Keep Slack Active During Meetings: Stay Online During Video Calls
Stop appearing "away" on Slack when you're in meetings, video calls, or conferences. Stay active and available even while in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet. Your team knows you're working, not missing in action.
Quick Summary
Slackactivity automatically keeps your Slack status active during meetings and video calls. No more appearing "away" when you're in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet. Your colleagues see you as available and working, even when you're busy in back-to-back calls. Completely automated, no manual updates needed. Free forever.
The Meeting Problem: You're Working, But Slack Shows You're Away
You're in an important client call. Or a team standup. Or presenting in an all-hands meeting. You're actively engaged, paying attention, contributing value. But there's a problem:
After 10 minutes of not clicking in Slack, your status changes to "away" - even though you're clearly working.
To your teammates, manager, or clients checking Slack, it looks like you're not at your desk, unavailable, or maybe not even working.
When you're in a 2-hour meeting, you show as "away" for most of it. Teammates wonder where you are. Your manager notices. Remote workers especially struggle with this - appearing away during meetings undermines trust and visibility.
You can't focus on the meeting because you're alt-tabbing to Slack every few minutes to click something and reset your status. This breaks your concentration and makes you less effective in the actual meeting.
Someone needs an urgent answer. They see you're "away" and ask someone else instead. You miss the chance to help, contribute, or be seen as responsive. These small moments add up over time.
In today's remote work culture, many people have 4-6 hours of meetings daily. That's half the workday showing as "away" on Slack. It creates a false impression of your work ethic and availability.
Why Does Slack Mark You Away During Meetings?
Understanding why this happens helps explain why Slackactivity is necessary:
Slack's Idle Detection
Slack monitors keyboard and mouse activity specifically within the Slack app. After 10 minutes of no activity in Slack (not your computer overall), it automatically changes your status to "away". This was designed to help people know when you're truly unavailable.
Video Calls Happen Outside Slack
When you're in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or any other video platform, you're actively using your computer - talking, typing in the chat, screen sharing. But none of that registers as activity in Slack, so Slack assumes you're idle.
No Built-In Meeting Integration
While Slack can show calendar integrations or meeting statuses, it doesn't automatically keep you active during those meetings. The presence system is independent from calendar status, creating this disconnect.
The 10-Minute Threshold
Most meetings last 30-60 minutes minimum. Even if you check Slack at the start of a meeting, by the 10-minute mark you're already showing as away. A 1-hour meeting means 50 minutes of appearing unavailable.
How Slackactivity Keeps You Active During Meetings
Slackactivity runs continuously in the background, automatically maintaining your active status on Slack during your work hours - including when you're in meetings:
Automatic Presence Management
Updates your Slack status every few minutes during your configured work hours, keeping you active even when you're in video calls or meetings.
Works With All Video Platforms
Whether you're in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, or any other platform, Slackactivity keeps your Slack status active.
Schedule-Based Automation
Set your work hours once. During those hours, you're automatically kept active - in meetings or not. Outside work hours, it does nothing.
Privacy-First Design
Slackactivity only manages your presence status. It can't see your calendar, join your meetings, or access your messages. Completely private.
Real Scenarios: When This Matters Most
Scenario 1: The Remote Worker with Back-to-Back Meetings
Alex is a remote product manager with 5-6 hours of video meetings daily - team standups, client calls, sprint planning, 1-on-1s. During these meetings, he appears "away" on Slack for hours at a time.
His manager mentioned in his review that he seems "hard to reach" and "not always available." Teammates started excluding him from quick decisions because he "never seems to be online." All this despite working 50-hour weeks.
Alex started using Slackactivity. Now he stays active during all meetings. His manager noticed the change, teammates reach out more, and he's back in the loop on important discussions. His reputation for availability dramatically improved.
Scenario 2: The Consultant Presenting to Clients
Maria runs a consulting firm and frequently delivers 2-3 hour client presentations via Zoom. She has team members in multiple Slack workspaces who need to reach her for urgent client requests.
During presentations, she appears offline in all client workspaces. Team members would panic when they couldn't reach her. Clients checking her Slack would see her as away, which looked unprofessional given her premium rates.
With Slackactivity managing all her workspaces, Maria stays active everywhere during business hours - including during long client presentations. Her team knows they can message her, and clients see her as consistently available.
Scenario 3: The Support Team Lead in Training Sessions
Jordan leads a customer support team and spends several hours weekly training new hires via video calls. During training, urgent support escalations happen frequently.
His team would see him as "away" during training sessions. They'd hesitate to interrupt him for escalations, sometimes making wrong decisions. His manager questioned why he was "unavailable" so often during business hours.
Using Slackactivity, Jordan stays active on Slack even during training. His team knows they can ping him for emergencies (he checks Slack on his phone during breaks). The perception issue is solved, and urgent issues get escalated properly.
Key Benefits of Staying Active During Meetings
Managers, teammates, and clients see you as consistently available and engaged. This is especially critical for remote workers who need to prove they're working even when not visible.
Stop worrying about your Slack status and focus on the actual meeting. No more alt-tabbing to reset your presence. Be fully present in your calls and conversations.
Teammates will message you when they need you because you appear available. You don't get excluded from quick decisions or lose opportunities to contribute valuable input.
When you appear away, teammates send follow-up messages like "Are you there?" or "When you're back..." Staying active eliminates this noise and makes communication more efficient.
Your "availability" won't be questioned in performance reviews. You won't hear "you're hard to reach" or "you seem unavailable a lot." Your Slack presence matches your actual work effort.
Set it once and forget it. You never have to think about your Slack status during meetings again. It's handled automatically, giving you one less thing to worry about.
How to Set Up: Stay Active During All Meetings
Create Your Free Account
Visit Slackactivity.com and sign up in 30 seconds. No credit card required, no trial period - just free forever.
Connect Your Slack Workspace
Click "Connect Slack" and authorize via OAuth. Slackactivity only requests permission to manage your presence - it cannot read messages, access files, or see your calendar.
Set Your Work Hours
Configure when you want to stay active on Slack. Typical setup: Monday-Friday, 9 AM - 6 PM. During these hours, you'll stay active automatically - including during all meetings.
Example: Set 8 AM - 5 PM as your work hours. Now whenever you're in a 10 AM team meeting or 2 PM client call, Slackactivity keeps you active automatically in the background.
Enable Automation and Join Your Next Meeting
Toggle automation to "On" and that's it! You're done. Next time you join a meeting, you'll stay active on Slack the entire time without thinking about it.
✓ You're Protected! From now on, all your meetings show you as active. Focus on the call, not your Slack status.
Advanced Tips for Meeting-Heavy Schedules
Custom Status + Active Presence
Set a custom Slack status like "In meetings today" or "Back-to-back calls - limited availability." Slackactivity keeps your presence active while respecting your custom message.
This way teammates know you're busy but can still reach you for urgent matters.
Multiple Workspaces
If you're in multiple Slack workspaces (company workspace + client workspaces), connect them all. You'll stay active in every workspace during meetings, not just one.
Perfect for consultants who present to clients but need to stay reachable by their team.
Mobile Access
During meetings, check Slack on your phone if something urgent comes through. You'll see messages in real-time since you're showing as active, and can quickly respond between meeting topics.
Being active encourages teammates to reach out when they truly need you.
After-Hours Meetings
Have occasional evening or weekend meetings? Temporarily extend your work hours for that day, or just enable automation for that specific time block.
Full flexibility to match your actual schedule, including one-off meetings outside normal hours.
Common Questions and Concerns
"Won't people think I'm ignoring them if I'm active but don't respond immediately?"
Not if you set expectations. Use a custom status like "In meetings - will respond within 1 hour" or enable Slack's Do Not Disturb during calls. People understand you're busy; they just want to know you're working and will see their message eventually.
"Is it dishonest to appear active when I'm in a meeting?"
Not at all. You ARE actively working - you're in a meeting, which is work. The dishonest thing is Slack showing you as "away" when you're clearly engaged in work activities. You're simply correcting a flaw in Slack's presence detection.
"What if I'm in a meeting and truly can't respond to Slack?"
That's fine. You can be active on Slack without responding immediately. Set a status message explaining you're busy, or enable Do Not Disturb. Being active just means you're working and will see messages - not that you'll respond instantly.
"Can my employer see I'm using this tool?"
No. Slackactivity updates your status through official Slack APIs - the same way you would if you manually clicked in Slack. There's no indication that you're using automation. Your status simply shows as "Active" like normal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Slack show me as away during video calls?
When you're in a video call (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet), you're not actively clicking or typing in Slack, so after 10 minutes of inactivity, Slack automatically marks you as 'away'. This happens even though you're actively working and available.
Will teammates know I'm using a tool to stay active?
No. Slackactivity updates your presence status just like natural activity would. Your status simply shows as "Active" - there's no indication that you're using automation. It looks exactly like you being naturally active on Slack.
Does this work while screen sharing in meetings?
Yes! Whether you're presenting, screen sharing, or just in the call, Slackactivity keeps you active on Slack in the background. You don't need to alt-tab to Slack or worry about your status changing.
Can I still receive Slack notifications during meetings?
Absolutely. Slackactivity only manages your presence status (active/away). All your notifications, messages, and calls work normally. You can still receive and respond to urgent messages during meetings.
What if I want to appear away during certain meetings?
You have full control. You can pause Slackactivity anytime or set a custom status like "In a meeting - limited availability" and the tool will keep your presence active while respecting your custom message.
Ready to Stay Active During Every Meeting?
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