Waiting rooms enable you and your team to meet with a single link, over and over again. Waiting rooms allow you to transfer visitors to specific meeting rooms to continue the conversation where you left previously.
It's a big and exciting update - A full walk through is shown in this video:
This help article explains all the waiting room options:
1. Waiting rooms
Waiting rooms make it possible for guests to knock in a general room without having to book a meeting in advance. The knocking guest will be visible in the dashboard and can be forwarded to a new or existing meeting room or can be denied access. There are personal and team waiting rooms!

1.1 Personal waiting rooms
Every team member has a personal waiting room. The link can be copied from his or her dashboard and can be shared with customers and leads. When a customer knocks on the personal waiting room, it will only show for this particular team member.
The URL of a personal waiting room is as follows:
vectera.com/meet/team-name/username
If the link consists of meet it means that this is a waiting room. However if it consists of room then it's a meeting room.
The team-name can be found and changed in Customization.
The username can be found and changed in the profile settings.
It's not allowed to change your username to "team"!
Teams with a custom domain will have the following personal waiting rooms:
1.2 Team waiting rooms
Team waiting rooms are optional, it's possible to activate the 'Team waiting room' in the *Team settings. The team waiting room link is different from personal links and allows guests to knock in a general team room. The knocking guest will be shown to every team member in the dashboard.
The URL of the team waiting room is as follows:
vectera.com/meet/team-name/team
Similar to the personal waiting room, if the link consists of meet it means that this is a waiting room.
The team-name can be found and changed in Customization.
The last part of the link "team" indicates that this is a team waiting room. You can't change this!
Teams with a custom domain will have the following team waiting rooms:
*see 3.1 Enable the team waiting room for more information on activating the team setting
2. Dashboard
The dashboard exists of the personal waiting room, the team waiting room (if activated), the upcoming meetings and the 'Create or join meeting room' button.
2.1 The waiting room in the dashboard
Knocking guests will now be shown in the list of your Personal waiting room or the Team waiting room based on the link that they are using:
Meeting room link or Personal waiting room link = Personal waiting room
Team waiting room link = Team waiting room
Each knocker card looks similar and exists of:
The initials of the guest's name or a profile picture if the guest is a Vectera user
The name of the guest
A timer showing how long the guest has been knocking
The proposed meeting room
The 'Change meeting room' button
The 'Deny access' button
The label 'New' for a non-existing or never used meeting room and the label 'Ongoing' if a team member is helping the guest.

You have 3 options:
Click on the card and open the proposed meeting room in another tab (for example: vectera.com/room/team-name/jane-doe)
Click on 'Change meeting room' and create or select a different meeting room
Click on 'Deny access' so the guest will get a message that the meeting is denied
Note: based on the knocker, Vectera will suggest a meeting room. If it's a follow-up meeting the previous meeting room will be suggested, for a new guest a meeting room based on the name of the guest will be created.
2.2 Enable browser notifications
The moment a guest starts knocking, you might be looking at a different program or browser tab. In that case, a desktop notification might be very convenient. In order to notice knockers, it's important that your browser notifications are enabled!
If that's not the case, you will see the following notification on your dashboard:

Enable 'Sound', 'Pop-ups and redirects' and 'Notifications in the site-settings of your browser or read this help article which will guide you!
Once the yellow message is gone, notifications will work when guests knock. Now you can choose to (de)activate sound notifications by (de)activating the bell icon next to 'Copy personal/team waiting room link'.

If the bell icon shows green you will get notified when guests knock. If the bell icon shows red you won't be notified but knockers will still appear in the list.

2.3 Create a new meeting room
The improved dashboard still gives the opportunity to join or create a meeting room, even though the meeting room overview can be found on a different page. So you can choose to create/open a meeting room on the dashboard or the Meeting rooms overview page.
In the right top corner of the dashboard, you'll see the blue button 'Create or join meeting room'. Click on the button and a modal will open.

You can choose an existing meeting room from the list or type in the name of the meeting room. Typing a name will give you 3 options:
Create a new meeting room
Create a new meeting room from template
Click on 'Create name from template...'
Type in the name of the template or click on the link to create a new template
Join an existing room with this name
Click on the preferred option to open and join the meeting room.

If the team settings give host rights to the meeting rooms of other team members, it's possible to choose a meeting room from another team member. You will see an icon next to the meeting room name (eg. meeting-room-2 in the above image).
2.4 Meetings
In the dashboard, you'll see an overview of the upcoming meetings, of which the first five will be shown. If you haven't set up Scheduling yet, you will first have to connect your calendar and create a meeting type.
You're able to change the meeting room for this specific meeting in the same way as for knockers. See 4. meetings.
3. Waiting room in the Team settings
In the Team settings you'll find 2 settings regarding the waiting room feature: 'Enable the team waiting room' and 'Guests can book a meeting from the waiting room'.
3.1 Enable the team waiting room
By default, every Vectera user has a personal waiting room, but the team waiting room must be enabled manually. If this hasn't happened yet, you'll see the message 'Set up your team waiting room' in the dashboard.

Click on the message which has a Team settings. There, scroll down until you see Waiting room.
Click on the checkbox next to 'Enable the waiting room' and hit Save to activate the team waiting room.

If you go back to your dashboard, you'll see that the team waiting room link can be copied so you can share it with customers and leads.

3.2 Guests can book a meeting from the waiting room
The other waiting room team setting is 'Guests can book a meeting from the waiting room'. This feature requires you to enable scheduling and create at least one meeting type.
Click on the checkbox next to 'Guests can book a meeting from the waiting room' to activate this setting.
This feature allows guests to book a meeting when they get denied at the moment of knocking.

When the guest clicks on the hyperlink 'book a moment that suits you' they will be forwarded to your booking page.
If they're knocking on the personal waiting room, they will be forwarded to your personal booking page.
If they're knocking on the team waiting room, they will be forwarded to the team booking page.
4. Meetings
The waiting room feature also impacts the scheduling feature. A booked online meeting will automatically have a meeting room assigned to it. Now you can choose to change this meeting room if desired.
4.1 Meetings in the dashboard
As explained in 2.4 Meetings you will see the first five upcoming meetings in the dashboard. The meeting card shows the following information:
The meeting type and the name of the guest
The date and hour of the meeting
The meeting room, the telephone number or the location of the meeting
A button to change the meeting room if it's an online meeting

4.1.1 Online meetings
To change the meeting room of an online meeting, click on the button 'Change meeting room'.
A modal will open similar to the 'Create or join meeting room' modal.

Type in the name of the desired meeting room eg. meeting-room-1

You can choose an existing meeting room from the list or type in the name of the meeting room. Typing a name will give you 3 options:
Create a new meeting room
Create a new meeting room from template
Click on 'Create name from template...'
Type in the name of the template or click on the link to create a new template
Select an existing room with this name
Click on the preferred option to change the meeting room. The meeting room linked to the meeting type will have changed to the new selected/created room.
When you or your guests use the meeting link from the confirmation mail or calendar invite, this will redirect to the newly selected meeting room.

4.1.2 Meeting on location
If the guest booked a meeting on location, you will see all the necessary information about the meeting. This card has no clickable options.

4.1.3 Phone meeting
If the guest booked a phone meeting, you will see the necessary information to call the guest at the booked moment. Clicking the card will open your calling app.

4.2 Change meeting room on the meeting link
When a guest books a meeting, both you and the guest will receive a confirmation mail. If it's an online meeting the mail will contain the URL of the meeting room.

If you're logged in to Vectera and click on the meeting room URL you will see the meeting information. If you click on Change meeting room, you will be able to change the meeting room as explained in 4.1 Meetings in the dashboard.
Vectera is looking forward to your feedback so we can offer you the best scheduling and customer meeting experience. Set up your next customer meeting right away by logging into your account or sign-up for a free, fully-featured trial of Vectera!