BOOKING CONFERENCES IN TMS Introduction The purpose of this document is to guide a person through the process of scheduling a video conference using TMS. Endpoints The endpoint listings in TMS are connections to physical video conference hardware devices that are managed by Flinders University. When booking conferences it is always proffered that endpoints are booked over phonebook entries. Phonebooks The phonebook entries are for video conference devices that are not managed by Flinders University these are usually external parties. Flinders endpoints are also displayed in the phonebooks however when making bookings it is always best practice to book endpoints through the endpoint tab. Multi party conferences When making a booking with more than 2 participants this will make a multi party conference and will automatically add the Flinders University multiparty conference unit (FUMCU). This will allow additional parties to be connected to a conference and allow interaction with multiple people in different locations to communicate in the conference. IP Calls All Flinders video conference units use IP connections to make video conference calls, calls are done over internet connections and do not incur any costs. 1
Step 1 Click the following link - https://tms.flinders.edu.au/tms This will take you to the portal page listing a basic site map and the Booking link at the top left of the page, as seen below. Step 2 To book a new conference click on the Booking link and choose New Conference. Step 3 The New Conference interface will appear. Enter a conference Title to something more meaningful than the default. This will be used by other participants as the conference identifier. 2
Step 4 Set the start / end dates and times in the fields provided by clicking on the calendar icon to the right of the field and selecting the day of your conference from the calendar. Note: You can type directly into the time field, but remember to select AM or PM as required. Repeat this process for the end time field and this will calculate the duration of the conference displayed in the Duration field below. Step 5 if required If this is a Recurring conference you can make a series by clicking on the Add Recurrence button on the right of the basic setting field and entering the necessary details. The Eternally Hosted check box and Video Address field we do not use and can be ignored. 3
Step 6 if required If required, complete the Advanced Settings. In this section you have control over the connection speed and conference layout (how your conference is seen on the screen). The Picture Mode field - allows you to control how your conference is seen on the screen when all parties are connected. The default selection is: Continuous Presence - in this mode participants in the conference will be shown on screen in a grid format. You can also select; Voice Switched - will switch the view on screen to the current active speaker s site and will switch to other sites as people join in the discussion. Enhanced Continuous Presence - allows you to see all connected sites at all times in the conference and the active speaker will be in the larger window and all other sites will be displayed smaller, around the edge. As sites join the discussion they will move into the larger window, giving sites visual cues of which site is the current speaker. IP Bandwidth field as a standard is set to 1920kbps and generally you will not have to alter this field. However, if you are connecting to a site with known bandwidth restrictions you may want to select a lower connection speed. ISDN Bandwidth field - Much greater cost is incurred using higher bandwidth with ISDN and the site must use special ISDN phone lines to allow this connection. We do not support ISDN dial out connection, except in special cases as there is a high cost associated with this option. Secure field - We do not make our conferences secure and leave this field in its default setting of No. Billing Code field - Do not use this field, as there are no costs associated with creating a conference internally. PIN field - is used to set a password or PIN number for secure conferences. Extend Mode field - is set by default to Automatic Best Effort. This will give an on-screen prompt to the main site of the conference to extend the conference five minutes prior to the scheduled end time of the conference. ISDN Restrict We do not use this field please leave unchecked. 4
Step 8 The Participants tab below the Advanced Settings is where you add the sites you require to be connected in your conference. Click on Add Participants and this will display the Add Participants page allowing you to select any of the Flinders endpoints from the folders and their listings. Please note that the Add Participants window is a pop up and will require pop ups enabled in your browser. Step 9 From the folder menu click on the down arrow and select the area of Flinders where you require a connection to one or more of the contained endpoints. Once you have selected a group in the list, the list will display only the endpoints in the selected list. From the list choose the endpoint you require by clicking on the check box next to the name of the endpoint. Note: The page size field at the bottom of the page can be adjusted to allow you to see larger numbers of listings adjust this to a higher number to see more available options. 5
Step 10 To add this endpoint to the selected Participants list you will need to click the > (right facing arrow) to move the endpoint into the selected participants list. Add any additional endpoints from any of the folders in the same method until you have added all your required endpoints. You can also add external parties to your selected participants list. Click on the External tab to add any external connections required. You can add dial in connections that will allow external parties to join the conference by dialing a URI (Directory URIs look like email addresses and follow the username@host format) from their external endpoint. You can change the name to indicate the party connecting to the conference by clicking in the Name field. This will make it easier to identify the parties connecting to the conference. IP addresses can also be added to connect external parties. If you wish to add Flinders Jabber users you will need to add them as an external and use their five digit extension number or email address as the connection details. Dial in connections can be video or audio and if you require people to join your conference via a phone, the number they need to call is provided in your email confirmation. Direction field - can be change to allow external parties to be connected by calling them Dial Out. If you have the connection details of your external party you can dial out to them as part of the conference booking. Number field - place the connection details of the external party this could be an IP address, URI or ISDN number to make the connection. Click on the > (right arrow) to add to the selected participants. If you require additional external participants repeat the process adding them to the selected participants list. 6
Step 11 Once you have added all the parties to the selected participants list from Endpoints and rooms or external tabs click OK at the bottom left of the window. Step 12 Once you click OK you will return to the New Conference page and your participants will be displayed at the bottom of the conference details. Check that all your details and connections are included in the booking information and, if you are happy with all details, click the Save Conference button in the bottom left of the page. You will see a confirmation of your conference booking in the New Conference widow and will be sent an email confirmation with all the details of the conference. 7
Step 13 if required With the email you will be sent an ICS file which you can drop into your outlook calendar. This will enable you to receive a reminder for the conference prior to the start time of the event. This confirmation email can be sent to all conference participants and they can also add the ICS file to their calendar. Step 14 From the Booking menu at the top of the page you can select List Conferences and this will show you a list of all your current scheduled conferences. In the List Conferences page you will be able to see and edit any of your conferences as required. To edit a conference click on the orange arrow next to the conference name to display options. Choose Edit and this will take you to the Edit Conference page. Step 15 Make the alterations to the conference as required and again click Save Conference. You will receive a new confirmation and new email with the updated details. If for whatever reason the booked conference is no longer required you can delete the conference by clicking on the check box next to the conference and clicking the Delete button. This will remove the booking from the TMS system entirely. When clicking Delete you will be asked to confirm that you want to delete the conference. Click OK to delete the conference. Note: If you need to go ahead with the conference you will need to make a new booking. 8
Useful information 1. All users will have the ability to view all conferences that are booked in the system. Change the user status to All Users and click Search to view all listed conferences. 2. You can set a date range for your search by setting the start and end dates or if you leave it to default it will display a week of conference listings. 3. Useful tip: Select All Users, enter the current date as the start date and a date three months later as the end date, then click Save Query. After this, each time you choose List conferences, it will automatically list all conferences for the next three months. 4. You will be able to view the information of other people s conferences, but not be able to edit any details. Please contact the conference owner and ask for changes to be made if this is required. 5. If you are looking for a specific conference and know the conference ID you can enter this in the Find field and this will list only the conference you are looking for. 6. When editing a conference it is good practice to add notes of your changes to the Conference Information tab Notes section. This information will be sent to support staff providing them with additional information that can help in the organization and support for the scheduled conference. Type in to the notes field a short description of your change. Eg. Flinders Main Campus ITS Studio removed from conference and add your name and date as identifiers. 9