RoomRadar Guides

LanguageEnglishSvenska
Go to Dashboard

Connect phones as microphones for multi-table workshops

Use participant phones as table microphones without an app, with a setup flow that prevents permission and reconnect issues.

Updated: 5 March 2026Difficulty: Beginner
setupworkshopaudiomicrophone

This guide helps you run phone-based table capture reliably. Use it when participants join by QR/link and their phones act as microphones in RoomRadar. In a hurry: connect one phone per table, verify microphone permission, run one test phrase, and keep one spare phone ready.

Fast path

  1. Open session and confirm group count matches physical tables.
  2. Connect one phone per table using QR or join link.
  3. Allow microphone permission and keep the page open.
  4. Place phone near conversation center and run one test sentence.
  5. Verify text appears in the correct group stream.
  6. Keep a charged spare phone with the facilitator.

What to set up before people start talking

RoomRadar is designed for browser-based capture, so no app install is needed. Most startup failures come from three avoidable issues:

  • denied microphone permission
  • wrong group assignment
  • page closed or backgrounded

Ask for one volunteer phone per table first. This keeps onboarding simple. If you need full-room onboarding support, pair this with [Inviting participants to connect their phones](/guides/setup/invite-participants-with-qr). If some groups are joining remotely, send the remote link instead and follow [Using RoomRadar for Remote Workshops](/guides/setup/using-roomradar-for-remote-workshops).

Step-by-step connection routine

1. Connect and assign table by table

As each table joins:

  1. confirm table label
  2. assign phone to matching group
  3. request one short test line
  4. verify text appears in that group

Do not move to the next table until this one passes.

2. Confirm permissions immediately

If a table appears connected but silent, check microphone permission before anything else. Permission errors are more common than network failures in the first minutes.

Use [Fixing microphone permission problems](/guides/setup/microphone-permissions-ios-android) when people are stuck on iOS/Android settings.

3. Place phones for usable capture

Placement rules that work in real rooms:

  • center of active speakers, not table edge
  • away from projector fans and loudspeakers
  • not under papers, sleeves, or bags
  • stable surface (avoid wobbling stacks)

Perfect audio is not required, but clear table-level signal is.

4. Keep one-phone-per-table discipline

Two active phones on one table often creates noisy, duplicate text. Use one active phone unless you deliberately test multi-device capture for a specific table.

If participants connect extras "to help," disconnect extras after the main phone is confirmed.

Failure modes and fixes

Connected but no text

  • check microphone permission
  • check group assignment
  • run 5-second normal-voice test

If still silent after a minute, swap device with a spare.

Text arrives in bursts

Likely causes: page backgrounding or unstable local network.

Fix:

  1. keep page in foreground
  2. disable aggressive battery saver if possible
  3. retest for 20 seconds

If this repeats at one location, move phone slightly and retest.

Wrong group receives transcript

Disconnect/reassign immediately, then verify with one line. Do this before round content advances, or you create synthesis cleanup later.

Phone drops mid-round

Tell table to continue talking and recover silently. Follow [Reconnecting a device without losing the discussion](/guides/setup/reconnecting-a-disconnected-device), then confirm stream recovery before leaving the table.

This guide is for...

Use this guide when your challenge is connecting and stabilizing participant phones as microphones.

If your main challenge is facilitator-side monitoring, use [Setting up the facilitator laptop or tablet](/guides/setup/facilitator-device-setup). If your main challenge is room acoustics, use [Testing microphones before participants arrive](/guides/setup/test-audio-before-workshop).

  • [Inviting participants to connect their phones](/guides/setup/invite-participants-with-qr)
  • [Fixing microphone permission problems](/guides/setup/microphone-permissions-ios-android)
  • [Reconnecting a device without losing the discussion](/guides/setup/reconnecting-a-disconnected-device)
  • [Replacing a participant phone during a session](/guides/setup/replacing-a-phone-mid-session)
  • [Testing microphones before participants arrive](/guides/setup/test-audio-before-workshop)
  • [Using RoomRadar for Remote Workshops](/guides/setup/using-roomradar-for-remote-workshops)

Related guides

Using RoomRadar for Remote Workshops

Run remote and hybrid group discussions by sharing the remote join link so one participant per group can share meeting audio and microphone audio.