Beam annotations are organized into layers, which control who can see and interact with each set of annotations. There are two layer types for Administrators to utilize:
Personal layers — every user has a personal layer; participants' personal layers can be viewed and edited by Administrators, while Administrators' own personal layer remains fully private
Global layers — shared annotations created by Administrators, with visibility and edit access controlled by role or Smart Access
Personal layers
Every participant has a personal layer, which is selected by default when annotating. Personal layers are private from other participants — however, Administrators can always view and edit any participant's personal layer. Smart Access can also grant specific participants the same ability. Only Administrators' own personal layers are fully private, remaining inaccessible to other Administrators.
Global layers
Administrators can create global layers to share annotations with participants. Global layers are read-only for participants by default, but Smart Access can grant specific participants edit access to any global layer. Administrators can also modify a global layer's visibility to specific roles — for example, a staff-only layer or one visible only to other Administrators. All Administrators can create and edit all global layers.
Participants can hide individual global layers from their view, though Administrators can lock a layer to prevent it from being hidden.
Accessing a participant's personal layer
Administrators — and any participant granted access via Smart Access — can open and annotate directly on another participant's personal layer. This is useful when an Administrator needs to leave notes specific to one participant rather than on a global layer visible to everyone.