Web Conference Guide

5.1 What can you do?

Presenters can use all features of Vesta DataXchange. In addition to the features described in Chapter 4, Attendees, Presenters can use other functionality including:

• Chairing a conference
• Inviting visitors to the conference
• Using the whiteboard
• Giving a slide presentation
• Sharing and manipulating a document or application.

Anyone who joins the conference with the moderator pin is automatically a Presenter. A Presenter may promote an Attendee to Presenter status.

Presenter have special administrative rights that allow them to control the conference, which are discussed in section 5.2, Chairing a conference, below. The extra communications functions they may use, such as the Whiteboard, application sharing, and slides, are discussed in sections 5.4, Using the Whiteboard, 5.5, Sharing applications, and 5.6, Giving a slide presentation.

5.2 Chairing a conference

Presenters have control over how the conference is conducted and who is involved in the conference. These abilities are detailed in this section.

5.2.1 Promoting and demoting others

You cannot promote or demote yourself

To promote another user

From the Attendees Window, right-click on the user you wish to promote. Choose Promote from the menu that appears. The user will now have Presenter status. To demote another user

From the Attendees Window, right-click on the user you wish to demote. Choose Demote from the menu that appears. The user will now have Attendee status.

5.2.2 Removing a participant

If you are a Presenter, you can remove any other user (Attendee or Presenter) from a Vesta DataXchange conference if you do not want him or her to take part any longer. To do this,Right-click on the user's name in the Attendees Window

• Choose Force Off from the menu that appears
• Click Yes to confirm this action.

The user will immediately leave the conference and will receive a confirmation that he or she has been removed from the conference. However, the user can re-enter the conference if they know either of the conference PINs.

5.3 Inviting others to a conference

From the Conference Desktop menu, click on Invite…. This action will generate a default email in your email client giving your invitees all the information they need to join your conference. Simply enter their email addresses in the To: field and click Send to send the invitation.

5.4 Using the Whiteboard

This mode is selected using the leftmost of the three tabs on the top right-hand side of the screen. You can also select it by clicking View in the Conference Desktop menu and choosing Whiteboard from the list that appears.

In the Whiteboard, the right-hand pane displays an initially blank white area in which Presenters can communicate using drawings or text annotations. Please note that any Presenter can take control at any point. The Presenter who is currently in control will have a special icon next to his or her name as described in section 3.4, Who is in the conference?.

The Drawing toolbar allows you to make annotations. The color of the icon next to your name in the Attendees Window will be the color of the annotations you make. You can use the following tools to make annotations. Their use is described in detail in the following sections.

• Select Tool
• Draw Line
• Draw Highlight
• Draw Text
• Draw Straight Line
• Draw Rectangle
• Draw Ellipse
• Toggle Pointer
• Palette
• Line Thickness
• Arrow Style
• Take a Snapshot

5.4.1 Select Tool

The Select Tool chooses an element of the drawing to alter or delete. To use the Select tool, take the following steps.

• Select it from the toolbar.
• Click on the part of the drawing you wish to alter or delete.
• Press Delete on your keyboard to delete the element, or follow the steps in the following sections to change the thickness or color of the element or to make a line an arrow.

5.4.2 Draw Line

The Draw Line tool can draw freeform lines, as if you were using your mouse as a pencil. To use the Draw Line tool, take the following steps.

• Select it from the toolbar.
• Move your mouse to your starting point.
• Click and hold the left mouse button while you draw the desired shape.
• Release the mouse button.
• If you wish to change the thickness or color of the line, or if you wish to make the line an arrow, see the following sections.

5.4.3 Draw Highlight

Use the Draw Highlight tool to cover an area with a wash of your annotation color. To use the Draw Highlight tool, take the following steps.

• Select it from the toolbar.
• Move your mouse to your starting point.
• Click and hold the left mouse button while you highlight the desired area.
• Release the mouse button. If you wish to change the color of the highlight, see section 5.4.9, Palette.

5.4.4 Draw Text

Use the Draw Text tool to add text to your annotation. To use the Draw Text tool, take the following steps.

• Select it from the toolbar.
• Click the left mouse button where you want the text to appear.
• Type the desired text
• Click your left mouse button outside the text box.

Please note that the font and size of the text cannot be changed. If you wish to change the color of the text, see section 5.4.9, Palette.

5.4.5 Draw Straight Line

Use the Draw Straight Line tool to draw a perfectly straight line. To use the Draw Straight Line tool, take the following steps.

• Select it from the toolbar.
• Move your mouse to your starting point.
• Click and hold the left mouse button while you draw the line.
• Release the mouse button.
• If you wish to change the thickness or color of the line, or if you wish to make the line an arrow, see the following sections.

5.4.6 Draw Rectangle

Use the Draw Rectangle tool to create rectangles of various sizes. To use the Draw Rectangle tool, take the following steps.

• Select it from the toolbar.
• Position your mouse where you would like a corner of your rectangle to be.
• Click and hold the left mouse button while you drag the rectangle to the size you want.
• Release the mouse button. If you wish to change the thickness or color of the rectangle, see the following sections.

5.4.7 Draw Ellipse

Use the Draw Ellipse tool to create ellipses and circles of various sizes. To use the Draw Ellipse tool, take the following steps.

• Select it from the toolbar.
• Position your mouse where you would like to start drawing the ellipse.
• Click and hold the left mouse button while you drag the ellipse to the shape and size you want.
• Release the mouse button. If you wish to change the thickness or color of the ellipse, see the following sections.

5.4.8 Toggle Pointer

Use the Toggle Pointer tool to position a pointer symbol on the screen to identify a specific point. To use the Toggle Pointer tool, take the following steps.

• Click the icon on the toolbar. A hand pointer will appear on the Conference Desktop.
• To move the pointer, click on it and hold down your mouse button while you drag it to the place you want it.
• To remove the pointer, click the icon on the menu again. If you decide to turn the pointer on again, it will appear in the last place you put it.

5.4.9 Palette

Use the Palette tool to change your annotation color to another of the preset colors.

Please be aware that if you change your color to the same color another person is using, the resulting annotations could be confusing. To use the Palette tool, take the following steps:

• Select it from the menu.
• On the menu that appears, click on the color you wish to annotate with.

5.4.10 Line Thickness

Use the Line Thickness tool to change the thickness of the lines you are going to draw (or have already drawn). You can make your lines 1, 5, or 10 pixels wide. To use the Palette tool, take the following steps.

If you wish to change the thickness of a line you have already drawn, select that line using the Select Tool (as described in section 5.4.1, Select Tool).

• Select the Palette tool from the toolbar.
• On the menu that appears, click on the pixel width you wish your lines to have.

5.4.11 Arrow Style

Use the Arrow Style tool to choose whether lines you draw (or have already drawn) have no arrowhead at all, an arrowhead at one end, or an arrowhead at both ends. To use the Arrow Style tool, take the following steps.

• If you wish to change the thickness of a line you have already drawn, select that line using the Select Tool (as described in section 5.4.1, Select Tool).
• Select the Arrow Style tool from the toolbar.
• On the menu that appears, click on the type of arrowhead you wish your lines to have.

5.4.12 Taking a snapshot

At any time, and in any mode (except when no applications are shared in Application Sharing Mode) you can click on the camera icon to take a snapshot of the current annotated image. This snapshot is then added as a new slide (after the existing slides) so that you can refer to it later or make further annotations. For example, you may want to take several snapshots throughout a conference, so that you have a record of each stage of the conference and not just of the final agreed position.

5.4.13 Deleting all annotations

If you wish to remove all of the annotations from the whiteboard, choose Drawing from the Conference Desktop menu and select Clear Annotations from the menu that appears. Please note that you will not be prompted to confirm this action and it is not reversible.

You can also remove all annotations by taking the following steps

• Choose Drawing from the Conference Desktop menu.
• Click Select All on the menu that appears.
• Choose Drawing from the Conference Desktop menu and select Delete, or press Delete on your keyboard.

If you decide you do not wish to remove all annotations, you can choose Deselect All from the Drawing menu.

5.4.14 Deleting a single annotation

You can also remove a single annotation by following these steps.

• Choose the Select Tool.
• Click the annotation you wish to remove.
• Press Delete on your keyboard, or choose Drawing from the Conference Desktop menu and select Delete.

5.5 Sharing applications

The central of the three tabs on the top right-hand side of the screen switches the desktop to Applications. You can also select it by clicking View in the Conference Desktop menu and choosing Applications from the list that appears. In this mode, it is possible to view and control any applications that have been shared. On Windows systems, when no applications are shared in this mode, a blank screen with the Vesta DataXchange logo is displayed. No snapshots or annotations can be made on the blank screen.

When an application is shared, the annotation features are enabled, and snapshots can be taken. The client will automatically switch to this mode when a new application is shared, or if a Presenter clicks on the Take Control button while in either of the other two modes. You can only share applications that are running on your own machine. To share applications from your desktop so that other users in the conference can see them, take the following steps.

• Start the application you want to share
• Choose Share from the Conference Desktop menu. (This will only ever appear on Windows systems, not on UNIX or Mac systems).
• Choose how to select the application or applications to share from the following list of options.
  • Select an Application from a List
  • Share Desktop
  • Share Part of Screen (by clicking and dragging your mouse to indicate the area to be shared)
  • Select an Application with the Pointer (by clicking on the application you want to share)

To view which applications have been shared, or to switch between shared applications, click on the drop-down menu on the upper right-hand part of the screen in the Conference Desktop.

5.5.1 Options for shared applications

When you have shared one or more applications, you have the following options (again by choosing Share from the Conference Desktop menu).

Unshare an application so that other users can no longer see it. You do this by choosing which application you wish to unshare from the menu that appears.

Overpaint obscured areas of a shared application. Unless you have a very large screen, you will not be able to switch to the viewer window to annotate the application without obscuring part of the shared application. The area that is obscured can no longer be captured for sharing, but the system continues to display the contents of that area immediately before it was obscured.

Selecting the “overpaint obscured areas” option means that, if the application is partly or completely obscured by other windows on your screen, the obscured areas of the application do not appear on the Vesta DataXchange desktop (they Vesta DataXchange Application User Guide v1.0 are shown as gray hatched areas instead). This option ensures that other users do not see information in the application that you cannot see.

• Permit remote control of the shared applications by other users. Users cannot control your applications unless you permit them. It is a good idea to remain in attendance while you have this option enabled.
• Use high color hosting to send screen data from your shared applications using a larger color palette. The default is to send using a more compressed form of data with fewer colors, which is generally imperceptible but causes some color banding on high color images.

The high color option uses more bandwidth and is therefore less responsive, but it gives an exact rendition of the image at the viewers. It is recommended only for users with LAN speed connections.

5.5.2 Annotating shared applications

The Drawing menu allows you to make annotations to shared applications. All of the notes about annotation in section 5.4, Using the Whiteboard, apply to slides and shared applications. Annotations to a shared application will not move if you move the shared application, so you should position the application where you want it before you start annotating it.

5.5.3 Taking a snapshot

At any time, and in any mode (except when no applications are shared in Application Sharing Mode) you can click on the camera icon to take a snapshot of the current annotated shared application. This snapshot is then added as a new slide (after the existing slides) so that you can refer to it later or make further annotations. For example, you may want to take several snapshots throughout a conference, so that you have a record of each stage of the conference and not just of the final agreed position.

5.5.4 Application sharing tips

There are a few things it is useful to know when sharing or controlling applications:

• Avoid minimizing applications you are controlling, because there is no way to restore them.
• Avoid changing the state of the CAPS LOCK key while others are controlling your shared applications, as this can cause case errors in the remote input.
• Controlling the Command Prompt/DOS Prompt only works if the host is Windows NT, 2000 or XP, and some command-line applications may not recognize remote input.
• Mouse wheel input is not supported.

5.6 Giving a slide presentation

The rightmost of the three tabs on the top right-hand side of the screen selects the Slide Show. You can also select it by going to the Conference Desktop menu and clicking View then choosing Slide Show from the list that appears. Vesta DataXchange Application User Guide v1.0

Slides are pictures that can be displayed in order, just like in a presentation using a slide projector or foils. In Vesta DataXchange, slides can be snapshots of the Conference Desktop at a given moment (described in section 5.6.1, Creating slides), or they can be pictures uploaded from a Presenter’s machine (described in section 5.6.2, Uploading slides).

Please note that the Slide Show tab is only available if at least one slide has been created or uploaded during the conference.

5.6.1 Creating slides

To create a slide from the Vesta DataXchange desktop, take the following steps.

• On the Drawing menu, click on the camera icon.
• Press OK when the confirmation box appears. Alternatively, you can take the following steps.
• On the Conference Desktop menu, choose Slide.

Click Make into Slide.

Press OK when the confirmation box appears.

5.6.2 Uploading slides

Presenters can upload images to the conference from their own machines. The images must be in one of the following formats.

• A PowerPoint presentation (a PPT file)
• One or more images in JPEG format

If you want to upload multiple JPEG images at once, they must all be sequentially numbered, and in the same directory. Vesta DataXchange will automatically upload all images in the sequence with a higher number than the one you select.

To upload the presentation, take the following steps.

• Choose Slide from the Conference Desktop menu.
• Click on Upload Slides…
• You can now choose to add one file or all of the image files in a directory.
• Choose Select a PowerPoint or JPEG file to add a single file.
• Choose Select the first JPEG in a sequence to add the files in a numbered sequence of JPEGs.
• Navigate to the location of the file you wish to add, or begin a sequence with.
• Click on its name.
• Click Open.

After you have uploaded the image or images, each image appears as a separate slide.

5.6.3 Navigating between slides

You can navigate between slides in three ways.

• Use the left and right arrow buttons in the top right-hand corner of the screen. The double-headed arrows take you to the beginning or end of the slides.
• Click on View on the Conference Desktop menu and choose Slide Thumbnails. This will let you see thumbnail images of all slides and click on the slide you want to view.
• Use the Page Up/Page Down/Home/End keys, or the number keys 1-9 in the Slide Thumbnails window.

5.6.4 Moving a slide

To move an existing slide, perform the following actions.

• On the Conference Desktop menu, click on View.
• Choose Slide Thumbnails.
• Click and drag the slide you wish to move up or down as desired. An orange bar indicates the new location for the slide in the sequence.

5.6.5 Slide thumbnails

The thumbnails window allows you to view the slides in your Slide Show. It also allows you to navigate immediately to specific slides and to sort slides, as discussed in section 5.6.3, Navigating between slides, and section 5.6.4, Moving a slide.

5.6.6 Deleting a single slide

To delete an existing slide, navigate to the selected slide as detailed in section 5.6.3, Navigating between slides, and press the Delete button on your keyboard. Alternatively, you can click Slide in the Conference Desktop menu and select Delete Current Slide from the menu that appears. In both cases, a warning popup will appear asking you to confirm that you wish to delete the current slide. If you confirm this action, all of the contents of the current slide will be removed.

5.6.7 Annotating slides

The Drawing menu allows you to make annotations to slides. All of the notes about annotation in section 5.4, Using the Whiteboard, apply to slides and shared applications.

5.6.8 Taking a snapshot

At any time, and in any mode (except when no applications are shared in Application Sharing Mode) you can click on the camera icon to take a snapshot of the current annotated slide.

This snapshot is then added as a new slide (after the existing slides) so that you can refer to it later or make further annotations. For example, you may want to take several snapshots throughout a conference, so that you have a record of each stage of the conference and not just of the final agreed position.