Their microphone is muted, their video is turned off, and their profile picture is replaced with an image of a hot beverage step away from a meeting and the text Stepped away. In Control Hub, this setting is turned on by default. You can turn it off.

  • This feature is available on our Webex Suite meeting platform. Find out if your meetings use the Webex Suite meeting platform.

  • The Allow Webex to set stepped away status feature is turned on in Control Hub by default and is available starting June 7, 2024. If left on in Control Hub, this feature will be available to users in Webex App starting June 22, 2024.
  • For the first few months after this feature is released, when it's turned on in Control Hub, a notification is shown in Webex App the first time a user steps away from a meeting. The user is notified that the next time they step away, Webex App can automatically mute their microphone, turn off their video, and replace their profile picture with a hot beverage icon step away from a meeting and the text Stepped away. The user can click Edit settings, Not now, or dismiss the notification.
    • If the user clicks Edit settings, they're taken to their settings in Webex App, where they can set the app to automatically switch their status to Stepped away. The notification is not shown again.
    • If the user clicks Not now or dismisses the notification, the notification is shown again, the fourth time the user steps away from the camera for a few seconds. If the user selects Not now a second time, the notification disappears permanently.

      In order to have Webex App automatically set their status to Stepped away, the user must click Edit settings and turn this feature on. Clicking Not now or dismissing the notification does not turn this feature on in Webex App.

  • This feature is only available on the desktop app.

    • If you use the mobile app, a Desk or Room Series device, or connect the app to a video device, you can see when other meeting participants step away from the meeting.
    • If you use the web app, you can't see when other meeting participants step away.

How this feature works

Processing of the user's video feed occurs solely on the client device and is never stored elsewhere.

The first time this feature is used, an AI model analyzes the user's video feed from the camera to determine their presence in front of it. When it detects that the user has stepped away, Webex App shows an in-meeting notification that lets the user know that they can turn on the feature in the app settings. Once it's turned on, their microphone is muted, their video is turned off, and their profile picture is replaced with an image of a hot beverage step away from a meeting and the text Stepped away.

When the user turns on the feature in the app settings and the AI model detects them as having stepped away, their microphone is automatically muted, their video is turned off, and their profile picture is replaced with an image of a hot beverage step away from a meeting and the text Stepped away. This is different from the first time the feature is used, when a notification is shown to the user asking them if they want to turn on the feature.

The setting to automatically recognize when a user has stepped away from a meeting is turned on by default. If you want to turn this feature off, you can do so here.
1

Sign in to Control Hub, then go to Services > Meetings > Settings.

2

In the Automatically step away from a meeting section, turn off Allow Webex to set stepped away status.

3

Click Save.