Participating in Live missions
So you've been invited to your first Live mission—congrats! In this article, you'll learn all about:
- How to accept your invitation
- Who is/are your mission leader(s) and how to contact them
- Requirements for getting paid
- Completing your Live pre-test
- Scheduling your session
- Rescheduling your session
- Joining your Live session
- Guidelines + Best Practices
How to accept your invitation
To accept your invitation to the mission, follow these steps:
- Log into your account on the dscout mobile app.
- Find the tab labeled Missions (rocket icon) on the bottom navigation bar and tap on it.
- Find the mission you’ve been invited to under the Invites section and tap on the image to continue.
- When you tap on the card, you’ll land on the Mission Overview page. You can read up more about the mission details, instructions, structure, and invite date here.
- To accept the invitation and get started, tap on Accept Invitation.
- To decline the invitation, tap on Decline.
- If you want to message your mission leader(s), tap on the messaging icon in the top right corner of the screen. Any message you send here will go directly to your mission leader(s).
Note: it is possible to accept a Live Desktop invitation without using the dscout mobile app. To do so, simply tap on the link in your email invitation, log in, complete your Live pre-test, and schedule a time!
Who is/are your mission leader(s)?
Mission leaders are the folks in charge; we also call them moderators for Live missions. They're the ones you'll be having a conversation with during your Live session. They're also available in case you have questions that aren't answered in the mission overview or instructions, or if you have trouble scheduling and rescheduling a session. You can contact yours by tapping the "Messages" tab while viewing a mission in the app, or by replying directly to your email invitation.
Requirements for getting paid
So long as you schedule a session, call in at your scheduled time, and successfully complete the session, your mission leader(s) will mark you as approved for payments!
Completing your Live pre-test
Complete these tasks more than 24 hours before your session. It is important to be set up well in advance so you can grab a timeslot before they're all gone. The pre-test also helps ensure that you'll be able to call into your live session on time! If you are more than 10 minutes late, you could be marked as a no-show and may not have another opportunity to participate.
To make this experience as smooth as possible, here’s your to-do list!
Live Desktop
- Make sure you have Google Chrome installed on a computer with a microphone and a webcam.
- Complete your Live pre-test by clicking on the session link in your invitation email. Follow the prompts here to test your connectivity, camera, microphone, and speakers to make sure your set-up is good to go for your call!
If any of the tests result in failure, take a screenshot and send us an email here for support. We also recommend checking out this troubleshooting document if you're short on time!
Live Mobile
- Navigate to your Live mission via the Missions tab
- Complete the "Pre-Session Checklist" items at the bottom of the mission to test your audio, camera, and learn about screensharing. Once you complete each check, a green checkmark will appear next to the item so you know it's complete.
Scheduling your Live session
Once you've completed your Live pre-test, it's time to schedule your session! How you schedule your Live session depends on what type of scheduling the mission leader(s) has/have enabled. Read more about the two options below:
Automatic scheduling
If the mission leader(s) has/have pre-determined their availability with pre-booked sessions, you'll be able to select from a list of available time slots immediately after you complete your Live pre-test. Check out the steps below:
- After you accept your mission, you'll be able to see all the available time slots that your mission leader(s) has/have chosen.
- Select the time slot you would like to reserve (please note: all timeslots will be listed in your system’s timezone).
- Click the Confirm Timeslot button to finish reserving the date and time of your Live session.
- After booking, you will receive a scheduling confirmation email. You will also receive reminders 1 day and 1 hour before your scheduled session.
- For Live Mobile: you'll be prompted to schedule a time when you accept your invite. If you weren't, you can also navigate to your mission via the app and tap "Choose time slot" to pick a time!
Note: No more time slots available? Reach out to your mission leader(s); they may no longer have any available session times, or they may be able to schedule your session manually.
Manual scheduling
If your mission leader(s) has/have chosen to manually schedule sessions, you won't be able to select from a predetermined list of times immediately after you complete your pre-test. Instead, your mission leader(s) will contact you directly via email or in the dscout mobile app to confirm a day and time. Keep an eye out for a message in both your email inbox and dscout mobile app.
Once your scheduled time is confirmed and your mission leader(s) schedule(s) it, you’ll receive a confirmation email. You'll also receive reminder emails 1 day before your session and 1 hour before your session.
Rescheduling your Live session
How you reschedule your Live session depends on whether or not your mission leader(s) has/have enabled our Automatic scheduling tool. Read more below.
Rescheduling for Automatic sessions
If you need to reschedule your Live session and your mission leader(s) has/have enabled our Automatic scheduling tool (reminder that this option lets you schedule your calls from a predetermined list of available time slots automatically after accepting your Live mission), you can reschedule your call by following these steps.
Note: this must be done before the day of your session. The Reschedule button mentioned below will not be available to you if you’re trying to reschedule the same day of your session. If you need to reschedule your session same-day, you'll need to message your mission leader(s) to reschedule your session.
- Log into your email account and search for the original scheduling confirmation email from dscout. This message would’ve came from participate@dscout.com and would’ve had the words Scheduling confirmation in the email's subject. Open the email once found.
- Click on the Join Your Live Session button.
- If prompted, enter your dscout email address and password and click Sign In.
- You’ll see your scheduled time highlighted in green under the name of the Live session. Click on the Reschedule button to the right of your time slot to reschedule.
- For Live Mobile: navigate to your mission and tap the Reschedule button just below your original session time.
Rescheduling for Manual sessions
If you need to reschedule your Live session and your mission leader(s) has/have not enabled our Automatic scheduling tool, you’ll have to reschedule your session manually. To do this, simply contact your mission leader(s) directly. You can do this by either messaging your mission leader(s) in the app or by replying to your invitation or scheduling confirmation email.
Joining your Live session
You’ll receive an email reminder exactly one hour before your scheduled call. The subject of this email will be Scheduling reminder for ‘...’ Live mission. To join your Live session, follow the steps or check out the gif below:
- Access the reminder email and click the Join Your Live Session button.
- You may be prompted to sign in. If you are, enter your email address and password and click Sign In.
- On the bottom of the Live session's detail screen, click the Start Session button to test your set-up one more time.
- At this point, dscout will check to see if your microphone, camera, and sound work properly. We'll also check that you're using Google Chrome and have a good internet connection. If all goes well, you'll be able to click Get Started to join the waiting room.
- When your moderator(s) join(s) the call, click the Join button to join the call.
- For Live Mobile: simply tap the "Join session" button. Your session will begin when your moderator(s) start(s) the call.
Having trouble? Check out this document for troubleshooting Live setup issues.
Guidelines + Best Practices
- Driving during sessions is not allowed. It might sound obvious, but please don't Live and drive.
- Safety first! Before the call, make sure to close out of any private data such as banking information, private conversations, or sensitive content.
- Be attentive. We understand that life still might be happening around you, but if possible, try to complete your session in a distraction-free space.
- Keep it professional. In many cases, clips from your Live session will be used by project teams for internal insights, share-outs, slide decks, etc.. With that in mind, please ensure you are reasonably dressed and limit the consumption of alcohol or illicit substances during your session.
- Test your internet connection. Your internet connection can make or break a Live session, but when it's good, you've got nothing to worry about! You'll be able to test your WiFi on the mission page so you'll know whether or not you need to improve your connection. Note: we do not recommend using cellular data during your Live session.