Huddles ⁠-⁠ Secure Video Meetings

The BundesMessenger will soon offer you the possibility to conduct spontaneous video meetings in huddle rooms. Either in a direct 1:1 chat or in a group room. At launch, the feature will be available in the web client. Apps for Android and iOS will follow by the end of the year. Just give it a try!

A huddle is a spontaneous video meeting with audio, video, and screen sharing. Fast, simple, and secure!

Huddles in the BundesMessenger…

• are opened and used ad hoc, i.e., spontaneously and without planning
• can be started directly from a chat or a room in the messenger
• All other members in the chat or room are informed about the start of the huddle room and can join spontaneously – but they don’t have to
• can be used by a maximum of 5 people at the same time
• offer audio, video, and screen sharing
• Multiple screens can also be shared simultaneously and are visible to everyone in the room
• currently work only on PC, not on smartphones
• all participants already need to have a BundesMessenger or BwMessenger

1. Open the web client of BundesMessenger on your computer
2. You can use huddles in a chat or in a room
3. Click on the video icon at the top right
4. In the preview window that appears, you can adjust your audio settings if necessary
   • Your microphone is muted by default before entering the huddle
   • Disable your video camera if needed
   • In the settings, you can adjust your audio and video device if required
   • Then click Join call
   • All participants (in a chat only one, in a chat room all members of the room) will receive a notification in BundesMessenger on all active devices (for example on PC and mobile phone) and can join the huddle
   • As soon as other participants accept the invitation, the huddle will open

1. As soon as another participant starts a huddle in a chat or chat room, you will receive a notification in BundesMessenger on all active devices (for example on PC and your mobile phone) and can join the huddle
2. Select Join to take part in the meeting
3. In the preview window that appears, you can adjust your audio settings if necessary
   • Your microphone is muted by default before entering the huddle
   • Disable your video camera if needed
   • In Settings, you can adjust your audio and video device if required
4. Then click Join call
5. You are now participating in the huddle

In a huddle you currently have the following functions available:

• Mute or unmute your microphone as needed
• Disable or enable your video camera as needed
• Share content, e.g., your screen (see next section)
• Via the Reactions menu you can:
  • Raise your hand to signal to other participants that you’d like to speak; click again to lower your hand
  • Send reactions , which will briefly appear for all other participants
• In Settings you can adjust your audio and video device if necessary and customize the behavior of reactions
• Leave the huddle
• Change the view – you can switch between speaker view (the speaker is always shown large) and grid view (all speakers and shared content are shown equally large)

1. To share content, e.g., your screen, in the huddle, click Share
2. A new window opens
3. In the overview bar at the top, select whether you want to share a browser tab, only an application window, or an entire screen
4. Select the content – the browser tab, window, or screen – you want to share by clicking on it
5. Click Share at the bottom of the window
6. Your screen will now be transmitted to all participants in the huddle, the Share button is now activated and highlighted
7. To stop sharing, click Share again; sharing will then stop immediately

Example:
To share a screen,

• click Share,
• select the third option on the right in the overview bar “Entire screen”,
• select the screen you want to share by clicking on it, and
• then click Share at the bottom of the window.