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by jasonpeacock·1y ago·view on hn ↗
Chime was pretty basic, but it worked, and it had a few killer features that are not available in the primary alternatives like Teams or Zoom.

Chime can autodial you when the meeting starts, which is life-changing if you haven't experienced it. We all know we have a meeting at 2pm, Outlook reminds you 15min before, but then at 1:58pm you get nerd-sniped and suddenly at 2:11pm you realize you're late! With Chime the the meeting launches automatically with Accept/Decline options, usually 1min before the meeting actually starts.

Chime also allows a meeting to start before (or even without) the host attending. How often have you had a meeting scheduled by senior leader, then they get pulled away and everyone is stuck in the virtual waiting room and end up coordinating/meeting in Slack instead? With Chime, the meeting starts anyway and the host can join when (if) they become available.

4 comments
My favorite feature is that the little mic next to someone's name on the roster goes red when their internet is spotty. No ambiguity on who's internet is spotty ;)
> Chime can autodial you when the meeting starts, which is life-changing if you haven't experienced it.

I wished Zoom could do this too, it's a great feature to build in to a videoconferencing product. I use a free companion app, called MeetingBar, which syncs with your calendar and has an option to join the meeting's waiting room for you.

> Chime can autodial you when the meeting starts

There is an older gentleman on TikTok that does programmer humor. He has an ongoing gag this reminded me of. Microsoft PowerInterrupt. Be forced to join meetings basically. Funny it’s almost an actual real life product.

>Chime also allows a meeting to start before (or even without) the host attending. How often have you had a meeting scheduled by senior leader, then they get pulled away and everyone is stuck in the virtual waiting room and end up coordinating/meeting in Slack instead? With Chime, the meeting starts anyway and the host can join when (if) they become available.

Not sure about other videoconferencing services but I never had this issue with zoom.

I'm almost sure this is a pretty common Zoom feature, I have run into this at least once a month the last 6-7 years.

IMO, it's less a Zoom problem, and more a setting on the host's side problem. Same category as "guest cannot move a meeting invite unless explicitly allowed to" on google calendar.

Yes, it's a config option in Zoom meetings.