YouTube

Modified on Wed, 29 Jul at 1:08 AM

Integration Guide

YouTube

Put training videos, messages from leadership, and anything else you need in front of personnel on the screens in your stations, straight from a YouTube playlist you control.

What we can put on your dashboard

A playlist you control

You decide what plays by managing the playlist in your own YouTube account. Add a video and it shows up on the dashboards — no ticket needed for the content itself.

On your schedule

Set what time of day the videos start and how long they keep playing.

Alarms always win

A call coming in takes priority. The video pauses for the duration of the alarm and then starts again automatically once the alarm clears.

At the size that fits your layout

Our support team will help you pick this based on your current dashboard layout.

Full Screen
Half Screen
3/4 Screen
1/4 Screen

Or on demand from the menu

With the menu feature enabled, a YouTube item appears in your dashboard menu.

Selecting it starts playing the playlist you gave us
Hit the pause button after selecting it — that keeps the videos up for longer instead of the dashboard moving on
Default duration when pause is used is 5 minutes

What we need from you

To get set up

A YouTube account
The playlist URL, set to Unlisted or Public
The time of day to start playing
How long you want videos to play
Whether you want the menu feature enabled for on-demand playback

Open a ticket at our support center with those, or send the playlist URL to dashboards@firstarriving.com. No credentials needed — we only need the link.

How to create a YouTube playlist

Set the visibility to Public or Unlisted — on the playlist and on every video in it. Anything left Private is invisible to the dashboards and will not play. If you don’t want your videos turning up in search results or on your channel, choose Unlisted: anyone with the link can still watch, which is all the dashboards need.

Open a video you want in the playlist

Any video will do to start with, including one you have uploaded yourself.

Click More, then Save

The More option is the three-dot menu under the video.

Choose Create new playlist

This is where a brand new playlist gets made, rather than adding to an existing one.

Name it something recognizable

We suggest First Arriving Playlist, so anyone looking at the account later knows it feeds your dashboards.

Set the visibility, then click Create

Pick Public or Unlisted in the privacy box — not Private. See the note above.

Add the rest of your videos

Same route for each one: More → Save, then tick your playlist. Check the visibility on each video too — a video’s own setting is separate from the playlist’s.

Copy the playlist link

Your playlists are under the You tab. Open the playlist and copy the URL out of the address bar.

Send us the link

Attach it to your ticket, or send it to dashboards@firstarriving.com.

Need to change the visibility later? Under the You tab, find the playlist, click More → Edit, change the setting and Save.

YouTube moves this interface around from time to time. If what you see does not match the steps above, Google’s own guides are the ones that stay current: creating and managing playlists and video visibility settings.

Examples and layout options

YouTube video on a First Arriving dashboard

YouTube video filling a First Arriving dashboard layout

Want a different playlist per station, or help choosing a screen size? Open a ticket at our support center or reach us at dashboards@firstarriving.com.