Frequently Asked Questions
Kindly explore the Frequently Asked Questions before you reach out for support.
Most of your questions are probably already answered.
BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton is an open-source web conferencing system designed for online learning, meeting, conferencing, webinars & events, & much more.It’s use is not limited , depends on you how you can use it by yourself, or create something better using it & sell as your Service.
All users those will connect at the same time accross all the sessions, will be counted as total concurrent user. More details here.
Greenlight Dashboard allows you to use BigBlueButton as a standalone service. It is an simple frontend web interface to manage users and meeting rooms. Know more about Greenlight Dashboard here.
Generally recordings are stored into the BigBlueButton infrastructure itself. We need to store all the recordings there as long as you want those to be accessed from your LMS or CMS or your BigBlueButton integrated platform.
We offer alternative recording storage extension at cheaper rate for longer backup & retention without accessibility from the LMS or CMS. But clients may choose to provide their own AWS S3 or similar storage.
Contact Us to know more.
BigBlueButton backed by a world-wide community of developers (and commercial companies like us) that care about making the best web conferencing system for online learning , Conferencing & meeting. But the Most interesting part is you can rebrand & sell it as your service without paying anything for the software to anyone else. Just you need to Put your time & money for Setup , Rebranding , Customization ,maintenance , hosting . Or you can choose us to do all these for you .
BigBlueButton is Free to use means there is no Software License Charge. But it needs to run on a infrastructure, so that you can use it to hold the meetings .
BigBlueButton is a Free to use excellent project, but to use it there are multiple costs you need to take care.
So we charge you a all-in-one cost for our plans for the deployment , branding customization , maintenance , hosting infrastructure, internet bandwidth , support services etc .
Greenlight User Dashboard Related FAQs
The Greenlight User Dashboard is a user-friendly interface within BigBlueButton that allows participants to access and manage their virtual classroom sessions. It provides features such as joining sessions, viewing upcoming sessions, accessing session recordings, and managing account settings.
To access the Greenlight User Dashboard, simply navigate to the URL provided by us or administrator. Once there, log in with your credentials, and you’ll be able to access all the features and functionalities of the dashboard.
From the Greenlight User Dashboard, you can perform various actions, including joining scheduled sessions, viewing upcoming sessions, accessing session recordings, managing your profile settings, and interacting with other participants through chat and collaboration tools.
Yes, the Greenlight User Dashboard allows you to access recordings of past sessions. You can easily navigate to the “Recordings” section to find recordings of your previous sessions and review them at your convenience.
Yes, you can customize your profile and account settings directly from the Greenlight User Dashboard. This includes updating your profile picture, changing your display name, and managing other account-related details.
Greenlight Admin Dashboard related FAQs
Our Hosting Plans related fAQs
We use Stripe Payment gateway for managing the Subscription & Payments mostly. 90% of our customers like to subscribe with their Cards via Stripe securely & well integrated with our business.
But we also offer other payment options like Direct Bank Transfer or Payoneer Payment for more than 500 USD payments.
However clients from “India” can pay via NEFT, RTGS, IMPS or any UPI Payment Apps like Google Pay, Phone Pay etc.
YES, you can change plans anytime you want.
But upgrading within the same type plans is seamless and takes less time and effort from our side. However if you want to upgrade from Economy Plan to a Premium Plan, we do it through migration and it’s a manual operation, takes time.
But irrespective of your plan type , it can be upgraded within 24 to 48 hours.
YES, you should first try BigBlueButton as a Moderator & Student from demo.bigbluebutton.org , if you like to Test the Integration with your LMS or CMS with you can explore our TEST API & Dedicated Trial option.
No, we don’t charge extra for Bandwidth or usage.
We actually offer unlimited usage, means you pay the fixed monthly cost irrespective of your usage.
Self-hosted BigBlueButton
YES, but be very clear to yourself, why you need to self-host BigBlueButton, what additional benifits it brings to you.
If you have valid reasons, you should consider self-hosting BigBlueButton infrastructure.
If you just want the BigBlueButton up & running on your AWS instance you should count these below costs at least.
1. One-time deployment cost(between 20-100 USD) or time
2. AWS c5.2xlarge EC2 instance , On-demand cost 244 USD / Month
3. Without Recording 50 GB EBS Boot volume @4 USD / Month
OR
With Regular Recording 500 GB EBS Volume @ 40 USD / Month
4. Outbound Data Transfer or Bandwidth Usage Cost
No Usage = No Cost
Average 2 hours daily sessions with 80 participants accross multiple sessions for 20 days / Month,
would consume around 4 TB / Month outbound Data Transfer.
This 4TB outbound data transfer wopuld cost you (4096*0.09 / GB) =~ 368 USD / Month
More Usage = More Cost
For 100 concurrent users & above assumed use case, AWS monthly bill should be around total 650 USD.
Note: For this calculation we have used AWS Ohio Region, assumed ideal usage & active media consumption by participants. In real-world scenario it may differ.
Other cost for Professional Services like Regular Maintenance, Updates & Upgrades, Technical Support etc you may ignore for a non-production deployment or a Hobby project. For example , we do maintenance of the Standalone self-hosted BigBlueButton server for 50 USD / Month, billed annually.
YES, definately if you have at least 5K USD credit, and you don’t have a good way to use it.
You can definately use that for the BigBlueButton infrastructure. But if your usage is really high, most of your credit will be utilised in just a few months.
If your usage is less but you need a BigBlueButton deployment for occasional usage, we recommend deploying there.
No, we don’t charge extra for Bandwidth or usage.
We actually offer unlimited usage, means you pay the fixed monthly cost irrespective of your usage.
Self-hosted BigBlueButton vs Our Plans
Self-hosted is not always the Best decision. Be very clear to yourself, why you need to self-host BigBlueButton, what additional benifits it brings to you.
Consider Self-hosted infrastructure only if necessary.
You shouldn’t end up with an expensive, abandoned infrastructure with older version installed without any maintenance or updates for months or years.
You take charge of the BigBlueButton infrastructure yourself, no one else is accountable for anything.
- Self-hosted BigBlueButton will cost you more.
- We don’t charge extra for Outbound Data Transfer, but they do.
- Do it yourself, if you want to learn, else you may use your time better.
- Mostly self-hosted deployments runs older versions without any updates.
- Mostly self-hosted infrastructure runs with default, out of box configuration.
- Without any monitoring your infrastructure may get overloaded & cause issues.
Though we recommend managed hosting plans, but it still make sense to consider self-hosted BigBlueButton for the following reasons.
- It is a short-term event specifc experimental project.
- For Testing and Development without any production use case.
- Third party vendors aren’t allowed for a government funded project.
- Your company already has the required Infrastructure, DevOps Engineers.
- Existing Free Azure or AWS Credits, to run BigBlueButton for a few months.
- You are bound to follow the company policy that restricts outsourcing services.
- Infrastructure will be so large, that you can hire a full-time DevOps team to manage.
We can help with below services
- Deployment or installation of the BigBlueButton project into your provided infrastructure.
- Maintenance of your Self-hosted infrastruture with a monthly cost & annual billing.
- On-demand Technical Support, consultation.
- Migration or capacity upgradation or scaling up.
- Custom implementation like external recordings backup etc.
Recording related FAQs
BigBlueButton offers built-in recording functionality. Simply start the recording at the beginning of your session, and the platform will automatically capture the audio, video, and any shared content.
Recorded sessions are typically available in a standard video format (MP4) for easy playback and sharing. This format ensures compatibility with various devices and platforms.
Yes, BigBlueButton Host allows clients to customize recording settings according to their preferences. We can adjust parameters like video quality, framerate etc.
To fetch Recordings through BigBlueButton API, recordings has to be on the same infrastructure. However if you want to Backup to any external cloud storage, it’s can be done.
Depending on your hosting plan, there are limitation on recording storage space.
Economy Plans comes with bulk storage space on the based plan. However Premium plans offer additional storage capacity as needed at reasonable cost.
We don’t put any limitations on recording duration or no of recordings.
Recorded sessions are typically available for access in a few minutes or hours after the live session ends.
They are stored securely on the platform and can be accessed anytime for review or playback.
Your sessions can be available as long as you have storage space available for latest recordings. Mostly we implement a retention policy to delete older sessions after N days & restore space for new recordings.
Yes, we allows users to download recorded sessions for offline access. Simply access the recorded session with link and download it to your device for future reference or sharing.
Toubleshooting & Errors
If you encounter an error message, first try refreshing your browser window. If the issue persists, check your internet connection and ensure that you are using a compatible browser. If the problem continues, reach out to our support team for assistance.
Poor audio or video quality may be due to network congestion or device limitations. Try closing unnecessary applications, using a wired internet connection instead of Wi-Fi, and ensuring that your device meets the recommended specifications for running BigBlueButton. If issues persist, contact our support team for further assistance.
If you’re unable to join a session, ensure that you have entered the correct meeting URL or access code. Check your internet connection and try refreshing the page. If you continue to experience difficulties, contact the session organizer or our support team for help.
If your presentation slides are not displaying correctly, ensure that they are in a compatible file format (e.g., PDF, PowerPoint). Check for any formatting issues or corrupted files that may be causing the problem. If the issue persists, try uploading the slides again or contact our support team for assistance.
Lag or latency issues may be due to network congestion, device performance, or server load. Try closing other applications, using a wired internet connection, and reducing the number of participants in the session. If performance issues persist, reach out to our support team for further troubleshooting and assistance.
Integrations
Yes, BigBlueButton offers integrations with popular learning management systems such as Moodle, Canvas, and Sakai. These integrations allow seamless integration of virtual classroom functionality into existing LMS platforms, enhancing the online learning experience for students and instructors.
Integrating BigBlueButton with your website or application is straightforward and can be done using the BigBlueButton API. By leveraging the API, developers can create custom integrations that seamlessly embed virtual classroom functionality into their platforms, offering a cohesive user experience for learners.
Yes, BigBlueButton offers pre-built integrations and plugins for multiple platforms like WordPress, RocketChat, NextCloud etc.
Whether you’re in education, corporate training, or healthcare, there are integrations available to enhance your virtual classroom experience and meet your specific needs.
Yes, Greenlight Dashboard(Simple frontend for BigBlueButton) supports integration with external authentication systems such as LDAP, OAuth, and SAML. This allows seamless integration with existing user management systems, ensuring secure access control and simplified user authentication processes within the virtual classroom environment.
Live Streaming
Yes, BBBRoom.Live allows live streaming to external platforms via integration with streaming services such as YouTube Live or Twitch. This platform allows you to reach a broader audience by broadcasting your virtual classroom sessions in real-time.
Setting up live streaming from your BigBlueButton session is simple. First, integrate your BigBlueButton instance with API credentials to BBBRoom.Live . Then, configure the RTMP Credentials for each streaming destination and adjusting few other settings.
The number of participants who can view the live stream depends on the streaming service you choose to integrate with. Popular streaming platforms like YouTube Live and Twitch typically support large audiences, allowing you to reach hundreds or even thousands of viewers simultaneously.
While viewers can watch the live stream, interactive features such as chat or Q&A sessions are typically hosted within the BigBlueButton session itself. However, you can encourage viewers to engage with the content by providing links to the live session or directing them to a separate chat platform for discussions like chat within YouTube Live etc.
Yes, there will be a slight delay between the live session in BigBlueButton and the live stream, as this use RTMP protocol, typically ranging from 5 seconds to 15 seconds.
Yes, most streaming platforms allow you to record live streams for later viewing or archival purposes. You can configure your streaming service to automatically record the live stream, or manually initiate recording during the session.
For example you will get the recording automatically if you stream to YouTube.
BigBlueButton Limitations
While BigBlueButton can support a large number of participants in theory, practical limitations may arise depending on factors such as plan or allocated infrastructure capacity, network bandwidth, and participant devices.
It’s recommended to have up to 100 users in a single session.
However in specific use case, please consult with us to acheive up to 500 in a single session. It will require costly resources, enough testing to ensure reliability.
BigBlueButton sessions do not have a strict time limit, but prolonged sessions may impact performance and participant experience. It’s advisable to keep sessions within a reasonable duration like 24 hours and consider breaking up longer sessions into smaller segments if necessary.
BigBlueButton supports various file formats for uploading content, including PDF, PowerPoint (PPT/PPTX), Word documents (DOC/DOCX), and images (JPG/PNG). However, complex or heavily formatted documents may not display correctly, so it’s recommended to test content compatibility before final sessions.
The number of concurrent sessions or rooms you can host with BigBlueButton depends on hosting plan. Please refer to your Plan details.
While BigBlueButton offers white-label branding options and customization capabilities, there may be limitations on extensive customization or branding changes within the platform’s core functionality. Users can leverage available customization options to tailor the platform to their needs within these constraints.
Payments & Subscriptions
BigBlueButton Host accepts various payment methods, including credit/debit cards, PayPal, bank transfers, and other secure online payment options. You can choose the payment method that is most convenient for you.
BigBlueButton Host prides itself on transparent pricing with no hidden fees or setup charges. The pricing displayed on our website is all-inclusive, covering the cost of hosting services, maintenance, and support.
Yes, BigBlueButton Host offers flexible subscription plans with monthly and annual billing options. You can choose the subscription duration that best suits your needs, with the flexibility to upgrade, or cancel your plan at any time without penalties.
Yes, BigBlueButton Host offers discounts for annual subscriptions and bulk purchases of hosting services. By committing to a longer-term subscription or purchasing multiple plans upfront, you can enjoy significant savings on your hosting costs.
TEST API & Trials
Refund & Cancellations
BigBlueButton Host does not offer refunds for the current month or in the case of monthly billing. However, customers can request to cancel their plan without any charges before the end of the current billing cycle. For customers with annual billing who have paid upfront for the year and wish to cancel their plan, we can allow a refund with adjustments for any offers or discounts applied for annual billing.
To cancel your BigBlueButton hosting plan subscription, please drop an email to [email protected], and your plan will be canceled at the end of the current billing cycle.
Please email us from your Registered Billing Email, and mention your PLAN Name & Renewal Date.
There are no fees or penalties for canceling your BigBlueButton hosting subscription. Customers on monthly billing can cancel their plan without any charges before the end of the current billing cycle. For annual billing customers, refunds may be provided with adjustments for any offers or discounts applied for annual billing.
We encourage to inform us about the cancellations ASAP.
If you cancel your BigBlueButton hosting subscription, your data and sessions will be retained until the end of the current billing cycle. After the cancellation takes effect, you may lose access to all data anytime.
We ensure the deletion of all data from our platform within maximum of 90 days.