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Handling lost connections in meetings

The following provides a list of issues, incl. technical and procedural, to consider:

Loss of communication with online participants

  • Online participants need to be informed what happened and how to proceed because they may miss important discussions and decisions, leading to a lack of coherence and inclusivity in the meeting.
    disruption of meeting flow:
    • The sudden loss of connection can halt the progress of the meeting, causing delays and potentially requiring rescheduling depended on the size of the meeting.
  • Inability to proceed with decision making without a quorum:
    • If the quorum requirement includes online participants, the meeting potentially cannot proceed with votes or decisions, impacting the ECC's governance.
  • Delayed decision-making:
    • The interruption may necessitate postponing crucial decisions, affecting decision timelines and ECC’s efficiency.
  • Potential confusion and frustration among participants:
    • Both onsite and online participants may feel confused and frustrated by the sudden disruption, negatively impacting their engagement and productivity.
 
Informing Online Participants
  • Immediately notify online participants via email or messaging platform about the lost connection and the steps being taken to resolve it:
    • Ensure clear and prompt communication to keep online participants informed and reduce frustration. To enable this option a mailing list with the participants of the group needs to be available outside the interrupted platform.  One option is to use the group mailing list available on the respective website for the group.
  • When informing online participants provide a clear timeline for when an update will be given regarding the connection status:
    • Give online participants a specific time frame to expect updates, helping to manage expectations and reduce uncertainty.
 
Attempting to Reestablish Connection
  • Check all connection points, including internet service and hardware:
    • Verify and troubleshoot all possible sources of the connection issue to restore communication promptly. Last resort could be running the meeting from phone hotspot.
  • Communicate with local IT / AV support and ECO IT support for immediate assistance:
    • Engage technical support to quickly identify and resolve the issue.
  • Restart the meeting platform and refresh the connection:
    • Sometimes a simple restart can resolve technical glitches and reestablish connection.
  • If possible, switch to an alternative platform or method of communication:
    • Utilize secondary platforms or communication methods to continue the meeting without significant delay. Goto meeting can be run independently from MHub but it requires sending the 9-digit Goto meeting code to the participants

Proceeding with Onsite Participants Only

This could take different forms depending on if online participants are not connected at all or just in a listen only mode. For the latter ordinary activity in the meeting can basically continue with lower efficiency and maybe rescheduling the agenda. In particular, even with participants in a listening in mode and with the availability of MHub, decisions (including voting) can in principle be made

Dependent on the number of onsite and online participants it may be considered to continue the meeting with onsite participants only, ensuring that all discussion points and decisions are meticulously documented. To ensure the appropriate information of online participants after the meeting detailed minutes of the meeting need to be prepared.
The decision to continue the meeting without the online participants is considered to be case by case to be taken by the respective group. It could be as well considered holding the meeting with onsite participants to discuss immediate issues and action items that do not require a final decision. Address urgent matters with onsite participants to keep projects moving forward.

In case the meeting cannot be continued, reschedule the meeting to a later date and time when all participants can be present. Ensure all participants can attend a rescheduled meeting to maintain inclusivity and fairness.
Ensure that all participants are informed promptly about the rescheduling and announce the meeting on the CEPT portal. Provide timely updates about the new meeting schedule to all participants.

Handling Quorum for Voting

It is noted that only the ECC Plenary and the WG’s are entitled to vote and the normal procedure applied is consensus and voting is usually avoided. However, it needs to be considered that a missing quorum could be used as an argument not to proceed with the meeting because there is a lack of administrations represented to take any decision. If a quorum is required for decision making and cannot be achieved with onsite participants only, the decision to continue the meeting should be taken by the group unanimously, and ,if possible, incl. the HoD’s participating online only.

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