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What is Microsoft’s Live Meeting?A. Summary:Microsoft Office’s Live Meeting is the main web
conferencing tool currently in use at AFSC. Please contact the Information Technology
Dept. if you are interested in using Live Meeting, which allows participants
to collaborate in an on-line meeting space, sharing documents, presentations
and applications. B. Key Points:· Microsoft Office’s Live Meeting is a web conferencing tool that allows participants anywhere in the world to collaborate in an on-line meeting space, through their web browsers · Link to What is a Web Conference? · Live Meeting software downloads the first time a computer enters a Live Meeting · Meeting Presenters can share Powerpoint presentations, documents and software applications with all other participants · Macintosh users can log into Live Meetings using a Safari browser, but will not have access to all the Live Meeting features · A high-speed broadband connection is preferable to prevent drop-outs in a Live Meeting, although a connection speed faster than 56 kbps should work · Contact the IT Department (helpdesk@afsc.org) to learn more about using Live Meeting · For corrections, updates, or clarifications on this Star Point, please email ewallace@afsc.org C. Details:Microsoft Office’s Live Meeting allows attendees in any part of the world to collaborate in an online meeting space using either Internet Explorer or the Safari browser for Macs. Any kind of desktop presentation, document or software application can be shared with all the participants in a Live Meeting. Live Meeting software will download (one-time only) the first time a PC enters a Live Meeting. The current user must have administrative privileges on the computer for this to happen. If a user does not have these rights, or for Mac users, Live Meeting will run in the limited “console mode”. The IT Department will work with anyone wishing to organize a Live Meeting. IT will help set up Live Meetings and teach meeting presenters how to direct the meetings. There are two roles that participants can have during a Live Meeting – Presenter and Attendee. A Presenter will run the meeting once it has started. A Presenter can show and annotate documents from almost any software application, or share an application from his/her own computer in real time. The Presenter can turn the Live Meeting over to one of the attendees to control the application being shared. Attendees can interact with the Presenter by asking questions using a Q&A tool on the console, or verbally using a conference call. They can establish a Chat session with the Presenter, or use a colored indicator to raise their hand or call attention to a problem. Meetings, including all of the visuals presented, can be recorded for later viewing. For an optimal viewing experience, the Presenter’s screen resolution should not be greater than any of the Attendees’ screen resolutions. A screen resolution of 1024 X 768 is recommended for all. While audio will be integrated into the next release of Live Meeting (to be released in the first half of 2007), we currently recommend a standard conference call, with participants using speaker phones or headsets. VoIP (such as Skype, for example; link to What is Skype) can work well if participants have good bandwidth. The ability of participants to mute their audio, whether by the telephone mute button or conference system keystrokes, is important to keep audio distraction to a minimum. Video inside Live Meeting is not available at the present time, but the Live Meeting engineers are working on a solution to provide full video across Live Meeting in the next version due out in 2007. With web cameras attached to their computers, participants can see each other during Live Meetings. Video requires good bandwidth from the participants’ Internet connections, and Live Meeting software will launch a “wizard” to test camera and bandwidth prior to using video in the meeting. The Presenter has the option to enable video or not. Below is a view of the main MS Live Meeting interface screen from the Presenter’s point of view: |
The panels on the left and bottom are mainly used by the Presenter to control the Live Meeting. The Presenter and the Attendees can toggle back and forth to Full Screen mode by clicking on F5. If they wish to ask a question or raise their hand (see the color indicators next to the name in the bottom left panel) they can press F5 again to restore the panel view.
Mac Users and Live Meeting
Mac users of Live Meeting use the “Live Meeting Browser Console”, also
referred to as the “Live Meeting Web console”. PC users use the “Windows
console for Live Meeting”. The Web console that Mac users must use, while it
will work, has limited functionality: It is a stripped-down version of the
Windows console and is considered an alternate tool when the Windows-based
console cannot be used. Mac users cannot be promoted to Presenter during the
meeting -- they will have to be given this status when the Live Meeting is
originally set up.
Mac users should be on an OS of 10.3 or later and use Internet Explorer
for Macintosh (5.x or later) or Safari (1.2 or later) as their web browser.
They cannot use the Firefox browser to get into a Live Meeting.
Connection Speeds
A broadband connection is preferable to prevent drop-outs in a Live Meeting, although a connection speed faster than 56 kbps should work. The Presenter at least should have a good, stable broadband connection (on a corporate LAN, a DSL or a cable modem). Connecting to a Live Meeting using a 56K modem is not recommended. On the Presenter's system if CPU usage goes beyond 80%, latency will increase resulting in choppy audio and video if present.
Who Can Set Up a MS Live Meeting?
Please contact the IT Department (helpdesk@afsc.org) in order to set up a
Live Meeting. The IT dept. will work with you to help you get ready for your
Live Meeting and will support you during the meeting.