Using the Mobile App for Defense Connect Online

Transcription

1 Using the Mobile App for Defense Connect Online Conduct and Attend Meetings Virtually Anywhere AUTHOR Aaron W Wolf DCO Evangelist Carahsoft Technology Corp aaron.w.wolf@carahsoft.com Defense Connect Online (DCO) is the enterprise-wide collaboration solution for the Department of Defense:

2 The goal of this document is to familiarize you with the mobile app that can be used in Defense Connect Online Sessions. While not all the aspects of using the mobile app will be covered in this document, the user will come away after reading this document with the bare essentials for how to attend and even host a DCO connect session using their mobile device. The app required for DCO mobile access, called Adobe Connect Mobile, is the same regardless of the device it is used on. The only difference is where you need to get the app to load it on your respective device: Apple App Store vs. Google Play Store, for example. The app is available on all Android devices and all ios devices. Blackberry smartphones are NOT supported. The document will cover the mobile app with respect to ios and Android devices in the screenshots. Keep in mind that the app is the same regardless of the device it is used on. Also take special note that there will be a bit more functionality on the app when it is installed on a tablet (this will be covered later in the document), but the app you get is one and the same in the respective app store. With regards to the equipment used in the document, the devices used for screen shots are the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the ipad 2 (wifi and 3G).The iphone style headphones work GREAT for broadcasting VOIP audio. On the receiving end of audio, the speakers on the devices provide good audio fidelity. For optimal sound, over the ear headphones provide a superior listening experience. The ipad edition used in this document responds really well even at just 3G speeds (it s not an LTE version). The LTE equipped Galaxy Note 3 provides excellent speeds. If you have any questions about the content presented here or regarding DCO in general, please feel us at dco@carahsoft.com. On behalf of the DCO User Engagement Team and the more than 1,000,000 registered users, thank you for using and supporting DCO! 2

3 Accessing a Defense Connect Online (DCO) Session on a Mobile Device: In order to attend a DCO Connect Session on your mobile device the Adobe Connect Mobile app is required. You will not be able to access a DCO Connect session using the native browser on your device, such as Safari or Chrome. You must use the app. The reason that you cannot use the browser is that mobile browsers typically won t support Flash. The latest version of the app is version The application gives the user the ability to attend and host meetings on the go, right from the palm of their hand, as long as there is internet or cellular connectivity. The functionality and especially the flexibility the app provides for the user to interact in the DCO connect session is pretty impressive. However, the app does not support flash items, like many custom pods that are.swf files, as well as a couple of the native pods of DCO, such as the weblinks pod and the file share pod. It is good to know this limitation of the mobile app and more about this will be presented later on in this document. Here is a screen shot from a DCO Connect session as seen on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3: A B C D E F G H On the left side of the app there will be several small icons, and the icons present will be a function of the types of pods in the current layout. For instance, in the picture above, tapping on: 3

4 A) Shows the overall layout B) Shows the share pod C) Shows the attendee list D) Shows the camera pod E) Shows the chat pod F) Shows the notes pod G) Shows the Question and Answer Pod H) Shows the Polling Pod Here are some various shots of tapping the icons above: However, like mentioned before, not all content that can be shown in a DCO meeting room can be shown on the Adobe Connect Mobile app. The following is just a short example of unsupported content / pod types that if used, will present users on the mobile app with message unsupported content in the pod space on the app (see figure to the right): Any.SWF files (flash) Certain ZIP files such as the MP3 Player Custom Pod DCO Native File Share Pod DCO Native Weblinks Pod 4

5 If a host plans on or anticipates having a large number of attendees in the session, it is highly suggested to use what the DCO User Engagement team refers to as a mobile app friendly layout, as seen below. These pods will ALWAYS be displayed in the correct manner, even on the app: Hosting (Attending) a DCO Connect Session from a Mobile Device The best part of the mobile app is it allows for the user to host or attend a DCO Connect session directly from the device. Here is a step by step process on how to host / access a DCO Connect session on a mobile device. Open the Adobe Mobile Connect app and then proceed to enter in the DCO Connect Room s URL in the space provided. Then, click next, as can be seen here: 5

6 A nice feature about the mobile app is it will store the URLs of past DCO meetings you have attended and or hosted. The second time you come back to host or attend that meeting again, all you do is then tap on the URL you desire. At the login screen, enter your DCO username and password to login 1 if you would like, or login as a guest. Also, another neat feature is once you enter in your password, the app stores it for later use. You need only enter it once 2! Remember, DCO passwords need to be changed every 60 days If users are attempting to access a DCO Connect session on an Android device, in the process of entering the meeting, a screen such as the following one below may appear (see below): If the screen presented directly below does appear, just click Trust for Session and proceed on your way. This only occurs on Android devices running the mobile app. 1 There is no CAC authentication into rooms on the mobile app. 2 Your DCO Username and Password needs to be valid (It must change every 60 days). 6

7 The layout of the room on your mobile device will be slightly differing if you are a host, presenter or participant. Hosts and presenters have microphone and camera rights by default. However, participants can be granted the rights for microphone and or the camera, and can access and use both from the mobile app. Let s assume this is your view as a host of a session (see below). Users easily turn on your microphone and camera by tapping on the respective button: The blue means broadcasting 7

8 When a person requests access to the DCO Connect session, as a host or presenter on the mobile device, users can allow the person requesting entry into the DCO Connect session. The following screen shot shows what it looks like, on a mobile device, when a person requests access to the connect room. Pay special attention to the orange exclamation mark! Someone is requesting access to the DCO connect room! And clicking on the exclamation mark lets us know who is requesting the access! Another great feature for hosts include being able to switch from one layout to the next via your device. NOTE: This feature is only available on tablets. While there is just one app to load, the app knows if it has been placed on a tablet or a phone (phablets, like the Note 3, are considered phones). When the app is loaded on a tablet, you have the ability to switch from one layout to the next. You cannot add pods or change the layouts, but you can easily switch between the different layouts. 8

9 Here is a screen shot of an ipad 2, and the layouts are clearly visible for the user to switch between. The different layouts for this particular DCO Connect Room Another feature that is only on the table is that hosts can send the information about the DCO Connect Session to a person they d like to attend the meeting and can do it from within the app itself. Clicking invite participants brings up an auto generated 9

10 Sharing content is what drives 90% of the DCO Connect session and it couldn t be easier to share content via the share pod on the mobile app. Here are some screen shots of how you can share content via the share pod: Share pod with content. Since device is touch screen, swipe to advance pages (slides) Clicking Stop Sharing to share a different piece of content Or share other content, including content from DCO Content library! Share a photo for ice breakers! Share a white board, too! 10

11 Users can even superimpose a whiteboard on top of content for drawing effects and emphasis. Simply draw with the fingers! In conclusion, the Adobe Connect mobile app offers flexibility for attending and hosting a DCO Connect session. Here are the best take away points (based on some of the more commonly asked questions we receive): DCO Used onboard a Delta Flight that was wifi enabled! The app is free and available for ios, Android devices and the blackberry playbook. Hosting and attending a DCO Connect session from the app are possible. VOIP and camera feeds from the mobile device are possible. In the tablet version, changing from one layout to the next is possible (not in the phone version). Content can be brought into the room, especially from the DCO content library. It cannot be natively brought into fro the device itself (such as drop box or internal storage on the device) The mobile app is only username and password compliant for DCO account holders; guest access for connect sessions is possible, too. The app will work for any DCO Connect session, regardless of the server the DCO room sits on. Certain content (flash, SWF, certain ZIP files, etc) are not viewable in the pods of the mobile app. ---END OF DOCUMENT