Easily host big conference calls in Skype
Ever had trouble starting up a big conference call?
We have developed an experimental feature to allow you to host big group conference calls in an easier way, with no need to rely on people picking up the call when you start.
All you have to do is distribute one easy link to all participants – for participants, it’s just one click to join the call.
By default, an audio conference call will be created, but if any of the participants has a Premium subscription for Group Video Calls then you can easily turn on video at any point in the call.
Hosting a conference call with automatic answering
To start the call, type the following in the group you want to invite to the call:
/golive TOKEN
where TOKEN is a name for the call, e.g. weekly_team_meeting
and press Enter.
This will enable the hosting Skype to automatically answer calls from people who call in using the special link.
skype:echo123?call&token=TOKEN
Send this link to the group (or to anyone else you want to join in the call).
You may also distribute the call link without executing the golive command. If you do this, you’ll need to answer the first incoming call for the conference – all the additional persons will be added automatically.
Participating in a conference
All you have to do is click on the link distributed by the call host. It’s as simple as that.
Supported Skype versions
Skype 5.0 for Windows and Skype 5.0 for Mac support both creating and participating in conference calls via these links.
In addition you are able to join conference calls from Skype 4.2 for Windows and Skype 2.8 for Mac. This feature is currently not supported on Skype mobile apps or on Skype for Linux.
Enjoy and let us know what you think about this feature.
Some of us in a Skype public chat room tried /golive where teh creator started the call.
Some of us will report on it , I know I and the host of the chat will. On my v5.0 (Win Vista) I noticed no ringing (even after changing my status to online, as I know DoNotDisturb will not ring when a call comes in). As I recall, those on the call reported no ring just a button to join call or join video EXCEPT with the two Mac’s, they both got an audible ring as part of the invitation to the call. Seems like the intent of this feature MAY BE for the call invite to be less intrusive so that you can more easily ignore the call if you are not available or interested. Good idea. Is that idea? No ringing?
I am familiar with smaller membership Skype chat Rooms (or conversations) having the call invitation show in events during the call so a member can either join or choose not to join anytime during the call. I understand that calling a chat room (aka group or conversation) is limited to the number of people in the group, but am curious at what point the call button is greyed out… iow…
What is the group call limit?
and also…
Is there a higher limit with these /golive calls?
I see the benefit of inviting a subset of people available from a large group chat room to a call … especially if you simply can not initiate a call if the room is too large (the call button is greyed out).
Why would the call button grey out when switching Users to Listeners ? Seems like it would be he other way around. I have a Monday Skype chat room that is only open for posting on Mondays. We use the /set options -USERS_ARE_LISTENERS to “open” the room for posting text chat and /set options +USERS_ARE_LISTENERS to “close” the room. Odd that the call buton greys out when I “open” the room.
But back on topic…
Vincent said:
“If you use the skype:user?call:token link without /golive, a NEW conversation will be created when you the second person calls in.”
Question:
Does that actually start a new chat group or conversationlike adding a 3rd person to call would? I do not see the new group in my events after the call ended. Is that because we ere all already in the same Public Chat room to start with? What is we sent out a link to people not in the same Group or Public chat to join, would it create a new Group?
More Questions I would like answered:
1. will the conference call work if the host’s Skype account forwards the call to voicemail?
2. will the conference call work if host’s Skype account forwards the call to his mobile?
3. if host’s Skype doesn’t answer and there’s no voicemail, what happens?
4. does /golive override /alertsoff or /alertson?
5. does /golive override DoNotDisturb
Lastly, though the above article says its a v5 feature, you corrected that to include “some newer 4.2 builds” :
[2:44:48 PM] Raul Liive: [2:37 PM] Dan York:
some newer 4.2 builds support it.
I look forward to testing out this new command /golive [token] and link more.