Hosting a Live Meeting: Admit, Mute, Lock, and End

When a meeting goes live, the host is in charge of the room. StretchMeet gives hosts and co-hosts a full set of live controls to keep the meeting orderly and secure. This article covers starting, running, and ending a live meeting.

Start the meeting

1. Open the scheduled meeting from your dashboard.
2. Click Start. The room moves to the live state and the media engine spins up.
3. Allow camera and microphone access.

Only a host or co-host can start a meeting.

Admit people from the lobby

If the room uses host approval or a waiting room, arriving participants wait until you let them in:

1. Watch the waiting list as people arrive.
2. Click Admit to let someone in, or Deny to refuse entry.
3. Admit teammates and known guests; deny anyone you don't recognize.

Mute participants

Background noise happens. To quiet a participant:

1. Find them in the participant list.
2. Click Mute. You can mute their audio, and where supported, stop their video or screen share.

Muting is a host courtesy for noisy lines — the participant can typically unmute themselves again unless the room is managed more strictly.

Remove a participant

If someone is disruptive or shouldn't be there:

1. Select them in the participant list.
2. Click Remove. They're ejected from the meeting.

Lock and unlock the room

• Lock the room once everyone expected has joined, so no one else can enter — even with the link and passcode.
• Unlock it if you're expecting a late arrival.

End the meeting

1. When you're finished, click End.
2. This closes the meeting for everyone and moves the room to the ended state.

Ending is different from leaving: if you simply close your tab, the meeting may keep running for others. Use End to formally close it.

The live controls at a glance

A realistic example

Lena hosts a 40-person training webinar. She keeps most attendees as viewers to minimize noise. As people arrive she admits them in batches from the waiting room. When one attendee's mic picks up loud typing, she mutes them with one click. A stranger with a suspicious name appears in the lobby — she clicks Deny. Once the session is full and started, she locks the room so no one interrupts. At the end, she clicks End, closing it cleanly for everyone.

Tips

• Share the load with a co-host. Let a co-host manage the lobby and mute while you present.
• Lock after the expected crowd arrives for sensitive meetings.
• Mute on entry for big calls. Fewer open mics means less accidental noise.
• Always End, don't just leave. Ending closes the room and stops any recording cleanly.

Troubleshooting

• "Meeting room was not found" when starting. The room may have been deleted or its link changed. Reopen it from the dashboard.
• A control isn't available. Live room controls (admit, mute, remove, lock) run on the native engine. If the meeting uses an external provider, some controls live in that provider instead.
• Can't remove or mute someone. Confirm you have a host or co-host role — attendees and viewers can't use host controls.
• The meeting keeps running after I leave. Closing your tab isn't the same as ending. Reopen the room and click End.

FAQ

What happens to a recording when I end the meeting?
Recording stops and the file is processed into an artifact. See Recording Your Meetings.

Can two people co-host?
Yes. You can assign multiple co-hosts to share hosting duties. See Managing Participant Roles.

Can I re-admit someone I removed?
They can rejoin with the link if the room is unlocked and not ended, unless you keep it locked.