January 2026 Product Feature Updates

Scaling Reach, Reducing Friction, and Strengthening Control

January always brings a familiar mix of ambition and reality. New programs launch. Calendars fill up. And suddenly, sessions that used to feel manageable are a lot bigger, a lot more frequent, and a lot less forgiving.

As live learning and collaboration continue to scale with this new year, teams are asking for more than just real-time connection. They need stability at scale, faster workflows, and tighter control, without adding complexity.

January’s HiLink updates focus on exactly that. Helping institutions reach larger audiences, operate more efficiently, and run classrooms with greater confidence and consistency.

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Streaming Mode

Teach and present to hundreds without sacrificing stability

Streaming Mode introduces a new session type designed for large-format, broadcast-style events. Instead of routing every attendee into a fully interactive classroom, Streaming Mode delivers content through a lightweight, view-only streaming interface, while presenters continue using the full HiLink classroom they already know.

This unlocks a more stable experience for large audiences and significantly reduces infrastructure and device load, making it ideal for lectures, orientations, town halls, and public-facing sessions.

Key highlights:

• Distinct session type: Streaming vs Interactive

• View-only attendee experience with no camera, microphone, or classroom tools

• Full presenter control using the standard HiLink classroom

• Synchronized video, screen share, and whiteboard streaming

• Optimized low-latency HLS delivery

Use cases include:

• University orientations with hundreds of attendees

• Weekly large-scale study sessions

• Public education or community events

• Company-wide town halls and trainings

Streaming Mode helps institutions scale their reach without introducing external webinar tools or fragmented workflows.

Available to institutional clients. Enable via dashboard or API.

One Click Screenshot

Save what matters right when it happens

One-Click Screenshot adds a simple but powerful capability inside the classroom: the ability to instantly capture the current whiteboard or screen share with a single click.

No operating system shortcuts. No third-party tools. Just fast, reliable capture built directly into the teaching flow.

How it works:

• Screenshot buttons live directly in the whiteboard and screenshare toolbars

• Captures content only, excluding menus and interface elements

• Automatically saves to the cloud

• Optionally downloads to the local device

• Accessible later in the post-session recap dashboard

Available to all classroom hosts on supported plans.

Bulk API (Update + Delete)

Fewer API calls. Cleaner workflows. Less manual work.

Building on HiLink’s existing Bulk Create capability, Bulk Update and Delete lets teams modify or remove up to 50 meetings per request, simplifying large-scale schedule management.

Whether rescheduling classes due to holidays, correcting metadata, or cleaning up canceled sessions, bulk operations reduce complexity and improve system performance.

What’s included:

• Bulk update of meeting fields such as start time, title, and duration

• Bulk delete by external meeting ID

• Per-item validation with detailed success and error responses

• Rate limiting with clear Retry-After handling

Available to all API-integrated clients.

Virtual Background Enforcement via API

Privacy, consistency, and branding controlled at meeting creation

HiLink now supports admin-enforced virtual backgrounds through the CreateMeeting API, giving organizations per-session control over participant video environments.

This capability applies during both device testing and the live classroom and does not rely on global or persistent settings.

What this enables:

• Enforce background policies on a per-meeting basis

• Maintain consistent classroom or brand standards

• Reduce visual distractions and protect participant privacy

• Toggle enforcement programmatically based on use case

When enforcement is enabled, participants see a clear message explaining that the background is controlled by their organization, and the background selection interface is disabled.

Available via the CreateMeeting API.

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Designed to Work Together

While each of these features addresses a specific need, they share a common goal: making live sessions easier to scale, easier to manage, and easier to trust.

From broadcast-scale delivery to operational efficiency, in-class teaching workflows, and governance-first controls, January’s updates reflect HiLink’s continued focus on treating live sessions as reliable infrastructure that institutions can build on.

If you would like help enabling any of these features, please reach out to your HiLink account manager or explore the updated documentation to get started.