Hosting a “secure” webinar means different things to different people. The most common approach used in web conferencing products is to assign a login password to the webinar. Only people with the password can attend. The drawback is that any registrant with the login information can forward the password to others, enabling them to login as well.
A second approach requires the host to create a list of valid attendees. If someone attempts to login who is not on the approved list, they are blocked from entering. (TIP: If your vendor uses this approach, make sure the software allows only a single login per email address. Several well-known webinar products allow multiple logins under the same ID. This frustrates security efforts, since a valid attendee can forward his or her private login information to a third party and both can attend.)
For maximum security, you want the ability to allow one login per attendee, with each login requiring its own unique password that cannot be shared or duplicated. This is still a rare feature in the web conferencing industry.
Then you need to consider the audio side of things. If all attendees and presenters use computer audio, the problem takes care of itself… All security is handled via the web login. But if you offer telephone audio, things can get more complicated. I recently worked with a client who wanted to offer attendees the option of attending via web with streaming computer audio, attending via web with telephone audio, or participating by telephone only. The host wanted to be able to track who logged in and who called in, with assurance that no unwanted guests were able to see or hear any of the proceedings.
That is a rare combination of requirements, and it is rare to find a solution that satisfies them. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you will be interested in a new announcement from ConferTel.
Earlier this month, ConferTel announced Secure Passkeys for telephone conferences. A host can establish a list of participants, each of whom is randomly assigned a unique passkey code for entering the call. The system is able to automatically track and report attendance, since it knows who has called in via their personal PIN.
ConferTel gives the hosting company the option to make the Passkeys permanent, semi-permanent, or single-use. Permanent keys remain constant between meetings, so participants always know their own identifier code. Single-use gets assigned only for a single call and then expires, to be replaced by a new PIN for the next scheduled call. Semi-permanent allows repeated use for a period of time, followed by assignment of a new Passkey.
This week ConferTel extended their secure meeting options to integrate the web conferencing side of things. Their webinar software integrates with the attendee list that has been set up online for issuance of Secure Passkeys. Each person gets a unique login URL that corresponds to their email address. The system allows one login per person, and they can then listen via computer (if the host elects to establish a bridge between telephone and web) or they can call in using their personal Passkey.
ConferTel has actually had this functionality available internally for quite some time. The company used it for managed events they ran for clients. The new announcement exposes the functionality to companies running their own web events.
I spoke to Leo McGill, the president of ConferTel, about the new offering. Leo clarified a few things that customers should know. Secure Passkeys are always randomly assigned by the system… administrators and users cannot choose their own code number. The format is always a 10-digit number. And if users are assigned a permanent Passkey, they cannot elect to update it on their own. They must request a new Passkey from the account administrator.
The option for unique security is good to have. Admittedly, only a small percentage of all web conferences or audio conferences need the capability, but when you do find yourself requiring complete administration of every login - with options for phone and web access – ConferTel’s implementation is one of the more complete solutions on the market.