Dial in option for Church webcast system

Hello, new STS here.

We have a number of folks who join our meetings (Stake Conference and Ward Sacrament meetings) via plain old telephone. We've been using Zoom for my home Ward meetings, as I've gotten more familiar with the Church webcasting system I've been thinking about swapping over to simplify the weekly setup and operation.

As I mentioned, we have a number of folks who dial in. I've already received the suggestion that we have the EQ/RS/missionaries work with these folks and get them setup with an easy way to transition to using a smart phone or computer, aside from that option, has anyone encountered this situation and come up with a solution? Any one else have any suggestions?

One option would be to open a Zoom on a computer/device that is logged into the webcast and share the screen and audio, or at least the audio. Then the remote participants could use the Zoom dial in numbers.


There are some great tips and very knowledgeable people here on the forum, I've enjoyed reading through the various issues encountered and solutions suggested. This forum has been very helpful thus far.

We have been asked not to use the Church webcast system for sacrament meetings, but to use Zoom instead. Your solution already works with Zoom.

We do language interpretation for stake conference with Zoom and then feed Zoom to the webcast system, so audio is available there as well.

Thank you for the reply lajackson, can you elaborate on this and tell me where the instruction came from? My Stake President and a couple of the Bishops are under the impression we should be gravitating towards the webcast system and I may need something to point at in order to reverse direction.

derek_meyer wrote:can you elaborate on this and tell me where the instruction came from?

There are posts here on the forum, but an email went out from MHT (meeting house technology) to the STS on January 29, 2021 titled "STS Notice: New Webinar Instructions for Zoom"

Units using other platforms, including Meetinghouse Webcast, should begin using Zoom webinar for sacrament and other similar meetings.

Today, Meetinghouse Webcast and YouTube Live are the primary platforms for larger events like stake or regional conferences.

I was aware of the push to get off of Webcast (due to the costs to the church) but I had missed the directive to go to Zoom.

Got it, I'll check with the previous STS for a copy of that email.

In case he doesn't have the email anymore, or didn't get it for some reason, are the emails archived somewhere or can request a copysomewhere?

derek_meyer wrote:In case he doesn't have the email anymore, or didn't get it for some reason, are the emails archived somewhere or can request a copysomewhere?

No, they're not. Which does create issues because of turnover.

There might be something on this forum from a church employee, but I'm not finding it at the moment.

I think your strong tactic is that webcast doesn't support call-in numbers. So, going to webcast is going to leave them out.

russellhltn wrote:I was aware of the push to get off of Webcast (due to the costs to the church) but I had missed the directive to go to Zoom.

The January 29 email from MHT said that units using other platforms, including Meetinghouse Webcast, should begin using Zoom webinar for sacrament and other similar meetings.

Most of the email text is identical to the attachment in this post which includes the same statement.

derek_meyer wrote:My Stake President and a couple of the Bishops are under the impression we should be gravitating towards the webcast system

Some conversations behind the scenes indicates that the push to Zoom is a gentle push, not a mandate - at least at this time.

Long term, I'd suggest reviewing General Handbook 29.7. That will give you some direction for what to expect once everything returns to normal.

Just giving my two cents. The choice comes down to three options:

1) You use the Zoom call in option, and folks at home they have to type in 30 keys on their keypad (!!!) 2) You make your own custom solution like what we did in our stake, or 3) you just transition off phones.

For #1 - It's built in to Zoom, that makes it easy. But the 30 key code is just awful.

For #2 - It takes a bit of tech understanding and a laptop. We pulled off a 10 digit call in (no password, pin, * or # keys) for $4 a month through freeconferencecall.com and a bit of tech creativity.

For #3 - You may not need it. We tried hard to push phones for our many members who weren't tech savvy. At our best we got 1.5% of our total stake participation through phones (and this is counting people, not devices). Now we're below 0.5%. We're going to phase it out.

I haven't really seen any option beyond those 3.

No, they're not. Which does create issues because of turnover.

Just a plug for considering using a 'standardized' (non-personal) email account for callings like STS. It's one of the worst things, getting into a new calling where so much relevant info is inaccessible inside the previous member's private email account. For lots of reasons, it's so much nicer to be able to hand over the email account when released (email contact addresses, discussion threads, attachments/links).

Of course not always possible or advisable for all callings, but helpful when it works. And of course something each ward/stake needs to determine for each case.

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:Just giving my two cents. The choice comes down to three options:

1) You use the Zoom call in option, and folks at home they have to type in 30 keys on their keypad (!!!) 2) You make your own custom solution like what we did in our stake, or 3) you just transition off phones.

For #1 - It's built in to Zoom, that makes it easy. But the 30 key code is just awful.

For #2 - It takes a bit of tech understanding and a laptop. We pulled off a 10 digit call in (no password, pin, * or # keys) for $4 a month through freeconferencecall.com and a bit of tech creativity.

For #3 - You may not need it. We tried hard to push phones for our many members who weren't tech savvy. At our best we got 1.5% of our total stake participation through phones (and this is counting people, not devices). Now we're below 0.5%. We're going to phase it out.

I haven't really seen any option beyond those 3.

These are good suggestions, thank you.

We are using Zoom now and are getting 10-20 callers each week. We were looking to swap from Zoom to the webcast system to simplify our Sunday setup but telling these folks they can no longer attend remotely because we made changes to our setup isn't acceptable. Our talked to our missionaries and they spend part of their Sunday morning helping some of these folks get connected.

Rather than swapping to the webcast system, we'll work on simplifying our Zoom system.

BrianEdwards wrote:

No, they're not. Which does create issues because of turnover.

Just a plug for considering using a 'standardized' (non-personal) email account for callings like STS.

Excellent suggestion, thank you. This has been done for my Ward Clerk calling, I'll get it setup for my STS calling too.