VIRGINIA TECH WebEx Meeting Center Tutorial Getting Started Guide Instructional Technology Team, College of Engineering Last Updated: Fall 2014
Contents Introduction 2 Minimum System Requirements 2 How to Get a WebEx Host Account 2 Scheduling a Meeting 3 Hosting a Meeting 4 Video Conferencing 5 Recording a Meeting 7 Making Someone Else the Presenter 8 Chatting 8 Polling 9 Creating a Poll 10 Saving a Poll 11 Loading a Saved Poll 12 Starting a Poll 12 Saving and Sharing Poll Results 13 Participant Privileges 14 Sharing a Recording 15 Securing a Meeting 16 Adding a WebEx Meeting to Google Calendar 16 Additional Help 20 1
Introduction WebEx Meeting Center is a web conferencing tool which allows individuals to schedule virtual meetings, teach classes, and hold office hours over the Internet. Sessions can be recorded for later use. Participants do not need a WebEx account, but should have a computer meeting the minimum requirements with a microphone and speakers or headphones. Hosts also have the option to video conference using a webcam also. Windows tablet pcs are great choices for WebEx sessions as they allow the host to write on their presentation or use whiteboard features. Minimum System Requirements A full list of system requirements can be found at: https://support.webex.com/myaccountweb/systemrequirement.do?root=tools&parent=syste m Windows 7 (Windows 8 not fully supported) or Mac Os 10.5+, ios 3+, Linux 2.6+, Android v2.1+ Internet Explorer 9, Safari 5, or latest version of Chrome or Firefox Intel Core2 Duo 2.2 Ghz+, 4 GB Ram Java 6.0+ In general, it is recommended to have a minimum bandwidth of at least 150 Kbps for using the IM, video, VoIP and desktop sharing capabilities of Cisco WebEx. You can test the speed of your connection at www.speedtest.net. Test your computer to make sure you will be able to join a meeting at: http://www.webex.com/test meeting.html How to Get a WebEx Host Account To get a WebEx account, follow these steps: 1. Go to https://virginiatech.webex.com in your browser. 2. Select Log In from top right navigation bar. 3. Select Sign Up under I do not have an account 4. Complete the form. You must use yourpid@vt.edu email address. 5. Be sure to check all four of the WebEx services (Meeting, Event, Support, and Training Center) 6. Follow instructions emailed to you by WebEx. You will receive a confirmation email for each service as well as an email with username and initial password. It can take up to 24 hours to receive these emails. 7. Login at https://virginiatech.webex.com and select Log In to log in and start using the service to host online sessions. 2
Scheduling a Meeting 1. Go to https://virginiatech.webex.com 2. Click on the Meeting Center button and login. Skip the Productivity Tools option. 3. Select Meeting Center from the top navigation bar. 4. In the left margin, select the Schedule a Meeting Listed under Host a Meeting. 5. Give the meeting a title in Meeting topic. This is the only required entry to start a meeting. 6. Enter a password if you want to restrict meeting attendees to participants you invite. 7. Enter date, time, and duration as required. By default, the date and time are set to the current date and time. 8. Enter participants to invite or skip this step to customize an email at a later time. 9. Check the box Send a copy of the invitation email to me under the Invite Attendees tab on the right. This will provide you the link as well as a template email you can forward to your participants or cut and paste into a Scholar message for your class. 10. Configure Audio Conference Settings a. Select WebEx Audio to have the options of a toll number or a toll free/call me number. b. Select Use VoIP only to exclude the options of a toll or a toll free number. Please Note: We strongly recommend that you discourage participants from using anything other than VoIP for audio conferencing unless absolutely necessary. Due to a cost to the University, we recommended using audio conferencing features in the following order as deemed necessary. 1. VoIP Free to the University 2. Toll # 0.12 cents/minute billed to the University 3. Toll Free/Call me # 0.05 cents/minute billed to the University The cost of using Toll and Toll Free numbers can add up very fast. For example, a 60 minute class of 75 people using a toll free number at 0.12 cents a minute will cost the University $540 for that WebEx session. 11. It is recommended that you customize the meeting invite before sending it out to make it easier to understand. You should send participants this link (http://www.webex.com/test meeting.html) and ask participants to join a test meeting well before the scheduled meeting time to work out any problems. A support number is provided to help them solve issues. Please Note: If you kept the default date and time, select START to begin your meeting. You can skip to step 5 in the Hosting a Meeting section of this document to begin hosting your meeting. 3
Hosting a Meeting 1. Go to https://virginiatech.webex.com in your browser 2. Select the Login button and login. Skip the Productivity Tools option. 3. Navigate to select My Meetings from the left navigation bar. 4. Select the Start button next to your session. 5. Select Use Computer for Audio (strongly recommended). Participants should only use the phone call in if they have trouble connecting to their computer audio. Dial in information for each user can be found on their Session Info tab. WebEx will automatically switch their audio to phone if they dial in. 6. Select Test speaker/microphone first to make sure they are working correctly. 7. Select Call Using Computer. 8. It is recommended to set all participants microphones to Mute when they enter by selecting beside their names in the left panel under Participants. If you do not see a Participants section in the left panel, make sure that selected at the top of the left panel. 4
9. If you want to make opening remarks and explain how the meeting works, you can do this by selecting Participant in the top menu bar and selecting Mute on Entry at the top of the screen. 10. When the meeting is finished, select File from the top menu bar and select End Meeting. 11. Save meeting files and select End Meeting. Video Conferencing If you have a webcam, click on the video icon next to your name, under Participants in the left panel, in the WebEx meeting room to begin sharing video. If you do not see a Participants section in the left panel, make sure that top of the left panel. Please Note: The active speaker s video feed will show in the larger screen. selected at the 5
To put video conferencing in full screen mode, select at the top right hand corner of your video feed window. In video conferencing full screen mode, meeting controls can be found by selecting at the top of the screen. 6
Please note: Meeting control options will be reduced for meeting participants. Recording a Meeting If you want to record the meeting, click on Record button in the left panel under Recorder. If you do not see the Recorder section, make sure that has been selected at the top of the left panel. Select to pause the recording and to stop the recording. Please Note: Make sure to turn off programs that could interrupt your recording like chat, email, instant messaging, etc. Sharing Your Content To share your desktop, select on the Quick Start tab. Other sharing options can be found by selecting the arrow beside the button or by selecting the Share button in the menu at the top of the screen and selecting from the drop down options. The options include My Desktop, File (Including Video), Application, Whiteboard, Web Content, Web Browser, and My Meeting Window. 7
Making Someone Else the Presenter To make someone else the presenter, select the person s name from the participants, and then select the button beside the participant s names. To take control back, click on your name, and select. Chatting The chat window is located under Chat in the left panel. If you do not see a Chat section in the left panel, make sure that panel. has been selected at the top of the left 8
The Host can chat privately with the presenter or other participants; and chat publicly with everyone. The Participants can chat privately with the host, the presenter, or other participants; and chat publicly with everyone. You can select your chat recipient from the Send to drop down menu. Polling Polling is not an option by default in WebEx Meeting. To make polling an option: 1. Select at the top of the left panel. 9
2. Select Manage Panels. 3. Select Polling in the Available panels column and select to add it to Current panels column. 4. Select. Creating a Poll 1. The polling window is located under Polling in the left panel. If you do not see a Polling section in the left panel, make sure that has been selected at the top of the left panel. 2. Select your question type from the radio buttons and the drop down menu in the Question Type area. To create a multiple answer question, select Multiple choice, and then select Multiple Answers in the drop down list. To create a single answer question, select Multiple choice, and then select Single Answer in the drop down list. To create a text question, select Short answer. 10
3. Select in the Polling section in the left panel. 4. Type a question in the Poll Questions box. 5. Select in the Answer Section. 6. Type an answer in the Poll Questions box. 7. To other answers, repeat steps 2 5. 8. To add other questions, repeat steps 2 7. 9. Select the box next to Record individual responses if you want to match up participants with their responses to the polling questions. Saving a Poll After creating a poll, you can save it for later by selecting following the prompts to store it on your computer. in the Polling section and 11
Loading a Saved Poll You can retrieve a saved poll by selecting prompts to retrieve it from your computer. in the Polling section and following the Starting a Poll After you have created a poll or loaded a saved poll, select in the Polling section. The poll will appear on the student s WebEx view under the Polling section in the left panel. Participant s View 12
Presenter s View To close the poll, select. Saving and Sharing Poll Results To save the polling results, select File Save Poll Results from the top menu bar and the prompts to store it on your computer. To share poll results with attendees, select the box next to Poll results in the Share with attendees section and select. (Please Note: The results of the poll will appear in the participants' Polling panels, just as they do on the presenter s Polling panel) To share individual results, select the box next to Individual Results in the Share with attendees section and select. (Please Note: this will share the web browser with participants that contain the polling results.) 13
Participant Privileges In the top menu, select Participant Assign Privileges. The right column all you to assign privileges to the all participants or to individuals. The Communicate tab assign chat privileges. 14
The Participants tab assigns Document, View, and Meeting privileges. Sharing a Recording 1. Go to https://virginiatech.webex.com in your browser. 2. Select the Host Login button and login. Skip the Productivity Tools option. 3. Select the My WebEx tab in the top row. 4. Select on My Files in the right hand navigation menu. 5. Select the My Recordings tab (top row under My WebEx Files). 6. Select Meetings. 7. Select the recording you would like to share to see both a link to share for streaming and a link to download. It is recommended that you download and store your recording for future use as Virginia Tech has a limited amount of storage space on WebEx. For 15
more advanced options (such as converting to an.mp4 for example and posting on Scholar) see http://www.webex.com/play webex recording.html for more information. Securing a Meeting There are many ways to secure a WebEx meeting. You should chose the appropriate level of security for your meeting. Here are a few ways to secure meeting: Require a complex password for your session Make the meeting Unlisted (Advanced Scheduling option) Allow only enrolled attendees Require approval before joining Lock the meeting once it is started Adding a WebEx Meeting to Google Calendar For Hosts: 1. Click on Add to my Calendar, and follow the prompts to download an.ics file. 16
2. If, when you first scheduled the meeting, you did not click Add to my Calendar, go to My WebEx to view all of your scheduled meetings. 3. Open the details about those meetings by clicking on the meeting title. 4. This will open the meeting information again and you will see the Add to my Calendar button. 17
For Attendees: As a meeting attendee, you will receive an email that will include the option shown below at the bottom. Click on the link and follow the prompts to download an.ics file. Uploading the.ics File to Google Calendar 1. When viewing your Google calendar, select Add underneath Other calendars. 2. Select Import calendar from the list of options 18
3. Select Choose File, navigate to the downloaded.ics file, and select Open 4. Select your desired calendar 5. Select Import 6. The popup window shown below will appear. The event has been added to your calendar. 19
7. The calendar event will include the necessary information for the meeting. Additional Help If you need help with any of these features please consult the WebEx Users Guide at: https://virginiatech.webex.com/docs/t28l/mc0806l/en_us/help/ss/host/index.htm#8753.htm 20