New Connect Remote release (10th Jan 2022)
Public-i would like to wish our Connect Remote users a very Happy New Year. We will be updating our servers and apps over this coming weekend. Please read on to…
Video conferencing and remote participation for local authorities
Remote meetings
Connect Remote was launched in May 2020 in response to the move to remote meetings during the COVID-19 lockdown. Our clients started using existing video tools (e.g. Zoom, Teams or Webex) but these tools were not tailored for local government and lacked key functionality.
Connect Remote was designed in partnership with our clients. It is easy to use whether you are a clerk, a councillor or a member of the public that needs to contribute to the meeting.
Learn more about Connect Remote
Remote meetings requirements
Voting
A cornerstone of the decision making process, voting is a core feature of any remote participation solution. Members with voting rights should be able to cast their vote easily and democratic officers should be able to see and tally individual results.
Speaker management
Council meetings are run in a very structured manner. Participants should be able to contribute in an orderly fashion. The meeting operator needs to be able to see and manage a speaker queue, and have the ability to switch microphones off.
Security and public participation
Video conferencing software should have a high level of security, but it also needs to be easy for a member of the public to join for the first time on any device.
Livestream to the public
The public need to be able to watch the proceedings of a meeting to understand the democratic process, even if they’re not participating in the meeting. Our webcasting platform Connect is compatible with any video conferencing software.
Ongoing support
Unlike Zoom or Teams, our Service Desk are on hand to offer live, expert support during office hours, and our out-of-hours support team can provide first-line troubleshooting too. Our clients also feed into our product development process through our regular user groups and customer consultations.
“I’ve sold the speed at which you guys turn things around as one of the real positives of why we should go with this as an option for virtual live streaming. Imagine asking Microsoft to introduce a new feature! It’d be 2 years before we got an acknowledgement!”
Barnsley MBC
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