Meeting Waitlist: How It Works

The meeting waitlist is a feature that allows subscribers to reserve a spot when a meeting is already full. By joining the waitlist, they're placed in line for a chance to attend if a seat opens up before the meeting begins. 

If a seat becomes available, the system automatically offers it to the next person in line, giving them a chance to accept the seat and complete registration. The waitlist operates entirely in the background until the Standby window begins.

The meeting waitlist is fully automated. When a meeting reaches capacity, subscribers can add themselves to the waitlist until 10 minutes before the meeting starts, at which point the waitlist closes and Standby begins. Once a subscriber is on the waitlist, the system manages all seat offering automatically.

Here’s how the process functions:

Seats are offered in waitlist order
If a registered subscriber cancels or a seat becomes available, the system offers that seat to the next person on the waitlist.

Subscribers receive an invitation to claim the seat
The invited subscriber is notified and must accept or decline the seat before the offer expires. If payment is required for the meeting, they must complete payment to finalize registration.

Each offer has an expiration time
The system calculates a deadline for each seat offer based on the time remaining before the meeting. If the subscriber does not respond before the deadline, the offer expires.

If the offer expires or is declined
The system immediately offers the seat to the next waitlisted subscriber. If no one else is waiting, registration reopens.

The waitlist closes 10 minutes before the meeting
Automatic seat offering continues until the 10‑minute mark. After that:

• the waitlist stops moving members
• no new members can join
• waitlisted members may enter the Standby Room

Each time the system offers a seat to a waitlisted subscriber, it generates an expiration time. This is the deadline for the subscriber to accept or reject the seat. The expiration time varies based on how soon the meeting is starting, ensuring subscribers have a fair chance to respond while keeping the waitlist moving.

How the expiration time is calculated
The system uses the following rules to determine how long a seat offer remains open:

• 33% of the remaining time before the meeting starts + 10 minutes
• Maximum hold time: 1 day
• Minimum hold time: 10 minutes

What happens when the expiration time passes
If the subscriber does not respond before the deadline:

• The offer expires
• The seat is automatically offered to the next person on the waitlist
• If no one else is waiting, meeting registration reopens to fill the seat

These rules help ensure that seats are offered promptly and fairly, especially as the meeting start time approaches.

The waitlist is an optional feature that you can choose to enable when creating a new meeting or when editing an existing one. When the waitlist is turned on, members can add themselves to the waitlist whenever the meeting reaches capacity, up until 10 minutes before the meeting starts.

How to enable the waitlist
Whether creating a new meeting or editing an existing meeting, locate the Enable Waiting List option. Click the field to add a checkmark. Continue completing the form, then select Submit to save your changes and activate the waitlist.

Waitlist Enabled
When the meeting's maximum registration count is reached, subscribers will see a Join Waitlist button.

Waitlist Not Enabled
When the meeting's maximum registration count is reached, subscribers will see Meeting Full.

The waitlist continues offering seats automatically until 10 minutes before the meeting starts. At that point, the waitlist closes and no new subscribers can join. 

Once the waitlist closes, subscribers who are on the waitlist can enter the Standby Room, where they may still have an opportunity to join the meeting if the group leader decides to offer additional seats during the Standby window.

Learn more about managing the waitlist roster
For step‑by‑step instructions on viewing and managing the waitlist roster, including how to move members into the meeting or remove them from the list, see Managing the Waitlist Roster.