Youtube – How to pre-schedule a [non-confidential] recorded call using Google Hangout [on Air]

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I often want to record calls among a small number of participants, for posterity. It's often related to open projects, so I don't mind the small chance that a random person from the internet might join the call.

I feel that Hangout On Air events would be great for this, but it's not totally clear how to host them in this way. (I tend to default to unrecorded Hangouts, because they're simpler, but then we have no records of the call to share with others.)

Best Answer

I went through and documented this myself :)

  1. Open web browser. (Google Chrome works most often.)
  2. Log into YouTube
  3. Visit the Live Events page.
  4. At top-right, confirm you're logged in as the account that you want the video saved under. Screenshot.
  5. Click the "New live event" button
  6. Configure a Hangout-on-Air, paying particular attention to:
    • Type: Quick.
    • Start time. Setting too soon might expire the link you'll generate later. (Don't worry about the "End time".)
    • Privacy: Unlisted, if you just want to keep a call record, but aren't trying to to encourage random channel followers to watch.
  7. Click "Create event" button.
  8. Navigate back to Live Event page.
  9. Click "Start Hangout On Air". It won't start recording yet.
  10. Copy the URL of this Hangout, and note it as Host URL.
  11. Click the [name=+] icon.
  12. Copy the permalink, and note it as the Participant URL.
  13. There you go! You're all set to host a recorded meeting later!
  14. When you're ready, make sure you yourself use the host URL -- this is the only URL which allows you to use the "Start Broadcast" button that begins the recording.
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