What are the technical requirements and troubleshooting steps for webinars?

Before starting a webinar remember about:

Technical requirements

Required technical specifications:

  • 2 GHz dual-core processor or better (4-core preferable).
  • 2 GB of RAM (4 GB or more recommended).
  • Operating system: Windows 8 (Windows 10 recommended), Mac OS 10.13 (the newest version recommended), Linux, Chrome OS.
  • The latest official versions of Google Chrome, Safari, Opera.
  • A stable internet connection. If possible, use Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi and a private network.

The audio-video technology used by GetResponse webinars is HTML5 and WebRTC. This technology makes the application smooth and comfortable to use. But above all – delivers your webinar audience razor-sharp audio-video quality.

The WebRTC technology can be used with the latest versions of web browsers:

  • Google Chrome, Safari, Opera for desktop devices
  • Google Chrome, Safari for mobile devices

We recommend using Google Chrome. This browser is the most advanced in terms of integrating with WebRTC technology.

Webinars (including participating in webinars) can be used on mobile devices. Please download the free GetResponse Webinars app from the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store.

You can use Webinars in full audio-video mode during a conference. It is necessary to have a webcam, microphone, and headset or loudspeaker connected to and recognized by your device. They should not be simultaneously used by another application such as Skype.

How much bandwidth do I need for GetResponse webinars?

Bandwidth requirements for the presenter:

  • Audio: 512 kbps,
  • Audio and video: 1024 kbps,
  • Audio, video and screen sharing: 2048 kbps.

Bandwidth requirements for the attendee:

  • Audio: 256 kbps,
  • Audio and video: 512 kbps,
  • Audio, video and screen sharing: 1024 kbps.

How to troubleshoot audio and video issues?

My webinar isn’t recorded

Check if the Presenters Only webinar mode is enabled. In this mode, only presenters can hear and see each other, and the audio and video are not being recorded.

Can’t plug in my microphone or camera

Make sure your audio/video device is plugged in and activated on your computer or laptop. Also, you need to give proper permissions in your browser when activating the camera and the microphone for the browser to be able to use them. When you try to enable them, the browser will automatically ask you for permission. If the microphone and camera icon turns green, this means that everything is OK. Speak into your microphone to test if the device is working properly.

Check if you have other application running in the background that uses the camera and microphone (i.e. Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.). This could interfere with GetResponse webinars if both are running at the same time.

Plug in new external devices before opening your web browser and the webinar room. In most cases, you will need to refresh them to detect the new device(s).

You can check the devices connected by going to the cog icon on the video window. You can also enable your microphone and camera from there.

Attendees can’t hear me or see my video

If your audio or video seems to be choppy or breaking up, make sure your Internet connection is stable enough or available bandwidth is sufficient to properly stream the audio and video. Check if any apps are running in the background and switch them off. Focus especially on applications that have auto-update settings or typical download manager apps for any files that might be downloaded/uploaded during your webinar.

Try to limit the bandwidth usage in your webinar room by turning off the screen sharing application or inactive users’ cameras (instead, upload a photo or set up an avatar).

How to troubleshoot screen sharing issues?

If you’re having issues with the screen sharing, make sure your firewall is not blocking the function and that appropriate ports are open in your network.

Ports configuration

1. GetResponse has an outbound service ports configured for each end every user. Outbound
connection may be established through TCP ports 1935, 80 or 443 and UDP ports 20000 –
2. GetResponse services are not configured to listen or require any inbound connections. For optimal use we recommend outbound configurations via TCP ports mentioned above that are 1935, 80 and 443.
3. TCP ports 1935, 443 or 80 and UDP ports 20000 – 60000 are fully configured for outbound connections with integrated VoIP and Webcam Video.
4. For best performance, and to avoid blocking or latency we recommend to verify the below IP ranges and specify an exception in your firewall system configuration to exclude them from content or application data scanning filters.
5. Should your security policies require exact specification of distinct IP ranges, we encourage you to limit firewall configuration to TCP port 1935, 80 or 443 and UDP ports 20000 – 60000.

Note: Unless absolutely necessary we do not recommend to configure your firewall based on steps 3 and 4 as IP ranges need to be occasionally audited and monitored, implementing further maintenance to your network. These changes are not occurring very often, however they may be indispensable to constantly provide stable and the best performance of GetResponse webinars services.

In case you have multiple displays connected, we recommend unplugging them and limiting yourself to the main display only.

Check if you have enough bandwidth to use screen sharing and close any applications that might be using it such as download manager apps or any other programs that may be running in the background.

Make sure you give the browser appropriate permission to access your screen. Please note, however, that certain features are not available with this function. Embedded screen sharing does not offer the chatbox, drawing tools, screen control or screen area-sharing options.
Embedded screen sharing employs your browser’s native functions. This solution enables you to share your full screen, your selected application or a selected bookmark within a given browser. This version is available for Chrome, Opera and Firefox.

Please note that desktop sharing is available only on platforms that support Adobe AIR, such as MS Windows and MAC OSX, and does not function on Linux or Chromebooks. Please also note that on iPhone, iPad or Android devices (smartphones and tablets), you can only view a shared screen, but cannot share your screen.

How to troubleshoot being disconnected from the webinar room/not being able to enter the webinar room?

Make sure you have a stable internet connection and if possible, use
Ethernet cable connection instead of Wi-Fi. Use private network whenever possible.
Double-check if you don’t have any other application running in the background that uses the camera and microphone (i.e. Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.). This could interfere with GetResponse webinars if both are running at the same time.

How to troubleshoot issues with uploading presentation?

The first thing you may want to check is if the file is in the supported format.

You can upload the following file formats:

Presentations

PPTX, PPT, POT, POTX, PPS, PPSX, KEY

Note: Animations in PPT or PPTX files won’t work due to the file conversion.

Text documents

PDF, DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT, pages, ODT, ODS, ODP

Spreadsheets

XLSX, XLS, XLT, XLSM, XLTM, numbers

Images

JPEG, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, TIF, TFD

Video

MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, F4V, WMV, MPEG, MPG, MP4V, QTX, ASF, M4V, M4U, M4E, MKV, OGV, OGM, OGX, QTM, QT, WEBM, WMX

Audio

MP3, WAV, M4A, WMA, SN

Next thing to try is to shorten the file name.
If this doesn’t help, change the presentation format from:

  • pptx to ppt,
  • docx to doc,
  • xlsx to xls.

Double-check if the file is under 500MB, as larger files will not be accepted.

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