Video conferencing with Jitsi Meet explained: Simple, free and open source
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The video conference solution Jitsi Meet is a popular alternative to Zoom, Skype and Co. We show you how to find a server and use it to set up and control your conferences quickly and free of charge.
With all the trouble with Zoom, connection problems with other video conference solutions and servers and the strict data protection requirementswhich apply to schools and universities in Germany, good alternatives are still a coveted commodity. User tracking is also a cause for concern at Microsoft Teams. It is therefore still very popular Jitsi Meet.
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How does Jitsi Meet work?
The tool is free and open source, has all the important features – and you don’t even need accounts or logins. Therefore, no data from you will be saved. It is therefore basically also suitable for schools, universities and companies, as well as for private users. As with other video conference systems, the prerequisite is an associated server through which the connections run. You can easily find a corresponding server thanks to the links below. Now all you have to do is start a video conference, invite the desired participants and off you go.
Video conferences with Jitsi Meet possible via browser or app
To use these servers, you can either use the Chrome browser or the Jitsi mobile app for Android or iOS. Here is a data protection shortcoming: If you use Chrome, you use a Google product for video conferences. Mozilla’s Firefox browser also works instead of Chrome, but Jitsi is not optimized for this and may not always work ideally here. Microsoft’s Edge is not yet supported. There is also a plugin for Slack.
Freely available servers
Some German servers that make their capacities available for public use have colleagues from Digital courage kindly collected and curated:
If you don’t know which one works best at the moment, you can alternatively via this link to a Jitsi server that has free capacity. You should always keep in mind that the bandwidths are limited – with more than 15 meeting participants, many servers reach their limits.
How to start a Jitsi meeting
No download is required for the desktop application. You simply create a virtual meeting room in the browser by giving it a name (or using a randomly generated one) and entering as the host – your other meeting participants also need this room name. So that you can use the webcam and microphone, you have to give the browser the appropriate permissions.
As soon as you are “inside”, a small information window at the bottom right shows a link that you can copy and send to your other conference participants. In the info box, you can also secure the conference with a password that participants have to enter in order to come to the meeting. The link takes you directly to the browser meeting on desktop computers.
Use Jitsi Meet via the app on your smartphone
The meeting links also work on smartphones – in the browser that opens you can then switch directly to the installed Jitsi app. If you host a meeting from your smartphone or tablet, you will find the password protection in the small three-point menu at the bottom right. Very practical: If you tap on “Invite more” in the app, you can quickly and easily share the invitation link using the usual sharing channels – including various messengers, Twitter, Facebook and the like.
What other functions does Jitsi Meet offer?
Jitsi Meet offers some practical functions: The buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you to share your screen or individual program windows – even including audio. You may also have to give Jitsi the appropriate authorization for this.
You can also switch on a text chat here, switch to a tile view mode or virtually signal with your hand that other participants can see. In addition, you switch the camera and microphone on and off here – you can use the small arrows on the symbols to select the device that Jitsi should tap for the call. With the red button you leave the meeting.
In addition, Jitsi Meet offers some additional functions that the provider has in its FAQ section has summarized:
- Secure rooms with a password.
- Stream video conferences on Youtube.
- Raise and lower your hand to signal a possible contribution.
- Watch YouTube videos with the conference participants.
- Audio-only conferences.
- Dial in with the phone.
A highlight of Jitsi: Thanks to open source, you can also set up and use your very own Jitsi server on your own hardware. We have also summarized how this works for you: This is how you set up your own server!
Is Jitsi Meet Safe?
To ensure the security of the video conference and its participants, Jitsi has to own information Some measures taken: The individual rooms only exist as long as the associated video conference takes place. When the last participant leaves the conference, the room is permanently closed. End-to-end encryption is also possible if the browser used allows it. Chats are automatically deleted after the video conference ends.
However, users have an important part of the security aspect in their own hands: They should carefully distribute the links to their video conferences with Jitsi Meet and protect the rooms with a password if they consider it necessary.
More on the subject: Eye contact instead of handshake: an overview of video conference systems
We update this article regularly. The last update took place on January 22, 2021.
