Videoconferencing Tips

Connection and Hang Up
Conferences are scheduled by computer to begin and end automatically. The sites booked for a conference will automatically connect at the beginning of the booked time, and a warning tone will be heard 5 minutes before the end of the booking.

Returning to Normal Views
SEND MAIN, sends the main camera's view to the far end.
Press VIEW FAR END to view the far end on your main monitor and to cancel viewing a snapshot or preview.
If the microphone is muted, press MUTE to activate it.

Multiple Site Conferences
For conferences with more than two sites connected, the site at which someone is currently speaking is the site which will appear on the main monitor at all the other sites. When someone at a different site speaks for 5-10 seconds, the view will switch to that site automatically.

Using the Main Camera
Press PREVIEW MAIN to preview your main camera. Press SEND MAIN to send your main camera view to the far end. Before the conference begins set main camera presets to include closeups of everyone in the room. At the start of the conference zoom in and pan to each person in the room to introduce each other. During the conference send close up views of the people who are talking using the presets that you have set, or use the pan/tilt/zoom controls if necessary. The best view is a head and shoulders portrait of the speaker (as in TV news).

Using the Document Camera
Press PREVIEW DOC to preview your document camera. Press SEND DOC to send your document camera view to the far end. When preparing documents to be used with the document camera, make sure you use large, bold print. Note that the picture the far end sees will be a little distorted.

Trouble Shooting
First press SEND MAIN and VIEW FAR END to return to normal views.

Can't hear far end: Ask them to un-mute their microphone.
Can't see far end: Ask them to press SEND MAIN.

If all else fails use the telephones hands free: To make a call, dial without picking up the handset; to "hang up", press CLEAR; to answer, press SPEAKER. The numbers for each site are posted near the phone in each room and outside each room. They are also listed on the contacts page.