Getting started: The basics of screen sharing with CrankWheel

The basics of CrankWheel are simple, just select what you want to share and share a link. But there are resources, functions and options that can give you more out of your screen sharing sessions. Read this short guide to get to know the ins and outs of CrankWheel.

1. Set up your CrankWheel Account
2. Installing the ChromeWheel browser extension
3. Launching the CrankWheel screen sharing app without using an extension
4. Starting a screen sharing session
5. Accessing your dashboard
6. Adding members of your team
7. Changing the language
8. Helpful resources for success
9. Monitoring engagement with the preview window
10. Project a video to a session / How to screen share video
11. Turn on the webcam
12. Recording screen sharing sessions
13. Using the Remote Control
14. Instant Demos
15. Sharing CrankWheel with friends
16. Leave feedback for CrankWheel
17. Enable phone conferencing for free
18. Affiliate program
19. Frequently asked questions

Set up your CrankWheel Account

Start by setting up your account. Click the Sign up button in the upper right corner of this page. Enter your email address. You will receive an email to confirm your email address. Follow the instructions and remember to get the CrankWheel browser extension and pin it to your browser.

Installing the CrankWheel extension for your browser

If you are using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, we recommend adding the CrankWheel extension to your browser. You can find it in the Chrome webstore for the CrankWheel Chrome Extension or the Edge webstore. To pin and launch the extension, click here for quick instructions.

Launching the CrankWheel screen sharing app without using an extension

If the extension is not available for your browser, or if you prefer to launch CrankWheel without an extension, you can create a bookmark that launches CrankWheel.

Simply click and hold down the mouse button while [[[dragging this link]]](javascript:(function(){ window.open%28%27https%3A%2F%2Fmeeting.is%2Fss%2Fapp%2Fhome%27%2C%20%27CrankWheel%20Control%20Panel%27%2C%20%27menubar%3Dno%2Clocation%3Dno%2Cresizable%3Dyes%2Cstatus%3Dno%2Cleft%3D0%2Ctop%3D0%2Cwidth%3D%27%20%2B%20%28%28screen.availHeight%20%2F%203%29%20%7C%200%29%20%2B%20%27%2Cheight%3D%27%20%2B%20%28%28screen.availHeight%20%2A%200.85%29%20%7C%200%29%29 })(); ) to your bookmark bar. Whenever you want to launch CrankWheel, you click the link in the bookmark bar of your browser.

Important note for launching CrankWheel through the link: When you want to share a browser tab, you will need to hold down the Shift button on your keyboard when you click “Browser tab” at the top of the CrankWheel pop-up.

Starting a screen sharing session

You might have to go through the CrankWheel login page or simply click on the CrankWheel icon after you have pinned it to your browser.

You start a CrankWheel screen sharing session by selecting what you want to share in the top part of your CrankWheel interface. You can choose from sharing just a browser tab, a program window or your entire screen. Click the video below to see how you do it and how you share a link to the session.

You can find our quick start guides on how to share screen to desktops or tablets and mobile devices in German, Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese.

Your dashboard

In your CrankWheel dashboard, you can change your settings, start a screen sharing session (especially if you use a browser that doesn’t support the CrankWheel extension), add team members to your account and see how your team has used CrankWheel.

Adding team members to CrankWheel

With CrankWheel, you can add team members to your account with no additional cost per new user. Simply follow the steps in the video below.

Changing languages

You can change the language in the user interface. Simply click the Options button in the lower right corner of the CrankWheel interface. Then select a language from the dropdown menu under Language settings. Admins can also change the default language for team members in the admin panel.

Resources that help you succeed

We have some resources that might help you along the way in making your telesales or customer support efforts even more successful with CrankWheel.

• The Ultimate guide to Screen-sharing
• Customer case studies
• Ebook and infographics on sales
• Walkthrough videos

Using the preview window to monitor engagement

During a screen sharing session, you might notice a small preview window that shows what you are sharing. This window shows you what the viewer is seeing. The preview window allows you to monitor if and where your viewer is engaging with your content.

Above is the preview window. In this instance, the viewer is viewing on a mobile phone; the yellow frame shows you where the viewer is zooming in and the yellow spot shows where the viewer is engaging with the content.

If you hover over the preview window, you will see the connection your viewer has and the framerate of the session.

Project video to a session / How to screen share video

To be able to project high-quality videos with sound, you will first have to configure the videos you want to show.

How to add videos to the Projector:

1. Copy the URL of the video - you might have to upload it to your web management service. (only direct links to .mp4 files are supported to begin with).
2. Go to your admin dashboard, either through your CrankWheel panel (Options-> Dashboard) or go straight to your dashboard by clicking here.
3. Click Configurations in the left side menu.
4. Click Company content
5. Click Add video
6. Paste the URL of the video in the first text box
7. Write the name of the video in the second text box - the viewer will see the name during the session.
8. Click submit.

Notes:

1. You might have to close CrankWheel and open it up again to be able to see the new video in the drop-down menu.
2. Only individual users and team admins can select the videos for the Projector. If you want to show videos during screen sharing sessions and are a part of a team, please contact your account administrator.

How to play HD videos while screen sharing:

1. You must have an active CrankWheel session open.
2. Click Actions in the lower right corner of your CrankWheel panel.
3. Select the video in the drop-down menu.
4. Click Show video
5. The viewer will get a notification about Remote content share.
6. Once the viewer clicks Accept, the video will start to play.

While the video is playing:

• The preview window will show static captures of the video
• You will be able to pause/resume and stop playback with the controls in the preview window
• Once the video is over, the viewer will return to what was being shared before the video started playing.

Using the webcam

To turn the webcam on during sessions, click the Webcam banner which is placed between the preview window and the Program Window / Full-Screen tiles. The webcam can pop up in a small box during screen sharing or it can be used exclusively. CrankWheel does not request webcam access on the viewer side.

Recording screen sharing sessions

With CrankWheel you can optionally record screen sharing sessions. Our users use the record function to keep the records for compliance reasons, customer success agents use it to share with customers after sessions and sales agents use it to record elevator pitches before reaching out to leads.

Recordings are uploaded to the cloud and can be downloaded locally or shared with a link.

You will have to enable the feature in the Options menu and then you are good to go by hitting rec. The full instructions are in the video below.

Using Remote Control for engagement and interactivity

With Remote Control, you can grant control to the viewer when you share a browser tab or the full screen in full security, making the session more interactive. Here is a brief instruction on how you can enable the feature:

To learn more about the feature, use cases and limitations, click here: Remote Control

We also have a separate page that provides a guide for how to install and use Remote Control.

Instant Demos: How to connect instantly with inbound leads

Imagine this. A customer is viewing your website or landing page. There is a “Contact Us” or “Request a demo” call to action button. The interested prospect clicks the button and enters basic information into a form that appeared. Once the prospect submits the form, you and/or your team gets an alert of a request in CrankWheel.

An eager salesperson will jump on the lead and call while the prospect is still viewing the information that created interest in your product or service. Third-party research indicates that you are 21x faster to qualify prospects by calling them quickly.

You are able to do this with the Instant Demo feature in CrankWheel. You will just need to place a code snippet on your site and you are good to go. You can find your snippet by going to your dashboard either through Options -> Admin or click here to access your dashboard and then click Instant Demos on the sidebar menu on the left.

If you are using WordPress, add the CrankWheel plugin to activate the widget through the sidebar menu of your admin dashboard or get it in the Wordpress plugin site.

You can also capture leads through your social media channels or newsletter call-to-action buttons. Simply place your Instant Demos URL as the destination for the click. If you add UTM parameters, your sales team will see what spurred the interest from the lead.

See how Instant demos appear for both the presenter and the viewer:

How to share CrankWheel with your friends

If you want to share CrankWheel with teammates, add them to your CrankWheel team (just click that link, then click “New user”). Add as many teammates as you like, it’s free.

If you want to share CrankWheel with people outside your organization, here’s how you can help them:

• Tell them to visit www.crankwheel.com
• [[Click here]](mailto: ?Subject=Try%20CrankWheel%20screen%20sharing%20for%20free&Body=Hi%2C%0A%0AI%20wanted%20to%20let%20you%20know%20about%20a%20screen-sharing%20solution%20I%20have%20been%20using.%20It%27s%20called%20CrankWheel%20and%20you%20can%20sign%20up%20for%20free%20at%20https%3A//crankwheel.com/) to send them a pre-composed email.
• Tweet about us
• Share a post about us on Facebook

How to rate and review CrankWheel

If you love CrankWheel, please submit a rating or review. It helps others like you, who want an easy screen-sharing solution, to find out about CrankWheel. You can leave a review at Chrome Web Store, Microsoft, G2, Sourceforge and Capterra.

Free phone conferencing

For multi-party telephone calls, CrankWheel comes with integrated phone conferencing for no additional subscription fee.

You can use our partner service, ConferenceCall.co.uk, for no additional subscription fee. It is offered through dial-in numbers in 72 countries. Depending on the country, the per-minute cost to callers is either local rate or local rate plus premium. See a full list of dial-in numbers and rates here. Setting up this service is just one click away on your options page or right there in the flow when you schedule a meeting.

Alternatively, if you already have access to a different phone conferencing service that you would like to use, you can set up CrankWheel to show the dial-in number(s) and participant PIN code for that service in your scheduled meetings. Just click here and select “Use custom phone conferencing” and supply the required information, then supply your participant PIN via your options page.

Affiliate program: Generate passive income from CrankWheel

You can earn money by simply recommending CrankWheel to others.

You have experienced how efficient and effective screen-sharing sessions are. Let others know how much value CrankWheel provides and you could earn some extra cash every month.

Join our SaaS affiliate program to earn money when people sign up for one of CrankWheel’s paid plans, after discovering the solution through your affiliate link. As an affiliate, you can earn up to $120 for each new paid plan, plus 15% of ongoing revenues.

Frequently asked questions

If you are looking for something that is not covered here, you can see the most frequently asked questions about screen sharing from CrankWheel users or contact our customer support team by clicking the chat bubble in the lower right corner.