Web Conferencing

May First/People Link has several tools for web-based conferencing.

Recommended Tool

Jitsi Meet is our recommended tool for web-based video conferencing. All participants can join a video conference by clicking on a web link that you can send by email or instant message. Each participants must use the Chrome or Chromium web-browser and have a functional microphone and speakers on their computers and (optionally) a camera. Participants who want to share their desktop instead of their video, must install the desktop sharing plugin described below.

Jitsi Meet works best when all participants have a reasonably good Internet connection (1 mbit upload, 5 mbit download) and with 5 or less participants (if you have more participants, you can still have a good conference, but you will have better sound quality if each participants disables the video option).

All participants must use a recent version of Chrome/Chromium (it is possible with Firefox, but we have experienced some problems if some users are on firefox and some on chrome). If you are using chromium, you must pass the --no-sandbox option.

To start a conference, visit: ​https://meet.mayfirst.org/.

Alternatively, you can pick a conference room by inventing your own address on the meet.mayfirst.org web site. For example, you could invite all participants to go to: ​https://meet.mayfirst.org/my-special-meeting.

The first person to enter the conference is the moderator, and will have special rights (for example they can mute other individuals, kick someone out of the conference, or set a password for the conference room).

Desktop Sharing

Firefox or Iceweasel

• You and all participants must have Firefox or Iceweasel version 41 or higher installed.
• Go to: ​https://meet.mayfirst.org/desktop-sharing-firefox.xpi
• Firefox may tell you it has prevented a site from installing software on your computer. Click Allow. Then click Install.
• Go to your Addons page in Firefox: Tools -> Add-ons.
• Look for the Jidesha: meet.mayfirst.org addon and enable it.

Chrome or Chromium

• Download the desktop sharing application: ​https://meet.mayfirst.org/desktop-sharing-chrome.tgz
• Unpack the folder: tar -xzvf desktop-sharing.tgz on Linux, or double click on Windows or Mac.
• Type the following into your browser address window: chrome://extensions
• Check the "Developer Mode" checkbox in the top right corner
• Click "Load Unpacked Extension"
• Navigate to the unpacked folder and open it
• You should now see a new extension called "Mayfirst's Jitsi Desktop Streamer." Click the Enable checkbox.
• Now, open a Jitsi Meet conference and you can click on the Share Screen option

Limitations

Jitsi is solid software, however, getting video and audio to work across different computers and platforms is still quite experimental. Be sure to test thoroughly before relying on a jitsi web conference.

If you are using video for all participants, each participant needs a high bandwidth connection. Alternatively, instruct participants to turn off their video when they are not speaking.

There is not option for calling in via phone, at this time.

Experimental Tools

The following tools are experimental.

• ​https://live.mayfirst.org/ provides video conference and a shared notepad. You must use Chrome or Chromium.

• ​https://live.mayfirst.org/mexcla is audio-only and provides a live interpretation channel.