Sending Invites to Multiple (100s) People

[talentmanagement]

Hello, 

I have used WebEx many times and am familiar with sending invites to many attendees at once. But for this upcoming meeting, I have to invite over 200 people. I work for a large Public School system. I know going into this that not all the people are going to attend the meeting, but I have to send them invites anyway. I do not want to add 200 people in the attendees box one at a time, so: 

1. Is there a way to upload a group of names and emails via a batch upload or something? 

2. Once I get the link created, can I send it to people who I haven't added to Attendees box? As long as a person has the link, the meeting ID# and the Password, they will be able to join the meeting? Even if they are not on the Attendees list? The idea behind this option is I send the link from my work Outlook account to the coworkers. I'd create the meeting, have WebEx send me an invite. Then I forward that invite on. 

Thank you, 

Rowan

[EricGordon111415]

Hi Rowan,

Based on my experience as a user (others can chime in if I am missing something):

1. No. I do not know of a watch to "batch upload" or "batch import" individuals into your contact list.

2. Yes. This is exactly how we do it. I "invite myself" to every session and then forward the email I receive to invitees. We almost never invite people through the Webex scheduler (for the reasons you have already cited). One important note: be sure when you forward the email,  you forward the one Webex Messenger sent to you as an INVITED PARTICIPANT, since they will also send you a separate email as the person who set up and is hosting the meeting. They are two distinct emails and you need to check carefully so you do not forward the wrong one. 

Hope this is helpful.

Eric

[talentmanagement]

Hello Eric,

1. Dang it.
2. Ok, that was a good description of exactly how I was going to do. Good note to pay attention between the Host link and the Invited Participant link. I knew to look out for it, but it's good to walk through it anyway. So as long as the Meeting ID# and Password are in the Invited Participant email I forward to the group, I'm golden.

Thank you,

Rowan

[EricGordon111415]

Rowan,

1. Keep an eye out to see if anyone has a different experience regarding batch importing, but we have not found anything.

2. The email I forward has all of that information in it. The password SHOULD be embedded in the link itself but we find a lot of our users' "JOIN" screen retains a password from a previous session (likely a browser cookie issue, not a Cisco Webex issue). So, we tell them if the "JOIN" button tells them the password entered is invalid, to type (NOT cut and paste - it doesn't always work) the password located in the forwarded email. We don't ever have "call-in users only" so Session ID is only used by people who chose to connect to audio by calling in. If so, we tell them to WAIT until they have joined the Webex session, then use the drop down menu in the audio panel to get the call-in information so they not only have the phone number and the session ID but also the all-important Attendee ID. If they do not join their Webex instance to their audio, they cannot be successfully moved into a breakout session (which we use very often). Frankly, we tend to recommend using integrated Webex audio or having Webex call you on a number of your choosing, thus bypassing the entire Session and Attendee ID issue. 

[talentmanagement]

Hello again. 

1. I did fill out a feedback form from WebEx to see if the engineers could get that functionality going. Lord knows if it was passed on. 

2. My sentiments exactly. But that brings me to another off-shoot question: Can I as a Host move someone to a breakout session AFTER the breakout sessions have started? So I set up breakout sessions, moved people over, and it was all good. Then there was someone who joined late, so he was listed in the attendee field, and I wanted to move him to a Breakout Session, but I could not. Maybe I was doing something wrong, or missing a button, or... whatever. Y'know? I'll keep tinkering until I find the answer. 

[EricGordon111415]

Greetings,

1. I think this one has been fully covered.

2. We run into this ALL the time. Here is how it works for us. When we set up the breakout sessions, we use the checkbox that allows people to JOIN a session without being invited. I can try to help you locate that checkbox or we can get on a Webex session together and I can share my screen. what this allows us to do is have the "straggler" manually JOIN one of the breakout sessions (after they have begun). This is standard protocol for how we set up breakouts, simply because we know people get pulled away unexpectedly and then, when we begin the sessions, they are not there to either LAUNCH the breakout (if they were flagged as the breakout PRESENTER) or JOIN the breakout when prompted. This set-up has made ALL the difference and it is exactly how we handle participants who need a new "breakout home." If I can be of help getting onto a Webex session with you and sharing my screen, I am glad to do so, since explaining it here would be arduous. From all I know, you are unable to "move" people once breakouts have begun so this manual join is a great option (it is how Training Center is designed - this is not a workaround). Let me know if I can help.

Eric

[talentmanagement]

2. Yeah, I believe I have seen that option. So I'll look for it. I don't know if I'll ever get back on this thread again, lord knows I'm not really sure how I got here in the first place. :) So I don't know if we are allowed to share an email or not... but here it goes: rowan.mcdeid@mpls.k12.mn.us 

If you want to reach out in the next couple days and discuss stuff, we can. 

[EricGordon111415]

Sent you an email, Rowan, with my work email. Feel free to reach out and I am glad to do a screen share session to walk through these settings.

Eric