinar in Action

Before proceeding, let's first learn about the basic roles of the Circle Webinar solution:

Webinar Roles​

A webinar typically involves three main roles:

1. Host (or Moderator)​

  • Responsible for managing the webinar session.
  • Make the participants visible by the listeners
  • Controls muting/unmuting participants and turning off camera
  • Can accept listeners' requests to become a publisher
  • Can make the listener (temp speaker) listener again

2. Speaker (or Panelist / Presenter)​

  • Delivers the main content of the webinar (video, audio, or shared screen).

  • Can present slides, share the screen, and interact with the host and attendees in real time.

  • Typically limited to a few selected participants chosen by the host.

3. Listener (or Attendee / Participant)​

  • Joins the webinar mainly to watch and listen.
  • Usually receives the stream with WebRTC (for interactivity) or HLS/DASH (for scalability).
  • Can interact through chat, Q&A, polls, or other audience engagement tools, depending on permissions given by the host.
  • Cannot directly broadcast audio/video unless promoted by the host.

Usage​

  • Visit https://domain:5443/webinar/room1?role=host&streamName=host&skipSpeedTest=true to join as a host.

    The host can see every speaker in the room.

  • Visit https://domain:5443/webinar/room1?role=speaker&streamName=speaker&skipSpeedTest=true

    The speaker can also see the host but by changing the scope, it can be changed. We will discuss it further.

  • Visit https://ovh36.antmedia.io:5443/webinar/room1?role=listener&streamName=listener&skipSpeedTest=true&playOnly=true to join as a listener in playOnly mode.

    It means the listener cannot see anyone when joining by default but he/she can still ask the questions via the chat box.

  • Now, the host has a control to allow the speaker to be visible to the listeners.

    Check out the highlighted item in the below image to allow the speaker to be watched by every listener.

  • Now, you will see that the listener is able to see the speaker in a room.

  • Now if the listener wants to become a speaker, the listener needs to raise their hand.

  • After that, the request goes to the host and now the host can allow/deny the listener's request. Check out the below image for reference:

In this way, the basic webinar usage is done using AMS and the Circle Webinar Solution.

Scope of Roles​

The scope of roles can be changed via application advanced settings under the below property

"participantVisibilityMatrix":
info

  • The main roles are host, speaker, listener and active speaker (the one when host allow speaker to be visible by listener)

  • The other roles are not important in the basic webinar case, but can be used for advanced purposes.

  • The host can see everyone:

     "host": [
        "host",
        "active_host",
        "speaker",
        "active_speaker",
        "listener",
        "temp_listener",
        "active_temp_listener"
      ],

  • The speaker can also see everyone but you can change the scope as per the requirements:

     "speaker": [
        "host",
        "active_host",
        "speaker",
        "active_speaker",
        "temp_listener",
        "active_temp_listener"
      ],

  • The listener can only see limited users:

     "listener": [
        "active_host",
        "active_speaker",
        "active_temp_listener"
      ]

Visit here to test the Circle Webinar Solution using the URL format described above.

Stay tuned with Ant Media Server for upcoming features! :)