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Let’s meet! Web-based Videoconferencing

Overview

Let’s meet! is a video conferencing service hosted by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), built upon the open-source platform eduMEET. This platform provides a sovereign solution for web-based videoconferencing, specifically designed for the research and education community. eduMEET offers a cost-effective and privacy-focused alternative to commercial options. Its ease of use, requiring no client software installation, promotes accessibility for a wide range of users – including researchers, educators, and artists – and supports seamless collaboration, specifically for small‑ to medium‑sized groups.

Key Features

  • High-Quality Video: Enjoy clear and detailed video conferencing with support for up to 4K resolution.
  • Dual Camera Support: Connect a second video device for versatile presentation options.
  • Screen sharing – Stream your desktop, applications, or specific windows with a single click.
  • Chat messaging – Text chat support to keep the conversation flowing.
  • Interactive whiteboard – Draw, annotate, and brainstorm together on a shared canvas, complete with pen, shapes, and sticky notes.
  • Virtual breakout rooms – Split participants into smaller groups for focused discussions, then bring everyone back with a tap.
  • Room lock & Waiting lobby – New attendees of locked rooms wait in a host‑controlled lobby; the host receives a notification and can admit or deny entry, ensuring privacy and control.
  • Live reactions – Participants can raise their hand without interrupting the speaker.
  • Invitation via meeting URL - Copy the link straight from the browser’s address bar!

Registering a meeting room

==You must register rooms in advance through the resource booking functionality on the cloud portal.== This links the room to your account, giving you full ownership and customization options.

During resource booking, you’ll be prompted to configure your room:

  • Naming & Describing: Give your room a clear name (lowercase letters, no spaces, permitted characters: a-z, 0-9, -, .) and description.
  • Branding: Add a room background to your meeting space by providing publicly accessible URLs to image files (e.g., https://hifis.net/assets/img/jumbotrons/display_2k/markus-spiske-PsRUMc7vilg-unsplash.jpg).
  • Controlling Participation: Limit the maximum number of visible participant’s video streams.
  • Enabling Features: Toggle options like breakout rooms to suit your meeting needs.
  • Room Locking: Secure your room by enabling the lock function, requiring participants to wait in a lobby for admission.

Once you have completed the resource booking process, your personal meeting room is provisioned and ready for use. You can access your room by navigating to https://letsmeet.helmholtz.cloud/ and entering the exact name you chose during the resource booking process. Alternatively, you can directly access your room using the full URL: https://letsmeet.helmholtz.cloud/[your registered room name]. For example, if you registered a room named research-team-meeting, the full URL would be https://letsmeet.helmholtz.cloud/research-team-meeting.

Inviting Participants

Once a room is created, you can share the meeting details with participants in two ways:

  • Room Name: Simply provide participants with the room name, which they can enter on the Let’s Meet! landing page.
  • Direct URL: The easiest method is to copy the URL directly from your browser’s address bar and include it in your invitation email, calendar event, or chat message. This will take participants directly to the meeting.

Joining a Meeting

The Let’s Meet! service is accessed via its home page: https://letsmeet.helmholtz.cloud/.

Landing Page

From here, you can:

  • Join as a Participant: Enter a room name and click ‘Join’ to proceed through the media checks.
  • Host a Meeting in Your Personal Room: Log in using your Helmholtz ID to host a meeting in a personal room you’ve registered in advance. Login is not required to simply join a meeting.

Media Checks

Before entering a meeting, you can adjust the following settings:

  1. Audio Settings: Select your preferred microphone (Audio Input) and speaker (Audio Output). You can test your speaker by clicking the key symbol.
  2. Video Settings: Choose your desired camera (Video Input). You can also blur your background using the option to the left of the dropdown menu.
  3. Name: Edit the name that will be displayed to other participants.
  4. Enter the room: Click on ‘Join’.
    • If the room is not locked, you will be admitted immediately.
    • If the room is locked, you will be taken to the lobby. The host will be notified and will let you in.
    • If you are the host of the room, you must be logged in to open the meeting.

Waiting in the Lobby

If the meeting room is locked by the host, you will be placed in a waiting lobby before being admitted. This allows the host to control who joins the meeting.

What happens in the lobby:

  • Notification: The host will receive a notification that someone is waiting to join.
  • Waiting Screen: You will see a screen indicating that you are waiting for the host to let you in.
  • Host Admission: Once the host admits you, you will be connected to the meeting.

Important Notes:

  • Room Locking: Hosts use the lobby feature to prevent unwanted participants from joining the meeting directly.
  • Host Action Required: You will not be able to enter the meeting until the host grants you access.
  • If you are the host: Ensure you are logged in to unlock and open the meeting for participants.

In the meeting

  • Main view: Shows your video and of other participants, if applicable. A sillouette is shown for participants with deactivated camera. In case of a shared screen, all videos will appear stacked on the right side.
  • Menu bar: At the bottom of the screen, you will find a menu bar with various options:
    • Audio: Here you can mute or unmute your microphone
    • Video: Activate / deactivate camera
    • Share: Share your screen, a window, or a browser tab. You might even share audio from a tab. Note: this can be done by multiple participants simultaniously
    • Raise hand: You want to raise attention? Raise a hand!
    • Display participants: A list of participants will occur on the right side of the window.
    • 3 dotted button: Currently a drawing window can be activated and deactivated
      • Draw window: A simple drawing app is included. All participants can attribute to a canvas.
  • Side view (participants): On an activated sideview all participants are displayed. It shows for every participant, whether camera and microphone are activated.
    • Adjust volume: You can adjust sound volume from all participants with activated microphone.
    • Change diplayed name: You can edit your displayed name, even if you already joined.
    • Break-out room: TODO

  • Side view (messages): A subsection of the sideview displays a message-window, when the button with the speech bubble is clicked.

    • Messaging: A simple message window, write and read messages.

  • Set fullscreen (top right): Selfexplaining

  • Advanced (top right): Here you will find advanced settings.

    • Management:
      • to access the management functionalities, you need to login via Helmholtz ID. Normal users do not need to login to participate in a meeting, but if you want advanced control over a room, you need to login.
      • Login: As a normal user, you can login via Helmholtz ID by clicking ‘TENANT LOG IN’. You will be relayed to the login-page of your homeorganisation. After successful authentification, you are relayed to the management client.

  • Background: Select a virtual background or mirror your own video view.

  • Video display options: Options such as ‘Hide participants without video’, ‘Audiovisual feedback for notifications’, etc.
  • Management: Advanced room management.

Federated eduMEET Setup

Notes to IT staff from other Helmholtz centers:

  • The service can be operated federated within Helmholtz by hosting geocally distributed media node docker container. See this link for an example setup: https://docs.edumeet.eu/federation/en/

FAQ & Troubleshooting