How to start a video conference with Meet Now without the participants having to use a Microsoft user account. At the beginning of April 2020, with the explicit aim of reviving Skype and stimulating its wider user adoption, Microsoft presented the new Meet Now feature: we talked about it in the article Skype: it’s gone without needing an account nor to download the application.
In the past, Skype allowed the initiation of chats and the making of calls and video calls using only the web browser without installing any extension. However, Microsoft wanted to take a further leap forward by opening up the possibility of starting group video calls without making any recordings. In other words, users can use the Skype web platform to organize video conferences without a Microsoft account.
Users invited to participate will be able to join instantly without logging in . However, there is one aspect that could mislead more than a few users: due to the way Meet Now was developed, the platform will try – by default – to rely on any Skype installation present on the machine in use (with particular reference, for example, to Windows 10 systems).
By denying the authorization to follow this behavior by default, however, organizing a video conference with Skype using only the web browser and without relying on any user account will be possible. Meet Now prompts users to install the Skype app on mobile devices anyway. With a simple trick, however, it is possible to access the online meeting using only the browser (for example, Google Chrome). With Skype Meet Now, it is possible to start video conferences with a maximum of 50 participants, provided you have enough capacity.
How To Make Video Conferences With Skype Meet Now Without Relying On Any User Account
To prevent Meet Now from using a Microsoft user account configured at the browser level, we suggest opening an incognito window (usually activated by pressing the CTRL+SHIFT+N key combination; see also Incognito browsing, when to use it ? ).
You will access the “room” created within the Skype platform with a click on Start call. When does the message open Skype?
You can click on Cancel to avoid, as anticipated in the introduction, the Skype application possibly installed on the system from being opened. By clicking on Join as a guest, anyone can participate in the videoconference after entering a name to identify themselves. By default, the meeting will be started in text form: users can recognize each other and exchange messages in the chat.
Inside the chat, you can share files and contacts, send voice recordings, and create polls using the icons at the bottom of the screen. You can also schedule group video calling so that group participants can receive an alert. Any user can start the group video call by clicking the Start call button at the top right (at least one microphone connected to the system is required). During the videoconference, Skype allows you to record the video call, which will be accessible to all through the chat.
By clicking on it (click on the “Play” button), then on the dots (“…”) at the top right, and finally on Save, it is possible to store the video recording in MP4 format. By clicking on the appropriate icon below, you can share the screen to make a presentation by sharing it in real time with the various participants. A particular function also allows you to activate voice recognition and show the words spoken by each participant in the form of subtitles.
The link can be used on mobile devices to access the online meeting via the Skype app (to join the video conference, tap the green button at the top right). By pasting the Meet Now “Conference Room” URL into the address bar of your mobile browser (Google Chrome is recommended), you can join the group video call even without installing the Skype app. Tap the button with three dots in a column within Chrome, and tick the Desktop site box . You can join the video conference with Skype Meet Now without installing anything else by tapping the Join button.
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