Desktop Client USER GUIDE. Version 2. Strategic Vision, Inc.

Transcription

1 Desktop Client USER GUIDE Version 2 Strategic Vision, Inc.

2 Table of Contents Welcome Desktop Client Interface Audio and Webcam Settings Tool Overview User Card / My Information Audio & Webcam TACLAN Connect Folder Content Library / File Browser Shared Tools Chat / Whiteboard Presenters Tools Screen Sharing / Browser Sync PPT Presenter / Conference Table Poll & Quiz YouTube Player MP4 Streamer File Sharing Recording / System Requirements

3 Welcome This quick start guide contains information needed to successfully use TACLAN Connect, including a description of the system functions and capabilities, and step-by-step procedures for system access and use. Toolbar My Info User Cards / Attendees Workspace 3

4 Settings Audio / Webcam Settings Tools Audio Settings Webcam Settings Audio Settings Use the Audio Settings window to configure which sound devices should be used for recording and playback. You can also customize sound effects for certain events. Webcam Settings Select your webcam (if applicable) and desired resolution. Using a lower resolution will result in lower quality, but smoother video. Audio Devices: Whenever an audio device is added to or removed from the system, the Audio Settings should be adjusted to reflect the new capabilities. However, simply plugging a microphone or headphones into an existing sound device does not require that you reconfigure Audio Settings in the TACLAN Connect client. What is an audio device? An audio device is specialized hardware that can be slotted into a computer to allow the use of audio components for multimedia applications. NOTE: Some USB or wireless headsets appear in Windows as a separate audio device. It is recommended that the audio settings be reviewed to ensure these devices are correctly selected in the TACLAN Connect client after adding / removing them from Windows. File / Exit Allows you to exit a meeting. Help Provides software details and assistance when using the tools and features. 4

5 Tool Overview Chat - allows participants to communicate in a real-time using text exchanges. Whiteboard - provides participants a mechanism for displaying and annotating visual information, much the same way a drawing program functions. File Sharing - allows participants to easily exchange files using subfolders within the My Documents folder. Recording - the recorder acts like a screen recorder, capturing your primary desktop and meeting audio. You can start or stop recording at anytime. Screen Sharing - transmits the contents of the presenter/floor holder's computer screen to all attendees. This can be configured to share the entire screen, a portion of it, or a single application. Browser Sync - (aka Web Touring / Co-Browsing) the ability to drive attendees to access selected web pages simultaneously. PPT Presenter - present and mark-up Microsoft PowerPoint files without the need to have PowerPoint installed. Conference Table - multi-user video conference. Attendees can be added or removed from the conference easily with drag & drop. Poll & Quiz - meeting hosts can use this tool to quickly gather information from attendees using either a poll or a quiz. YouTube Player - links directly with YouTube, providing a way for participants to view current YouTube videos. MP4 Streamer - provides the capability to share and view videos in MP4 form. * Access to some features are limited for attendees that join via the Web Client. 5

6 User Card / My Information My Information The My Information card displays your avatar, name, status, and other information based on your settings and preferences. The drop down menu provides different status options such as Available, Busy, and Out. A presenter can Dismiss or Pass the Floor to a user by right clicking on their user card and selecting the appropriate option. Dismissing a user removes them from the session. Passing the floor to a user enables them to present. Icon Key Presenter Floor Holder Audio On Audio Mute Microphone On The User Cards display the attendee s avatar, name, status, and other information based on their settings and preferences. Microphone Off Web Client User User Card Gravatars Your profile picture is known as your avatar which is an image that represents you online, a little picture that appears next to your name when you interact with websites. TACLAN Connect uses Gravatar as the avatar provider. A Gravatar is a Globally Recognized Avatar. You upload a picture or image and create your profile just once, and then when you participate in any Gravatar-enabled site, your Gravatar image will automatically follow you there. Visit to create your Gravatar. It is a free service for site owners, developers, and users. 6

7 Audio & Webcam Audio 1. If the selected audio mode is Lecture, only the presenter / floor holder will be able to speak. If you are the presenter or floor holder, you can enable you microphone when ready by clicking the Un-mute Audio button. You can click the button again to toggle your microphone at any time. 2. If the selected audio mode is Recognized Attendee, the presenter / floor holder can speak by un-muting their microphone as above. If an attendee wishes to speak, they would click the Raise Hand button located in the My Information area. This will signal the presenter that an attendee wishes to speak. When the presenter is ready they will right-click the User Card for the user whose hand is raised and select Recognize Attendee. Once recognized by the presenter, the attendee will be notified and can speak. When the attendee has finished speaking the presenter can right-click their User Card to lower their hand, ending the attendees ability to speak. If the attendee wishes to speak again, the Raise Hand procedure will repeat. 3. If the selected audio mode is Open Discussion, everyone can speak once their respective microphones are un-muted. Click to raise hand Hand is raised 4. If the presenter / floor holder selects No for built-in audio, nobody can speak. Webcam 1. To enable your Webcam, right click on your avatar in the My Information area. 2. Select Switch to Webcam to activate the configured webcam. 3. To switch back to your avatar, right click the video preview in the My Information area. Select Switch to Avatar. 7

8 TACLAN Connect Folder Subfolders A folder will be automatically created inside of the user's My Documents folder. TACLAN Connect is the parent folder which contains the following subfolders: My Preferences - Contains a file named Preferences.bin which stores user preferences (text size, color, selected sound device, etc). If this file is removed, it will be reinitialized with default values once the application is launched again. My Quizzes - Contains Quiz (*.svq) files created by the user with the TACLAN Connect Quiz Editor. My Recordings - Contains any recordings the user elects to create and save. My Shared Files - This folder contains subfolders corresponding to the meetings attended and hosted. Files placed into a meeting folder are automatically shared with other attendees in that meeting. Files received from others are stored in a Received subdirectory of the meeting folder. The TACLAN Connect client will monitor the appropriate folder and will transfer the files automatically. Existing files are only overwritten when there are differences in the files. * Access to some features may be limited for attendees that join via the Web Client. 8

9 Content Library / File Browser Account holders that have the Learning Plan will have the ability to create a central repository of files in their Content Library. This uses a cloud storage solution and provides unlimited storage for files. When PowerPoint or video files are uploaded into the Content Library our system automatically converts them for use in a presentation. This is especially important for video files. The video file is converted into a streaming format that will play within a browser without the need for a special code or plugin. Simply upload the file(s) before the presentation and you will receive an confirming that your files are ready. File Formats that our system will accept are MP4, AVI, MOV, WMV, and WEBM. The Content Library can be accessed by clicking the appropriate link in the TACLAN Connect Meeting Dashboard. The TACLAN Connect Desktop Client includes a file browser that allows files to be loaded into a meeting from either your local computer or from your Content Library depending on your plan. The browser is accessible by clicking the Browse button in the File Sharing, PPT Presenter, Poll & Quiz, and MP4 Streamer tools. This image shows the file browser using the Content Library. To access this mode, click the Cloud logo located in the left pane (only available to users who have subscribed to the Learning Plan). Clicking the Windows logo in the left pane, will allow you to browse your local computer for files. This option is available to all users. 9

10 Shared Tools Chat 1. Type the message you would like to send. 2. Press Enter or click the send button to send the message to all attendees. If you would like to chat privately with another user, you can right-click the User Card for the desired user, and select Private Chat from the context menu. Private chat is not logged, and is only visible by the 2 parties. Chat Display Window Users Font Styles Text Input Area Public Chat Private Chat * Private Chat is not available to attendees using the Web Client. Whiteboard 1. Select the tool you wish to use (line, circle / ellipse, or square / rectangle). The size and color can also be changed using the tool bar options in the Whiteboard. 2. Click and hold the left mouse button inside the whiteboard area to begin drawing. Release the mouse when you are done. When you are complete you have the option to save your whiteboard as an image. Whiteboard Icon Key Draw Square / Rectangle Circle / Ellipse Erase Save Color Palette 10

11 Presenter s Tools Screen Sharing Select the desired share type by clicking the appropriate icon: 1. Share your screen will transmit your entire desktop to attendees. If you have more than 1 monitor, this will only transmit the primary monitor. Click the icon and sharing will begin in 5 seconds or press ESC to cancel before sharing begins. 2. Share a region of your screen will allow you to define a region of your desktop to share. Any activity within that region is transmitted to attendees. Use your mouse to define an area on your desktop that you would like to share. As you drag your mouse this area will be highlighted in yellow. When you are ready, double-click your left mouse button inside or outside of the defined area to begin or press ESC to cancel before sharing begins. 3. Share an application will allow you to select and share a running application. Double-click the desired application from the list of currently running processes. Once sharing has begun, the application window will be locked in size. If the application to be shared was launched after the Screen Sharing tool was opened, click the Refresh Applications button to get a new list of running processes. When you would like to stop sharing, click the Stop button (hand button). Browser Sync Be aware that using this tool will not circumvent any corporate web-filtering. This tool will not function with websites that require authentication. 1. This tool functions as a web browser. After launching the Browser Sync tool enter a URL directly into the address bar to reach the desired site. 2. Only the presenter has access to site navigation unless he/she enables attendee navigation. * The attendee navigation option is not available to attendees using the Web Client. Browser Sync Icon Key Back Control Refresh Page Browser Home Stop Sync Forward Control 11

12 Presenter s Tools PPT Presenter PowerPoint presentations will be converted to a format that is easy to transmit to attendees. During this conversion, slide transitions and embedded multimedia are disabled. Tools 1. Choose a PowerPoint presentation to present from your local computer, the Content Library, or from your My Shared Files folder. 2. Once the presentation has loaded, you can use the Previous or Next buttons to navigate through the slides. 3. Slides can be annotated using tools on the PPT Presenter toolbar. 4. You can allow attendees to annotate slides by clicking the Attendee Annotation button on the toolbar. PPT Presenter Icon Key 5. Annotations are not saved in the presentation. Draw 6. The Zoom In/Out feature provides 3 different viewing sizes and is only Erase available for the presenter. Color Palette * The Attendee Annotation option is not available to attendees using the Attendee Annotations On/Off Web Client. Conference Table 1. Enable your Webcam from your User Card. 2. Click the Conference Table tool icon. 3. To add attendees to the table, drag their User Card into one of the empty spaces. Attendees joining using the web client cannot be added to the conference table. 4. To remove an attendee from the table, drag their video off of the table screen and drop it in an unused area. * Your webcam must be enabled to use the Conference Table. 12

13 Presenter s Tools Poll & Quiz To ask a Poll question: 1. Click the Poll & Quiz tool icon and select the Poll tab. Type the question to be displayed to the attendees in the Question field. Enter the desired responses into the appropriate answer field(s). Polls do not have correct answers. 2. When ready, click the Present Question button to present the poll question to all attendees. The active Poll tab will switch to the Results tab and will display the results in a graph format as they are submitted. 3. For a record of the results, click the Export Results button. You will be prompted for a location to save the data. Results are saved both as a CSV file for import into other systems, and as an image of the current results chart. Attendees view of question asked 13

14 Presenter s Tools Poll & Quiz To administer a predefined Quiz: 1. Begin with the Quiz Editor and create a quiz. The Quiz Editor can be launched from within this tool or from the website s Download menu. Once downloaded, it will be available at all times on your computer. 2. Select the Quiz tab and click the Browse button to locate a previously created quiz file using the Quiz Editor and click Begin. 3. The advancement of questions is controlled either by the presenter / floor holder or the attendee (established when the quiz is created). If controlled by the presenter / floor holder the Show Previous and Show Next buttons can be used when appropriate. 4. The presenter can watch the results in real time. For a record of the results, click the Export Results button. You will be prompted for a location to save the data. Results are saved both as a CSV file for import into other systems, and as an image of the current results chart. *All quizzes created with the Quiz Editor will be saved in your Documents / TACLAN Connect / My Quizzes folder. Attendees view of questions asked. 14

15 Presenter s Tools YouTube Player This tool links directly with YouTube, providing a way for meeting participants to view current YouTube videos: 1. After opening the tool you will see a stand-by screen. 2. When ready, simply type or paste in the URL for the desired YouTube video and click Go. 3. Each attendee is in control of their own video (play, pause, etc). 4. The presenter can close their video and the player will remain open for attendees that are joining via the Desktop Client. * When the presenter exits the tool the YouTube player will close for attendees joining via the Web Client. Stand-by Screen 15

16 Presenter s Tools MP4 Streamer This tool provides the capability to share videos in MP4 form. 1. After opening the MP4 tool you will see a stand-by screen. 2. Click Browse to find the video you wish to share. 3. Once you have selected a video, click the Stream button. This can take some time to load. When the [Stream] button is pressed, the selected file is uploaded to the server, the server will then begin to convert the file into the formats necessary. Once the conversion has begun, the [Cancel] becomes active, allowing the presenter to stop the conversion process. Once the conversion is finished, the video will be displayed to the attendees. 4. Each attendee is in control of their own video (play, pause, etc). 5. The presenter can close their video and the player will remain open for attendees that are joining via the Desktop Client. * When the presenter exits the tool the MP4 player will close for attendees joining via the Web Client. Stand-by Screen 16

17 File Sharing File Sharing File sharing is a convenient way to share documents, images, or videos with attendees and can be accomplished either with preloading files into the appropriate folder or by adding them once you are in a meeting. Preloading Files 1. To preload a file before a meeting, you simply copy the desired file into your Documents / TACLAN Connect / My Shared Files / *** Meeting folder. Any file placed into this folder is available to all attendees for viewing and also provides them with the option to save the file. 2. Deleting a shared file is as easy as removing the file from your shared folder. Deleting a file also removes it for all attendees. 3. When another attendee shares a file with you, it will appear your My Shared Files / ***Meeting / Received folder. Viewing / Adding Files During a Meeting 1. To add a file during a meeting click the File Sharing tool icon. This will open the File Sharing window in your meeting. Click the Add File button and choose the desired file. Any file added is available to all attendees for viewing and also provides them with the option to save the file. 2. After a file is saved a green checkmark will appear to the right of the file information indicating that the user has the most current version of a file. When a newer version of the same file is added to File Sharing the checkmark will disappear letting the user know there is a more current version available. 3. You can delete a file during a meeting by removing it from the File Sharing Tool Window. Select the unwanted file, and click delete at the bottom of the window. Deleting a file removes it from your My Shared Files folder as well as for all attendees. * Reference the TACLAN Connect Folder page for more information. 17

18 Recording / System Requirements Recording a Meeting The recorder acts like a screen recorder, capturing your primary desktop and meeting audio. You can start or stop recording at anytime. Recorded meetings are stored in your Documents / TACLAN Connect / My Recordings folder. Recording can be initiated by any attendee, and is performed locally to the user. No data is recorded as it passes our server. The recorder acts like a screen recorder, capturing the recording users primary desktop while combining meeting audio. 1. Click the Recording icon on the toolbar. 2. Click the gray REC button to begin recording. When this happens, the recording window will minimize. 3. You can stop recording by restoring the minimized window and clicking the red REC button. * The Recording tool is not available for attendees using the Web Client. Not Recording Recording System Requirements TACLAN Connect system requirements for the Desktop Client: Microsoft Windows Vista, Service Pack 2 (or greater) with.net Framework 4.5 (or greater). Hardware: 2.1 Ghz processor (or faster) 2 Gb RAM (or more) Sound card (for participation in Audio chat) Internet access is required Strategic Vision, Inc. info@taclanconnect.com