Here are some scenario-based examples that will help you understand, how you can create a group call that fits your day-to-day video call requirements. 

Say you want to host an organizational level meeting where the members in the key role will address a gathering of 1000 people virtually, so from Cliq, you can host a video call where you can add the key members of the organization as the panelist, the other participants will be automatically categorized as active participants and silent participants depending upon the number of participants you have added as a panelist.

Before we look at how you can create a group call form a channel and how it works, here are some terms to be acquainted with: 

Types of participants in a group video call are: host, active participant, and silent participant.

Host:  

The host initiates the group video call.

• Host can add panelists.
  
• Host can mute all the participants.
  
• The host has the option to select the added panelists as the only active participants or can choose to include the attendees as active participants along with a selected list of panelists.
  
• Host can select a participant to focus on with the help of the Focus Mode dropdown.
  
• Host can accept or decline a request to speak request.
  

Panelists:  

Panelists are significant members for whom a host can reserve a seat for. You can add up to 100 participants as panelists. 

Perks of being a Panelists:

• The members you add as the panelists have a reserved seat in the group video call. 
  
•  If a panelist does not attend the  group video call, the reserved seat will remain empty.
  
•  The reserved seat cannot be swapped to accommodate a silent participant.
  
• All the members of the panelist will be able to speak without having to ask for request to speak permission from the host.
  

 Here are some of the scenarios that will help you put the panelist option to best use:

• Consider choosing only the significant members involved in the conversation as panelists, as this will help the silent audience and the viewers to focus better on the ongoing conversation.
  
• When you are hosting a session involving a large audience base, you can add the key speakers as panelists and reserve a seat for them.
  
• Say if you are hosting a brainstorming session with 100 participants or less in such cases you would want everyone in the channel to interact, so there is no need to add panelists.
  

Active Participant: 

The panelists by default become the active participants of the group call. You can add up to 100 participants as panelists, but if you choose to add only a few significant members as your panelist, the remaining seats up to  100 which are reserved for panelists can be occupied by the members who are joining initially on first come first serve bases by enabling the add as panelist option.

For example: Say you have 120 participants and you choose to add only 10 participants as your panelists then by default the remaining 110 from the 120 members can be added as your active participants if you select the Add as panelist option else the remaining participants will be categorized as silent participants. 

Silent Participants:  

Members who join the conversation after the first 100 participants are termed as silent participants. If a silent participant wishes to interact in the  group video call, they will have to ask for request to speak permission from the host. Only after the host's approval, they will be able to interact in the conversation. 

The Stage View:

Group video calls in Cliq offer a stage view  where, you will be able to view the top 7 active speakers in the stage view.  The video of the participants keeps switching to the person who is currently interacting in the call.

Below the participant search bar in the stage view, you will be able to see the profile picture of all the participants in a bubble view. this will help you recognize the users who are engaged in the conversation and the participant search bar will help you to search and check if a user you are looking for is present in the conversation or not.

Creating a Group Video Call via Channel:

To start a group video call, open any Channel or Group Conversation that you are a part of and follow the steps given below.

1. Click on the Calls button in the chat window and select  Video call.
   
2. In the Group Call window, give in the topic of discussion and the mode.
   1. Topic - The subject of discussion.
      
   2. Mode - Specify the type of call as a Video call.
      
3. The chat from which you choose to do the group video call will by default be chosen in the chat field
   
4. Select Add panelists if necessary 
   • Here's an example to help you understand how the panelist option works
     • Say you have added 20 panelists, the remaining 80 seats which by default is reserved for the panelists can be occupied by the participants in first come first serve bases if you select the option Add as panelists that will be shown once you add your panelists. In case you select this option then 20+80, these 100 participants become the active participants of your session else the 80 participants will be categorized as silent participants along with the remaining participants in the group video call.
       
5. After picking the type of call, click on the Next button.
   
6. Set up your Microphone and Camera and click on the Start button to start the  group video call.
   
7. Once the Start button is clicked, users would be notified about the  group video call and can join by clicking on the link posted in the respective conversation.
   

Now let's understand how a Group Video Call created via channel works:

• You can host up to 1000 participants in a Cliq video call. The host initiates the video call. There are 3 types of participants in the video call panelists, active participant, and silent participants.
  
• The panelists, active participants, and the silent participants can hear the audio and view the video.
  
• When the panelist / active participant interacts in the call, their video will be shown in the stage view to help the participants and the viewers to recognize who is speaking from the crowd. Additionally, you will also be able to view the profile picture of all the participants in a bubble view.
  
• The silent participants can hear the conversation and view the video of the active participants interacting but if a silent participant wishes to be a part of the conversation they can do that by asking for request to speak permission from the host. Only after the host's approval, they will be able to interact in the conversation.
  

Say you are hosting a brainstorming session for 100 participants by streaming a channel or you want to have a round-up call with your team on weekends, for such scenarios where you would want to know the how about's of all the members in the channel, you can always choose to host a simple group video call without adding panelists by following the below steps:

1. Navigate to a channel  
   
2. Click on the Call button and select Video call 
   
3. The Group call window will open 
   
4. Enter the topic of the meeting 
   
5. Select Video call as the mode of conversation 
   
6. Click Next 
   
7. Select your custom microphone and camera 
   
8. Click on Start. 
   

You can further create a group video call in the following ways:

Start a Group Video Call via Quick Action 

1. Click on the Quick Action icon -> Start Group Call
   
2. In the Group Call window, you can search a user and stream in the participants or can choose to stream in a chat. 
   
3. Add panelists.
   
4. Select video call as the mode of conversation, click on the Next button.
   
5. Set up your Microphone and Camera and click on the Start button to start the call.
   
6. Once the Start button is clicked, users would be notified about the group video call and can join by clicking on the link posted in their personal bot Taz.
   

Scheduling a Group Video Call via Calendar Events

Say you want to schedule a video call for an upcoming event where you have a large group of participants. For this upcoming meeting, from Cliq you can invite and schedule the meeting, The meeting invitation will include the location and the agenda of the meeting. While you create a meeting, you can set reminders to alert the participants to attend the upcoming meeting promptly by scheduling a group call via Calendar Events. 

Here's how you can schedule a group call via Calendar Events

1. Click on Calendar Events in the top right corner of Cliq window, adjacent to your profile picture.
   
2. Click on Create Event.
   
3. Select Online Meeting.
   
4. Select a date and time for the meeting.
   
5. Assign to participants or a conversation.
   
6. Enter your meeting agenda.
   
7. Click Create.
   

Create or schedule a group call via Remote Work

To create a group call from the remote work view, head over to remote work view, click on the group call button and fill in the required information such as topic, stream in option, users, panelist, mode, click next then select a microphone and a camera from the available options and click start. For step by step instruction on how to create a group call from remote work view, head over to Start a Group Call from Quick Action, and follow from step 2.

To schedule a group call from the remote work view. Click on the dropdown button present next to the group call button in the remote work view and fill in the required information such as type and name of the meeting, date, time, meeting mode, assign participants/conversation, enter your meeting agenda, and click on create. For step by step instruction on how to create a group call from remote work view, head over to Scheduling a Group Video Call via Calendar Events and follow from step 2.

Options available inside Group Video Call window:

Chat Window (Available to all participants)

The chat window is accessible by all the participants in the group video call, excluding the viewers.

You can choose between turning on or off the audio or camera anytime you want using the Turn Mic Off or Turn Camera off button.

 Add reactions (Available to all participants)

You can keep the conversation lively by clicking on the Add Reactions button.

Click on the 3 dots present in the group video call window to access the below options.

• Notes
  
• Screen Share
  
• Show only active panelist
  
• Focus Mode
  
• Invite user
  
• Start Chat 
  
• Mute All
  

Notes (Available for all participants)

Clicking on this option will open the Zoho notebook, where you can search, write, create a todo list, upload, and attach documents during the group video call. Notes are accessible to all the participants.

Screen Share (Available to host and active participant)

The host and the active participants can share their screens by clicking on the screen share option. Only one participant can share their screen at a particular time.

Show only active panelist (Available to all participants)

Click on the 3 dots present in the  group video call window ---> click on Show only active participants. Once you select this option you will be able to view only the active participants of the panelist in the video. if you would like to revert back and view all the panelists, click on the 3 dots and select the show all panelists option.

Focus mode (This option can only be  enabled by the host )

With Focus mode you can focus on a particular participant of your choice, the other members are muted when focus mode is enabled. 
Once you click on the focus mode option you will be able to select the participant that you would like to focus on from the Focus Mode dropdown.

Invite user (This option is only available for the Host)

Click on the 3 dots present in the group video call window and select invite users. Specify the email addresses of the users whom you want to include in the group video call. Click on the Invite button. This will send an invite email to the cited user's personal bot Taz. Once the user clicks on the Join this event button in the invite email, they'd be directed to the group video call window.  (You will be able to see this option only when you start your group video call from  stream in with participants)

Start Chat (Available for all users)

When a group video call is created from Quick Action, a chat is created by default with the participants involved in the call. Clicking on the start chat option will open this chat window. (You will be able to see this option only when you start your group video call from stream in with participants)

Mute All ( This option is only available for the Host)

The host can choose to mute all the participants by clicking on the mute all option. By default anyone who is joining the group video call when the host has muted all participants will also stay muted until the hosts unmute's all participants.

Optimal bandwidth required to have a smooth experience on a Group Video Call:

Audio - 5 KBps  | 40Kbps
Video - 40 KBps | 320 Kbps
Screen sharing - 120 KBps | 960 Kbps