Use the In-Meeting Minutes Interface

The In-Meeting Interface provides an efficient way to record your roll call, voting, and custom minutes text live as your meetings happen. This article will show you how to find the In-Meeting Interface and how to use it to complete multiple tasks during your meetings.

Important Notes

• Before taking in-meeting minutes, you should confirm that all voting members for the meeting have been added to the system as Legislators and added as Legislators for the appropriate Meeting Type.

• You must create both an agenda and a packet for a meeting before you can access the In-Meeting Interface or create minutes for that meeting.

• The actions and selections made in the In-Meeting Interface drive the content that appears on the Public In-Meeting display for organizations that use it.

Navigate to the In-Meeting Interface

1. Navigate to the desired meeting's Meeting Detail Screen

2. Click the In Meeting button (notebook and checkmark icon) in the meeting data section

   Note: You can only select the In Meeting button if an agenda and packet have already been created for the meeting.

3. You are now viewing the In-Meeting Interface

Review and Edit the Minutes Structure

1. Navigate to the desired meeting's In-Meeting Interface

2. Select the Minutes & Voting tab if it is not already open

3. Review the Minutes Structure

4. Click the name of a section to edit the section name, if desired

   Note: Click Save (blue floppy disc icon to the right of the section name) to save a section name change.

5. Use the section and item tools to edit the Minutes Structure, if desired

   • Save (blue floppy disc icon): Click to save changes to a section

     Note: This icon will be grayed out until you have made changes.

   • Copy (two sheets of paper icon): Click to copy a section of the minutes

   • Up/Down (blue up and down arrow icons): Click to move a section or item up or down one place in the Minutes Structure

   • Delete (red circle and X icon): Click to delete a section that does not apply to the Minutes document

Record Roll Call

1. Navigate to the desired meeting's In-Meeting Interface

2. Select the Roll Call tab if it is not already open

3. Select Present or Absent next to voting members' names to mark their attendance

   Note: If a voting member's name does not appear in the roll call for the meeting, confirm that they have been added to the system as a Legislator and added as a Legislator for the given Meeting Type.

4. Click Apply to record the roll call

   Note: Click Reset to clear all Present and Absent selections.

Insert Roll Call into Minutes

1. Navigate to the desired meeting's In-Meeting Interface

2. Select the Minutes & Voting tab if it is not already open

3. Select the agenda section that you typically list your roll call under

4. Check the Include Agenda Content in Minutes Document box, if desired

   Note: When the Include Agenda Content in Minutes Document box is checked, another box will appear that you can check or uncheck to also Include Agenda Item Number in Minutes Document if desired.

5. Clear the EnterTextHere prompt in the Minutes text box and add additional text, if desired

6. Click Insert Roll Call (paper with an arrow and wifi symbol icon)

7. The Roll Call will be inserted into the Minutes text box

8. Use the Text and Paragraph Formatting tools to edit the display of the Minutes text, if desired

9. Click Save (blue floppy disc icon)

Update Roll Call During a Meeting

1. Navigate to the desired meeting's In-Meeting Interface

2. Select the Roll Call tab if it is not already open

3. Click Present or Absent next to voting members' names to update their attendance as needed

4. Click Apply

   Note: Updating the Roll Call tab during the meeting will not automatically affect the roll call taken at the start of the meeting.

5. Select the Minutes & Voting tab

6. Select the agenda section that you typically list your roll call under

7. Edit the Minutes text box to reflect any late arrivals or early departures, if necessary or desired

   Note: To update the Roll Call for a late-arriving member late that has been marked absent, you must manually remove their name from the Absent list and add it to the Present list. Depending on your organization's preferences, you may also want to manually add a note for anyone that left early or arrived late.

8. Use the Text and Paragraph Formatting tools to edit the display of the Minutes text, if desired

9. Click Save (blue floppy disc icon)

10. The roll call has been updated, and the list of voting members will now reflect the changes you made in the Roll Call tab for the rest of the meeting

    Note: Changes to the Minutes text box and in the Roll Call tab will not affect any votes taken before the roll call was updated.

Enter and Edit Minutes Text

1. Navigate to the desired meeting's In-Meeting Interface

2. Select the Minutes & Voting tab if it is not already open

3. Select an agenda section or item to see its agenda content and options on the right

   Note: The Agenda Content box will auto-populate with the information displayed on the agenda; it cannot be edited from this screen.

4. Check the Include Agenda Content in Minutes Document box, if desired

   Note: When the Include Agenda Content in Minutes Document box is checked, another box will appear that you can check or uncheck to also Include Agenda Item Number in Minutes Document if desired.

5. Edit or enter notes in the Minutes text box

   Note: There is no limit to the number of characters that can be entered into this box.

6. Use the Text and Paragraph Formatting tools to edit the display of the Minutes text, if desired

7. Click Save (blue floppy disc icon)

   Note: Any time you change anything in the Minutes text box, click the Save icon. If you forget this step, the system may forget your information.

8. Repeat Steps 3-7 as necessary

Record Votes

1. Navigate to the desired meeting's In-Meeting Interface

2. Select the Minutes & Voting tab if it is not already open

3. Select the desired section or item

   Note: If you select a section to record votes under, and that section has multiple items, the system will carry the recorded votes over to all items in that section. To ensure that votes apply to a specific item instead, select the item before entering votes.

4. Check the Include Agenda Content in Minutes Document box, if desired

   Note: When the Include Agenda Content in Minutes Document box is checked, another box will appear that you can check or uncheck to also Include Agenda Item Number in Minutes Document if desired.

5. Scroll down to the Voting section

6. Click the appropriate bubbles under the Motion and Second columns to record the members that motioned and seconded the vote

7. Click the appropriate bubbles under the Yea, Nay, and Abstain columns to record member votes manually, or skip to Step 8 if your organization allows legislators to vote electronically using the Legislator Interface

   Note: To manually record a unanimous yea, nay, or abstention vote quickly, click Yea, Nay, or Abstain above the voting bubbles to apply the choice to all voting members.

8. Click the Voting Closed toggle to open voting and allow legislators to vote electronically using the Legislator Interface, if applicable

   Note: The Yea, Nay, and Abstain bubbles will update in real time as legislators submit their votes.

9. If your legislators use the Legislator Interface to vote, click the Voting Opened toggle once all votes have been cast to close voting

   Note: Skip this step if you manually record legislator votes.

10. Click the Votes Not Published toggle to allow votes to appear on the Public In-Meeting display in real-time, if applicable

    Note: Skip this step if your organization does not use the Public In-Meeting display.

11. Clear the EnterTextHere prompt in the Minutes text box and add additional text, if desired

    Note: If you are recording votes for a section with multiple items, and you want to have all of the votes carried over without recording them for each item, you may want to add a note in the Minutes box explaining that the votes carry for all items.

12. Click Insert Votes (sheet of paper and checkmark icon) after voting has concluded

13. Use the Text and Paragraph Formatting tools to edit the display of the votes text, if desired

14. Click Save (blue floppy disc icon)

15. Member Votes are now recorded in the Minutes

    Note: If you record votes at the section level for a section with multiple items, and you want to duplicate those votes under each item in the Minutes, select the items from the Minutes Structure list and repeat Steps 4-5 and 9-12 for each one.

16. Repeat Steps 3-14 as necessary