Running a service

The operator is the person who starts and ends the Sanalive session. You do not need to be an audio engineer, but you do need to see the console and know when live is on. This page walks through a Sunday from start to finish.

Languages

Turn on only the languages people in the room actually need. You can change these in your Settings.

Faster Flash translation cannot be offered for every language, so put Flash on the languages with the most listeners or the most first-time guests. Other languages can use Standard audio.

Before the service, glance once more and check that the same languages appear on the console and on the listener page.

Before the service

Walk through these calmly, ideally before people start arriving:

• Audio is ready. If someone else runs the sound desk, they follow the audio guide.
• You are logged in with Chrome on the device that will stay with you for the whole service.
• The QR code or join link is on a screen people can see. The QR code stays the same from service to service, but it is still worth checking.
• If Flash hours are limited, put the main languages on Flash and the others on Standard audio.
• Try translated audio on headphones. Note that your phone may not have every language voice, so if translation is on Standard audio, you may hear the audio incorrectly even when someone whose phone is set to that language can hear it fine.

Captions come from the spoken audio. The important step is starting live when the translated part begins.

Going live

1. Start live when you want translation to begin.
2. Watch the meter. It should move with the speaker.
3. Captions should appear within about 1–2 seconds.
4. Leave Chrome in front. Do not change the microphone mid-sermon unless the audio disappears completely.

Glance at the console now and then. If you see a backup-audio message, live voice could not start and the service is still running — leave it alone. If the screen keeps reconnecting, see connection drops.

QR code

Show the QR large enough to scan from the back row. You can also give the same link to ushers so they can help new listeners.

Listeners open the code in the phone browser. If someone cannot scan, they can type the short link by hand. Headphones are usually the next step.

Several services can share the same Church QR. Listeners wait in a lobby until you go live, then move into that service automatically. When one service ends and the next goes live on the same code, they move again without scanning again. Their language choice is remembered for the morning.

If a service ends early and you need to keep going, use Continue in a new service on the ended console. That starts a replacement with the same notes and QR, and listeners follow it automatically.

The listener-facing guide is How listeners join.

Plans and Flash hours

Live time on your plan counts while the session is live. End it as soon as the translated part finishes — including after a rehearsal.

Flash hours are separate from simply being live. When Flash runs out, captions continue and listeners move to Standard audio. What to say to the room is on Flash and standard audio. Current rates are on pricing.

After the service

End live. If the screen showed a message you did not understand, write it down and check it on the troubleshooting page before next Sunday. A short note often saves a lot of fiddling the following week.