When does Kona join a meeting?
Direct Answer: Kona joins a meeting only when exactly two participants are on the invite.
Key Rules:
- The two-participant limit is strict. Kona will not join if three or more participants appear on the invite.
- The two-participant check applies when Kona joins. If a third participant joins the meeting after Kona has already entered, meeting notes captured before the third participant joined remain private to the original 1-on-1 participants. The third participant cannot access them.
- Optional vs. required attendee status makes no difference. Kona counts all invited participants regardless of their RSVP status.
- Only one participant needs Kona access for Kona to join. The other participant does not need access.
- Kona access can only be granted to Managers and HR Admins, not to direct reports or other roles.
- If a manager change occurs, existing calendar invites are not automatically updated. However, Kona performs a hierarchy check before joining. If the manager/direct-report relationship no longer exists in 15Five, Kona will not join the meeting.
- Kona determines whether a meeting is a 1-on-1 based on the calendar invite participants only. It does not reference the 15Five 1-on-1 schedule. Any two-person meeting between a manager and their direct report is treated as a 1-on-1.
Common Misunderstanding: Marking an extra attendee as "optional" does not allow Kona to join. If the invite shows three total participants, including optional ones, Kona will not join.
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Does every participant need Kona access?
Direct Answer: No. Only one participant with Kona access is required for Kona to join.
Key Rules:
- If a Manager has Kona Meeting Assistant access, Kona can join their 1-on-1s with direct reports. The direct report does not need Kona access.
- If an HR Admin has Kona Meeting Assistant access, Kona can join any 1-on-1 where the HR Admin is a participant. The other participant does not need Kona access.
- Kona Meeting Assistant access is enabled through feature settings, not individual user accounts.
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Does Kona join non-recurring (one-time) meetings?
Direct Answer: Yes. When Auto Join is enabled, Kona is added to all new qualifying 1-on-1 meetings, whether they are recurring series or single events.
Key Rules:
- Any new two-person meeting between a manager and their direct report qualifies for auto-join, regardless of whether it is recurring.
- The same participant and hierarchy requirements apply to non-recurring meetings as to recurring ones.
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What is Kona's calendar identity?
Direct Answer: Kona appears on calendar invites as bot@15five.com.
Key Rules:
- When Auto Join adds Kona to a meeting, bot@15five.com appears as an attendee on the calendar invite.
- Auto Join works the same way on Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook. There is no difference in behavior between the two platforms.
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