Everything you need to know to get started with Whereby
Tags: Video Conferencing, Appeartutorial, Remote Working, Productivity

What is Whereby?

Our goal with Whereby is to create a browser-based video meeting tool with an emphasis on ease of use. Currently there are three different tiers of Whereby depending on your needs: Free, Pro, and Business. All versions of the Whereby allow for fast and easy video collaboration from anywhere in the world. Each plan has different features and limits, which you can learn about here.

Today, it takes an average of 7 minutes to get set up in a video meeting — and to us, that’s about 6 minutes and 45 seconds too long. Our goal is to keep you productive by striking a balance between simplicity, security, and quality in your video meetings.

How do I get started?

To create a Whereby account, all you need is an email. After registering, you can create your own Room Link that you can manage as you’d like. Simply share the link with anyone you’d like to invite and start your meeting! After registering and signing in to your account, you’ll be able to go to Whereby to see your account home page. With an Whereby Pro account, this is where you’ll manage your rooms (up to 3).

Someone sent me a Whereby link — what do I do?

If a colleague or client sent you a Whereby link over chat or email, you can either click on it to open a new tab, or copy and paste the link into your browser. Depending on the settings of the room, you may be prompted to “knock”, and they will allow you to enter the meeting. If it’s an open room, you will be brought straight into the meeting. If you’re charmed by how easy it is and want to set up your own meeting space to use in the future, you can register for a Free Whereby account.

How can I use Whereby in my workplace?

In so many ways! We talk to our customers a lot, and are always uncovering interesting ways people use Whereby. Here’s just some of the ways we use our own product at Whereby…

Remote work: At Whereby, we want to get the best team members no matter their location, but this poses time and distance barriers for effective collaboration. To stay connected, our colleagues are a simple click away from one another over video. This also allows employees to be flexible around family and other life obligations, by being able to join the meeting from anywhere — even with our iOS app.

Stand-ups: Another way we stay connected is by having weekly or even daily stand-ups. These can be by department, project, or the entire company. With custom Whereby room links, you can have a designated room that you know is there and available every time you need it.

Externally: Internal video meetings are inherently easier than external — everyone is familiar or even standardized on the technology. When you go outside your workflow to meet with partners, customers, or prospective employees, that’s when confusion happens. Sometimes one needs to download an app, or runs into company permission issues, and you end up spending half your meeting trying to get into the meeting. This is where Whereby really shines; with no downloads and one-click-to-join in your browser, you can spend less time frustrated and more time meeting. Some recruiting agencies even conduct all their external interviews over Whereby!

Why should I use Whereby over other video services?

We don’t require any downloads or logins to join, which is what makes Whereby unique from other video conferencing applications. Another way that we’re different from most is that Whereby meeting rooms are permanent links that you can go to at any time. Instead of creating a one time link, you can schedule a video meeting like you would schedule a normal in-person meeting. You can invite people into your room by sharing your room link, and they can join your room by pasting the link into any supported browser!

Word bank

There’s language around video meetings that can be confusing at first, so here’s a brief word bank to get you started.

Room: A room has its own name, and a designated URL that creates a “space” or “room” for you to meet in. There are two different types of roles one can have when they join a room: Owner and Participant.

Owner : The owner of a room is the person (and associated email) that has full control over that room. They can lock or unlock the room, kick users, and edit the background and logo (Whereby Pro only).

: The owner of a room is the person (and associated email) that has full control over that room. They can lock or unlock the room, kick users, and edit the background and logo (Whereby Pro only). Participant: A participant is someone who can join a room or attend a meeting. They don’t have administrative permissions, but they can still use features like Screen Sharing!

Capacity: Capacity is just like the capacity of a real room — only a certain amount of people are able to fit in the room. In our Free plan there is a capacity of 4 people. In our Pro plan there is a capacity of 12.

Lock/Unlock rooms: This feature is to make sure that only the right people are attending your meeting room. Before users are able to join, they need to request access to the room by Knocking (see more on this below). Only a Room Owner can Lock or Unlock their room.

Knocking: If a room is locked, people will need to “knock” to enter. Then the room owner will receive a notification that someone is knocking, and they will see a picture of the person trying to enter the room. Then the Room Owner can let the user in, or put them on hold if they aren’t quite ready.

Screen share: Any participant in a video meeting can share their screen. When you share your screen, all the participants in the meeting can see what you see on your device. Depending on the browser you’re using, you’ll see different options for screen sharing such as Sharing your Entire Screen, or a specific application window. For full details on screen sharing, check out our Support Center article here.

WebRTC: WebRTC stands for “Web real-time communication”, which is video from your web browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.