Meeting Types Guide
If you are offering the option of Video or Phone meetings, this document will lay out
some of the options for using PTCfast to manage the process.
First, we should mention that PTCfast does not actually handle the video call itself.
There are a variety of commercial platforms that do that , e.g., Zoom, Google Meet, etc.,
one of which your school probably already uses. It's easy, and we'll talk about how, to
integrate your preferred platform into the process.
● For each teacher, we recommend setting up one extended video call, covering
their full schedule. Then the teacher can use the "waiting room" feature to admit
and dismiss parents. This is much simpler for parents and staff than setting up a
separate call and link for each parent.
● Include the video call link in the Location field on the Emails page. This will
appear in confirmation and reminder emails to parents. If you are offering both In
Person and Video, include both the room number and link. Here's an example of
what it will look like for parents:
Conference:
Mr. Johnson, Algebra
Date/Time:
Mon, Dec 15 at 3:00 PM (20 minutes)
Location:
Room 108 / Zoom link:
https://xyzschool.zoom.us/j/8766588776
Meeting Type:
Video Conference
● The Time Blocks page, sign-up report emails, and all other schedule reports will
show the Meeting Type of each appointment.
● If you are offering multiple meeting types (for example, In Person and Video), you
can edit the message that parents will see when making their choice. You may
wish to include further instructions to parents here, e.g., "If you select a Video
Conference, the video call link will be in the Location field on your confirmation
and reminder emails."
● You may also wish to include further instructions to parents on your School Web
Page. You can edit this note by going to the Notice Settings page.
Meeting Types FAQs
In the past I have used the Special Requests feature to accommodate parents
who want a Video or Phone session. Can I still do that?
Yes! The Meeting Types feature is completely optional. If you don’t activate it, you can
run your conferences exactly as you have in the past.
I don’t want to offer Video or Phone meetings to ALL parents, but I want to be
able to accommodate those who specifically request it. Should I use the Meeting
Types feature?
No. The Meeting Types feature would be available to all parents. Instead, on the
Manage Conference page, activate Special Requests, and let parents know they can
use it to request a Video or Phone meeting when signing up. You will see Special
Requests that parents make on Time Blocks and sign-up reports.
What happens if I just check one box (e.g., I only select Video Conference)?
Parents will not be offered a choice of Meeting Types, but the confirmation and reminder
emails they receive will specify the Meeting Type you selected. For example, if you
check only the box for Video Conference, the emails will say “Meeting Type: Video
Conference”.
What if my school’s conferences are all In-Person?
In this case, we generally recommend leaving the Meeting Types feature off. Parents
then won’t see any mention of Meeting Type on confirmation and reminder emails.
Alternatively, you could choose to check only the box for In Person, in which case
parents will see “Meeting Type: In Person” on all confirmation and reminder emails.
However, this may imply that Phone or Video Conferences are an option, which is why
we recommend leaving the Meeting Types feature off altogether.
What if my school’s conferences are all Video?
If you check only the box for Video Conference, parents will see “Meeting Type: Video
Conference” on all confirmation and reminder emails. Alternatively, you could choose
not to activate Meeting Types at all, in which case the emails won’t say anything about
Meeting Type. You would then just want to make sure to notify parents in some other
way(s) that conferences will be all Video.
I need to change the Meeting Types I originally selected, but some parents have
already booked appointments with a Meeting Type I now want to remove. What
should I do?
You can still go ahead and change the Meeting Types. You’ll just need to change those
appointments, which the system allows you to do easily.
As an example, let’s say you were originally offering In Person, Video Conference, and
Phone; now you want to remove Phone as an option, but some parents have already
registered and booked appointments with Phone selected as their desired Meeting
Type.
You will be given the choice to convert all of these appointments to In Person or Video
Conference.
Any incomplete registrations (meaning parents registered but did not yet pick a time) will
be automatically deleted. These parents will just need to register again.
PTCfast will not automatically notify parents of these changes, but the system will email
you a report of all deleted registrations and changed appointments so you can
communicate with those parents if you wish.
If you change from multiple Meeting Types to one, any appointments with the
no-longer-allowed Meeting Type will be automatically converted to the allowed one.
If you deactivate Meeting Types altogether, any appointments that had a Meeting Type
will now have that designation removed.
These appointments will not otherwise be changed.
What if different teachers will be offering different Meeting Types (e.g., some
teachers are offering In Person and Video, while others are only offering In
Person)?
The Meeting Types feature applies to all Conferences in the account, so you will want to
leave this feature off. Instead, include in the name of each Conference what Meeting
Type that particular teacher is offering, e.g., “Ms. Smith (In-Person or Video
Conference)”, and “Mr. Roberts (In-Person only). On Manage Conference, activate the
Special Requests feature, and let parents know they can use it when signing up to
request a Video or Phone Conference.
What if I have teachers who want to offer only In Person on some days, and only
Video Conferences on others?
Leave Meeting Types off. Set up a separate Conference for each Meeting Type for each
teacher. For example, set up one Conference named “Ms. Smith - In Person
Conference” and another named “Ms. Smith - Video Conference”, and set up Time
Blocks accordingly (that is, for the In Person conference, enter only the In Person time
slots the teacher is offering). When a parent is selecting which Conferences they want
to sign up for, they can choose In Person or Video.
