Breakout rooms

Breakout rooms divide a live session into smaller groups, each with its own video and audio, for a set time. The host can assign people by hand or at random, send them back to the main session when time is up, and sometimes visit rooms to help. For example, in a workshop with sixty attendees, you might create ten rooms of six to discuss one exercise. BigMarker, GoTo Webinar, Livestorm, Webex Events and Zoom Webinars are examples of tools listed with this feature.

A large session turns people into viewers, and viewers forget more than participants do. Smaller rooms make discussion, practice and networking possible. You need them for workshops, training and community events. For a one-way presentation or product demo, they add complexity you will not use.

• Is there a limit to how many rooms or people per room?
• Can the host assign rooms in advance, automatically or by hand during the session?
• Can the host move between rooms and send a message to all rooms at once?
• Do attendees need to install an app, and does it work in a browser?