Highfive

Highfive is our new video conferencing provider, which aims to make it simple for us to meet face-to-face and collaborate wherever and whenever we want — in a conference room, at a desk, at home, or on-the-go.

Highfive is different from GoToMeeting in a few key ways:

• No one is a host or presenter. Anyone on the call can share his or her screen at any time. A call can have up to 50 participants.
• Anyone at MTG can start a call at any time; there is no limit to the number of concurrent calls. To join a call, others will need the Highfive application and the name of the meeting.
• High-quality audio is integrated, so the days of starting a meeting and "dialing in" from the conference room are over. (Telephone access is still available for meeting participants who don't have enough bandwidth for the video meeting.)
• Calls are portable. If you're in the conference room and need to move the call to your desk or your cell phone, you can do so without interrupting anything. All meetings will be held online (with approved access); for example, a meeting called "Annual Meeting" would be at https://mtgmediagroup.highfive.com/annual-meeting and anyone with the Highfive app open could join by simply typing "annual meeting" when prompted for the call name.

Highfive also has a hardware component installed in the grand ballroom. The Highfive unit includes a camera with 120-degree field of vision and four auto-focusing microphones. In addition to providing video and audio input for meetings, the Highfive device allows us to present wirelessly.

Getting started

The first time you use Highfive, you must install the application. (For now, at least—Highfive intends to have its software run entirely in web browsers by the end of the year.) Apps are available for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.

Once you have the application, it will walk you through registration and/or login. For the purpose of Highfive, your email address will end with @mtgmediagroup.com. (Call participants may have any email address; only staff will be able to create and start calls.)

If you can't seem to end up in the right call, you'll need to log out and switch domains. This is a simple process: <htmlet>wrongdomain</htmlet>

Creating a meeting and starting a call

Once you're logged in, simply type a call name in the box and click "Go." From there, you'll be able to invite other participants, which you can do via email or by simply sharing the link to the call. The meeting starts once people arrive; you can create the link well in advance and re-use links for recurring meetings. File:Joiningacall.mp4

Starting a video chat from Slack

In any channel or conversation, simply type the following (as its own line) and hit enter: /highfive meetingName. Slack will generate a Highfive meeting with that name and invite everyone in the channel. Just click the link and go!

Within a meeting

At the top of the screen, you'll see a list of the participants. Click the + button to invite someone to a meeting that's already in progress; this is also where you'll find the phone number for voice-only participation.

A few notes about the voice option:

• If you have someone using a phone-only option from a cell phone, simply share a link to the call. When clicked on a cell phone that does not have Highfive installed, that link will offer the option to either install the software or dial in—no typing needed.
• For all other callers, be sure to grab the number as you start the call. Phone numbers expire for new dial-ins after 90 minutes (no one will be booted off an ongoing call, but someone joining after the first two hours of an epic meeting may need a new number). Again, just click the + at the top of the call screen to see the number assigned to your meeting.

These buttons will always be at the bottom of a screen during a call.

"Move to TV" will move the call to the television, using the Highfive camera and microphones instead of the hardware in your computer or cell phone.

Anyone can click "Share screen" to present to everyone else on the call. If you're in the conference room and connected to the Highfive device, this will also put your presentation up on the TV wirelessly.

Recording

Highfive does not currently have a server-side recording feature, but you can always use QuickTime Player to make a screen recording. All MTG Macs should already have QuickTime Player in the Applications folder. (The link includes a Windows option, as well.)