Scheduling WebEx Meetings Instructions for ConnSCU Faculty and Staff using ConnSCU WebEx BEFORE YOU BEGIN PLEASE READ! On 7/30/15, the ConnSCU WebEx site was upgraded to a new version. Although the new interface looks a little different from the previous version the functionality and location of the various buttons and options are extremely similar. All of the WebEx quick guides and screenshots are going to be upgraded to account for the different look and feel. The main difference between the two is that what used to be called One-Click meetings are now held in a Personal Meeting Room. As you can see from the screenshots that follow on the following page, the differences in terms of how to use the product are very minor. OLD Scheduling Options (after logging in using your Host account): http://supportcenter.ct.edu/service/webexforhosting.asp
NEW Scheduling Options (after logging in using your Host account): As you can see, the new version of WebEx provides each Host with his/her own Personal Room your very own online meeting room, which has replaced what used to be called One- Click meetings. Each Host s Personal Room has its own unique URL (Web address) that they can easily share and save. This will enable others to immediately join an online meeting with that host. For example, an instructor could simply paste this URL into their Contact information in Blackboard and students could enter it to have online meetings with their instructor during scheduled Virtual Office Hours, or a staff member could simply email it to a colleague so they can both jump into an online meeting together. 2
Table of Contents How Can Faculty and Staff Use WebEx?... 4 Meeting Attendees... 4 Schedule WebEx Meetings from https://connscu.webex.com Meeting Center... 4 Create a WebEx Meeting from the Meeting Center on the website... 4 Create a One-Click Meeting from https://connscu.webex.com/ Meeting Center... 5 WebEx Desktop Productivity Tools... 6 Schedule WebEx Meetings from Microsoft Outlook... 8 Create a WebEx Meeting in Outlook Calendar... 8 Create a One-Click Meeting from Outlook Calendar... 9 3
How Can Faculty and Staff Use WebEx? WebEx is an online conferencing tool that has proven useful for both staff and faculty in the ConnSCU system. It enables you to meet with students or colleagues from wherever you are, home or office, as long as you have Internet access on your computer or have the WebEx mobile app installed for your iphone, ipad, Android, or Blackberry. If you can get online, you can collaborate with others online, and share data, presentations, online demonstrations, etc. Faculty can use WebEx to bring guest speakers into their classrooms, hold virtual office hours, provide one-on-one or group tutorials, participate in committee work and much more. You can even record lectures or meetings with WebEx. Meeting Attendees To help your participants successfully join the meeting and use WebEx tools, direct them to this webpage for Meeting Attendees: http://supportcenter.ct.edu/service/webexforattendees.asp Schedule WebEx Meetings from https://connscu.webex.com Meeting Center Create a WebEx Meeting from the Meeting Center on the website 1. Go to https://connscu.webex.com/ and log in using your Host account. 2. From the menu, click Meeting Center then Schedule a Meeting, and fill in the scheduling options. Please see the list of important notes about scheduling below. WebEx meetings REQUIRE a meeting password. You can enter a standard Meeting Password that will automatically be applied to all meetings that you create using the WebEx productivity tools, but it must meet the complex password standards. (You will be prompted to re-enter a new password if your meeting password does not meet these standards.) The meeting password will automatically appear in the 4
meeting invitations that you send. Attendees who join a meeting by clicking the URL embedded in an invitation do not need to enter a password only those who join through the website must enter a password. Meetings will automatically terminate 30 minutes after the scheduled meeting end time, so be sure to give yourself enough time after your meeting for Q&A if you think that will be needed. Hosts will receive a 5 minute warning prior to meeting termination. WebEx meetings do not appear in a list of scheduled meetings on https://connscu.webex.com (as they had in the past). Although those who have a WebEx Host account can log in and see meetings to which they have been invited, no one can publicly access or browse a list of scheduled meetings from the website. So be sure all of your attendees have received an invitation or can access the meeting link in some other way (for example, from a post inside of Blackboard.) The only other alternative would be for them to go to the website, enter the meeting number and then they would be prompted for name, email, and password. You can use the Advanced Scheduler to create RECURRING MEETINGS. This can be very handy if you wanted to set up a WebEx meeting that could be used every week at the same time, such as virtual office hours. The Advanced Scheduler also provides a number of other meeting options. Click the Save as template button to save your settings as a default template. So, for example, you could enter a standard meeting topic and password, and all future meetings would have that information set by default. Create a One-Click Meeting from https://connscu.webex.com/ Meeting Center A One-Click meeting is an extremely handy option if you want to quickly create and launch a WebEx meeting for a single person. For example, let s say an instructor has a student who needs a quick show and tell session on how to accomplish a specific task that involves a computer application, website, etc. Or perhaps a student is having difficulty with something and they need to show the instructor what they are seeing on their own computer. The instructor can simply pass the ball to the student and make him/her the Presenter, and then the student can share their desktop so the instructor can see what the student is seeing. 5
One-click Meetings can be created by logging into the WebEx website from the Meeting Center, or from Microsoft Outlook Calendar. Here s how to create one from the WebEx Meeting Center: 1. Log into the ConnSCU WebEx site https://connscu.webex.com/ using your Host account. 2. Click the Meeting Center tab and then click One-Click Meeting. You may be prompted to enter a Meeting Password (depending upon your account default settings). 3. The Quick Start Window will immediately display. Click the Invite & Remind icon. 4. Enter the person s email address OR click the Copy button, and then you can simply paste the URL into an email, paste it into a discussion or announcement in Blackboard, onto a website, etc. That s all there is to it! Wait a few minutes for the person to join your meeting (they ll show up in the Participants palette) and you re ready to go! WebEx Desktop Productivity Tools The Desktop Productivity Tools are available for PCs only, not for Macs. 6
Your institution s IT department can install the WebEx Productivity Tools software on your office computer to integrate WebEx with MS Office applications and email clients. This will make it even easier to schedule and participate in meetings. You do NOT need the Productivity Tool to schedule and host WebEx meetings. You can always schedule meetings by simply logging in with your Host account to the https://connscu.webex.com website. The Productivity Tools simply make it faster and easier to schedule meetings because you can do it right from within your native Outlook application. The WebEx Desktop Productivity Tools do NOT work with Outlook Web Access (OWA) on www.mail.commnet.edu. If you re going to be using WebEx from a home computer, it s a good idea to install the Desktop Productivity Tools because they enable you to interact quickly with WebEx from any of your Microsoft Office applications most importantly directly from your Outlook Calendar (PC users only). To download these on your personal computer, log into WebEx with your Host account and go to MeetingCenter>Support>Downloads>ProductivityTools. Once the Productivity Tools are installed, you can enter default settings so that each time you create a WebEx Meeting using the Productivity tools within Outlook or another Microsoft application, the meetings will all have the same characteristics, such as the same title, password, etc. To find and check, or reset, your default WebEx settings (after the Productivity Tools have been installed) follow these instructions: 1. On your PC, click the Start button. 2. Search for WebEx. 3. Click on WebEx Settings. 7
4. In the Account tab you can make sure that it remembers your Host account password. NOTE: When you reset your Host Account Password on the website, it will not flow through to your Office Productivity settings, so you will need to go to WebExSettings and update it in the Account tab shown below: 5. On the Instant Meetings tab you can enter a default Meeting Topic title. 6. Note that WebEx meetings set up through a ConnSCU account REQUIRE a Meeting Password (not to be confused with your Host Account Password). You can enter a default Meeting Password that will automatically be applied to all meetings that you create using the WebEx productivity tools (this password must meet the password standards). The Meeting Password will automatically appear in the meeting invitations that you send. Attendees who click the URL that a host sends to them for a meeting do not need to enter a password they will just be prompted to enter their name and email address. 7. Be sure to explore some of the other settings that are available from the Settings box! Schedule WebEx Meetings from Microsoft Outlook Create a WebEx Meeting in Outlook Calendar 1. Click the Schedule Meeting WebEx button on the toolbar. 8
2. Click the Add WebEx Meeting button. A Communicating with server message will appear, then the WebEx Settings dialog box. Fill in the required settings then click OK. 3. Select the date/time for your webinar; you can enter WebEx as the location. 4. Add any recipients (or just add yourself, so that you have the join this meeting WebEx information emailed to you), and then click Send, or if you don t want to invite anyone just yet click Save and Close so it s added to your Calendar. 5. The meeting password will automatically appear in the meeting invitations that you send through the Outlook Calendar. Attendees who click the URL that a host sends to them for a meeting do not need to enter a password they will just be prompted to enter their name and email address. To update or cancel a meeting, you can go back to the item on your Outlook calendar and update or cancel the WebEx meeting just as you would with any other Outlook calendar item. Cancelling a meeting will also remove it from the WebEx server; don t forget to also click the Send Cancellation button from the Outlook appointment to cancel it from your calendar (and that of others whom you may have invited.) Create a One-Click Meeting from Outlook Calendar If you are on the phone with someone and want to get them right into a WebEx meeting, and you have your Outlook email client open already, you can set up a one-click meeting in Outlook in a jiffy, as shown below. 1. Click the One-Click Meeting button. 2. The Meeting Options dialog box will display (you may be prompted to enter a meeting title and Meeting Password, which must meet the password standards). 3. The WebEx Quick Start Window will display. 4. When the Meeting window opens, click the Invite and Remind button and send them a link to your meeting. 9