The information contained herein is the property of Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. and is supplied without liability for errors or omissions. No part may be reproduced or used except as authorised by contract or other written permission. The copyright and the foregoing restrictions on reproductions and use extend to all media in which the information may be embodied.
Thank you for choosing to use “Visual Nexus”. This manual is the Visual Nexus User Operation Guide. Please read this manual before changing any Visual Nexus system settings, or operating / managing the Visual Nexus system components. Please contact your local dealer for details related to product technical support.
About this Manual
Symbols used this Manual
Denotes information that must be strictly observed to prevent damage to or error in hardware
/ software.
Denotes supplemental information related to specific topics.
Notation used in this Manual
[ ] Denotes an action to be taken. e.g. Select the [Tools] button from menu bar.
[ ] [ ] Denotes a number of subsequent actions to be taken. e.g. Select [Program] [Call History…].
< > Denotes a keyboard operation.
e.g. Press the <Alt> key.
About Screen Captures Screen captures are shown throughout this manual as typical examples of the program operation; as such, the screens in this manual may differ from the screens displayed on your terminal.
About Trademarks • Visual Nexus and Visual Nexus logo are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Oki Electric Industry
Co., Ltd in the USA and other countries. • Microsoft, NetMeeting and Windows are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and other countries. • Intel, Pentium, Xeon and Celeron are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United
States and other countries. • SONY is a trademark of Sony Corporation.
• Polycom is a trademark or registered trademark of Polycom, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. • Red Hat is a trademark or registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and other countries. • Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. • Other company names or product names noted in this manual are the trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective owners.
Copyrights / Notices • This manual may not be duplicated or reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior permission. • The content of this manual or the specification of this product may change without prior notice. • This manual has been produced with the utmost care; however, should you discover any unclear
descriptions, inaccuracies, omissions, erratic pagination, missing pages, etc., please contact Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd or Visual Nexus Limited.
Copyright 2008 Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 About this Manual ............................................................................................................................................................... 2
Symbols used this Manual ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Notation used in this Manual ...................................................................................................................................... 2 About Screen Captures.............................................................................................................................................. 2 About Trademarks...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Copyrights / Notices ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
1 Visual Nexus Overview............................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Visual Nexus Endpoint...................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Visual Nexus Meeting Server............................................................................................................................ 6 1.3 Visual Nexus Secure Transport ........................................................................................................................ 7 1.4 Standards Based Communication .................................................................................................................... 7
2 Visual Nexus Meeting Manager............................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Starting Meeting Manager ................................................................................................................................ 8 2.2 Creating a Profile .............................................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Logging in to the Meeting Server ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Managing Contacts......................................................................................................................................... 11
3 Basic Calling........................................................................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Getting Ready!................................................................................................................................................ 15 3.2 Calling a Contact ............................................................................................................................................ 18 3.3 Joining a Meeting............................................................................................................................................ 19 3.4 Designate an Address and Make a Call.......................................................................................................... 20
Visual Nexus is a virtual Meeting solution for working professionals. Visual Nexus uses leading industry standards and technologies to deliver real-time data sharing and application collaboration combined with high quality voice and video conferencing. The key components of Visual Nexus are Visual Nexus Meeting Server and Visual Nexus Endpoint. If required, Visual Nexus can also include the Visual Nexus Secure Transport, a Firewall / NAT Traversal Option that enables Visual Nexus to operate securely between remote networks.
1.1 Visual Nexus Endpoint Visual Nexus Endpoint is the part of Visual Nexus solution that enables you to use your PC as a client to make peer to peer video calls or to join virtual meetings. It can display video images from up to sixteen other meeting participants, and provides document and application sharing facilities. Visual Nexus Endpoint is a Windows PC-based video client software program, based on the H.323 industry standards. It is designed to be used in conjunction with the Visual Nexus meeting system. Visual Nexus Endpoint allows for up to 16 different video images to be displayed on a single PC, and for video / audio communications with other meeting participants, as well as the sharing of PowerPoint presentations, video or image files and team collaboration sharing any Windows applications. In addition, Visual Nexus Endpoint seamlessly allows video / voice / data communications across IP network security devices such as firewalls and NAT. Visual Nexus Endpoint is installed on your PC and includes the Visual Nexus Meeting Manager, the Visual Nexus Video and Audio system, and the Visual Nexus Secure Transport Client, when required. This manual explains how to use the Visual Nexus Meeting Manager which controls all the functions of the Visual Nexus Endpoint. Also see the Meeting Manager help for more detailed information.
Access the Meeting Manager help by starting the Meeting Manager and either clicking [Help] from
the [Help] menu, or clicking on the icon on the toolbar.
1.2 Visual Nexus Meeting Server Visual Nexus Meeting Server is the heart of a Visual Nexus solution. It manages your virtual meetings and collaboration sessions. It enables you to reserve virtual meeting rooms and invite other participants by email. During your virtual meetings, it controls the flow of audio, video, and documents between participants, supporting a variety of conference types such as chairman-controlled and open forum.
1.3 Visual Nexus Secure Transport Visual Nexus Secure Transport enables Visual Nexus to support collaborative conferences across network boundaries, for example enabling communications between offices on different networks.
1.4 Standards Based Communication Visual Nexus supports standards based communication and therefore provides collaboration with third-party products from vendors such as Lifesize, Polycom, Tandberg, SONY, Microsoft etc.
2.1 Starting Meeting Manager To start the Meeting Manager:
• Double-click the Meeting Manager icon on your desktop or • Select [Start] [All Programs] [Visual Nexus] [Meeting Manager]
2.2 Creating a Profile To be able to use the Meeting Manager, a User must login to the Meeting Server using User Account Information that has been created by the Meeting Server Administrator. If your Meeting Server Administrator has not configured a Profile for you then you will need to create one. If a Profile has not been created then you will be presented with a Profile Information screen when you run the Meeting Manager.
Enter your User Account Information and Meeting Server information as supplied to you by your Meeting Server Administrator.
2.2.1 Changing Default Profile Settings
When Visual Nexus Meeting Manager is installed, the ‘Network Adapter’ and ‘Bandwidth’ settings are automatically configured.
Selecting an inappropriate Network Adapter or setting the default Bandwidth too low / high may
result in the Meeting Manager providing poor quality connections or failure to connect.
The default Bandwidth of 192kbps has been specifically chosen to provide Business quality calls
from a standard ADSL service.
You can start Meeting Manager and automatically login to the Meeting Server based on your Profile settings by
checking the box next to [Default]. This profile will be highlighted Orange in the offline Screen to show which profile is the default.
2.3 Logging in to the Meeting Server Use the profile created for you by your Administrator or the one you created in section 2.2, for logging you into the Meeting Server. The Profile will either log you in automatically or will require you to run it manually.
Figure 1 - Not Logged In
If the Meeting Manager displays a Profile screen similar to that shown in Figure1 then you will need to manually login in to the Meeting Server by double-clicking the Profile icon.
Your Administrator may have configured your Meeting Manager with a number of different Profiles to
meet your communications needs for in and out of the office.
The display of the Meeting Manager will change to show you a layout similar to the one in Figure 2 once you have successfully logged in to the Meeting Server.
The Meeting Manger shows three key sections when logged into the Meeting Server:
• Your Personal Login Status • Accessible Meeting Rooms • Your Contacts
2.3.1 Personal Login Status
Your Personal Login Status reflects your availability on the Meeting Server. Your status setting will default to ‘Online’ every time you log in to the Meeting Server. To change your ‘Online Status’ right-click on your contact icon and click [Online Status] from the menu. You will then be able to select one of the following:
Online Logged in and available to take calls
Offline Appear as if you are not logged in
Busy Logged in but unavailable to take calls
2.3.2 Answer Mode Settings
The Meeting Manager provides you with three Answer Mode settings:
To change your Answer Mode setting, right-click on your contact icon and then click [Answer Mode] from the menu. Select the appropriate choice. The Answer Mode setting will be permanently stored until you change it.
Configuring the Meeting Manager for Auto-Answer will allow contacts to automatically connect to
your endpoint. They will be able to see and hear you if you have an active microphone and camera.
As the call was automatically answered you maybe unaware someone is observing you!
2.3.3 Available Meeting Rooms
The Meeting Rooms shown are the ones that are immediately available for you to enter.
2.3.4 Contacts
The Contacts that are displayed when you first run the Meeting Manager have been configured by your Administrator. You may add additional Contacts yourself or ask your Administrator to add them.
2.4 Managing Contacts The Meeting Manager allows you to create a Contact List of persons you frequently call. The Meeting Manager display allows you to confirm their availability status (presence) before making a call. Using a Contact List in this fashion makes person-to-person calls a simple matter.
2.4.1 Adding a Contact
To add a contact to your Contacts list:
• Select [Tools] [Add Contact] to open the Contact Information screen or • Right-click on the Contacts Icon, and select [Add Contact] from the menu. This will open the
Contact Information screen.
2.4.1.1 Adding a Visual Nexus Endpoint Contact
Enter the service name or number (H.323 alias or E.164 number) of the party you wish to add to your contact list in the [Word] field, and click [Search].
If the desired party’s information comes back in the search results, click the result and edit the information fields then click [Save] to register the Contact to your Contact List as shown. You can amend the ‘Name’ returned, to display a more memorable name in your Contact list.
You will only be able to to see whether they are ‘Online’, ‘Offline’ or ‘Busy ’after the other party grants permission for you to see their status
Figure 4 - Contact List Example
2.4.1.2 Adding a Non-Visual Nexus Endpoint Contact
To register a non-Visual Nexus User terminal (an H.323 video conferencing terminal in a conference room, etc.), input the terminal’s service number (H.323 alias, E.164 number) or IP address information in the [Contact Information] screen, input the [Name], and click the [Save] button to register the contact in your Contact List. For a non-Visual Nexus Endpoint terminal, there is no need to get the other party’s permission to see their availability status. In principle, as long as the terminal is on, the status is ‘Online’, and if the terminal is off, the status is ‘Offline’. If the terminal is being used for a Meeting, then the status will be shown as ‘Busy’.
2.4.2 Authorising a Contact
If someone adds you as a Contact then you will see the icon with the text (waiting authorisation) in your Contacts list.
To allow this contact to view your status, right-click on the Contacts icon, and select [Accept this Contact] from the menu.
To prevent this contact from viewing your status, right-click on the Contacts icon, and select [Reject this Contact] from the menu.
The Meeting Manager may also present you with a ‘New Contact’ confirmation screen (figure 5) to allow you to [Receive] or [Reject] the Contact request.
To view all hidden Contacts, right-click on the Contacts Icon and select [Show all Contacts]
from the menu. To hide the Contacts, right-click on the Contacts Icon and select [Show Selected Contacts only] from the menu.
You can organise your contacts by creating Contact Groups. A Contact Group allows you to copy Contacts from the All Contacts group and display them under a more memorable name.
• Select [Tools] [Add Contact Group] and type a name for the Contact Group or • Right-click on the Contacts Icon or the Contacts icon, and select [Add Contact Group]
and type a name for the Contact Group. A Contact may be placed in to a Contact Group by dragging and dropping the desired Contact from the All Contacts list. The Contact is copied and not moved.
3.1 Getting Ready! As with any meeting, to get the best out of it you need to do a little preparation before hand! To look your best and come across clearly you need to ensure that whatever camera and sound solution you have connected to your system is working correctly and has been setup for the environment you are in.
Lighting conditions and surroundings can make a big difference to the effectiveness of your meeting.
They can directly affect the way you are seen and heard.
3.1.1 Endpoint’s Configuration Options
To ensure that your camera and sound system is configured correctly you should first run some of the ‘Endpoint’s Configuration Options’. Select [Tools] [Configuration] [Endpoint Configuration…] to open the ‘Endpoint’s Configuration Options’ screen.
3.1.1.1 Audio Configuration
Click button to start the setup of your audio system. Please select your microphone device from the pop-up menu, then click [Start tuning] button to run microphone adjustment test.
Please speak to your microphone constantly and adjust the microphone level slider until the microphone volume level reaches level 1 to 2. Then click [Next] to continue the Audio Configuration Wizard. Please select your speaker device from the pop-up menu, then click [Start tuning] button to run speaker adjustment test. Then, please adjust the speaker level to a comfortable level using the volume slider. Click [Finish] to end the Audio Configuration Wizard.
Figure 7 - Audio Output Test
You do not need to check the [Use Visual Nexus Echo Cancellation] checkbox if you are using a
headset or an echo cancelling enabled microphone / speaker system.
Web cameras provide varying levels of control. For the most part you will find that you obtain best results by leaving the web camera in automatic white balance mode. This will allow the camera to automatically adjust to your ambient lighting conditions to provide the best image. Click the Camera icon on the ‘Endpoint Configurations Option’ screen to display the ‘Camera Parameters’ screen.
Figure 8 – Camera Parameters
Access the web camera settings by selecting [Advanced…] and confirm that the White Balance mode is set to ‘Auto’.
If your picture has a black band around it, and you are outside of North America and Canada, you
may need to unselect NTSC Camera format.
If your picture appears to flicker then you can correct this by setting the ‘Anti’ Flicker option to ‘On’,
alternatively there may be an option for to select 50Hz for Europe or 60Hz for North America.
The Contact list that is displayed in the Meeting Manager shows which contacts are available to call and their current status (presence).
Figure 9 –Contact Presence
To call a contact from your Contact list:
• Double-click the Contact icon of the contact you wish to call or • Right-click on the Contact icon of the contact you wish to call, and select [Call this Contact]
from the menu.
Online Logged in and available to take calls
Busy Logged in but unavailable to take calls
Offline Not available for a call or contact not accepting calls
If your Administrator has configured the Visual Nexus Meeting Server with a Gateway to reach video
conferencing endpoints, then Contacts available via the Gateway will be shown in your Contact list
as Offline although they may be reachable.
3.2.2 Ending a Call
To end a call with a Contact:
• Click the Hangup icon on the Meeting Manager tool bar or • Right-click on the Call icon and select [Clear the Call]
3.3 Joining a Meeting Once you have successfully logged in to the Meeting Server you will see the Meetings that are available for you to join.
Figure 10 - Example Meetings
The Meetings that are available to you will be shown as an icon with associated text describing the meeting. The icons reflect the status of the Meetings.
Normal Always available meeting room
Normal and Occupied Meeting room is in use. The number of people in the room is shown as part of the text description of the Meeting.
Scheduled The Meeting room has been scheduled for Today or Daily, Weekly or Monthly access.
Scheduled and Occupied Meeting room is in use. The number of people in the room is shown as part of the text description of the Meeting.
3.3.1 Joining a Meeting
To join a meeting:
• Double-click the Meeting (Normal) icon of the Meeting you wish to join or • Right-click on the Meeting (Normal) icon of the Meeting you wish to join, and select [Enter
Meeting].from the menu.
If there are others already in the Meeting then the default Meeting icon will change to
for always available meetings and for scheduled meetings.
• Click the Hangup icon on the Meeting Manager tool bar or • Right-click on the Meeting icon and select [Exit the Meeting]
3.4 Designate an Address and Make a Call From the Meeting Manager, you can make a person-to-person call to another person using a Visual Nexus Endpoint, or to an H.323 video conferencing terminal, just like using a telephone.
3.4.1 Open the Call Screen
To open the Call screen:
• Click the button on the toolbar to open the Call screen. or • Select [Program] [Call…] to open the Call screen
Enter the address and call type for the person you are calling, and click the [Call] button to make the call. If the other party accepts the call, the conversation can begin.
To call a video conferencing system not connected to your Visual Nexus system you should select a
type of IP address and enter the IP address in the destination box.
Click the [Advanced] button if you wish to alter the ‘Bandwidth’, ‘Video Codec’ or ‘Audio Codec’ settings to be used for this call only.
4.1 Audio Controls It is possible to manually adjust the sensitivity of your microphone and the volume level of your speakers while you are in a call.
4.1.1 Microphone Adjustments
To mute the microphone, click the microphone button.
While muted, the microphone button display changes to and the microphone volume adjustment slider will not be displayed. Click the microphone button again to un-mute the microphone. To adjust the microphone sensitivity, move the microphone slider left to reduce the sensitivity and to the right to increase the sensitivity of the microphone.
4.1.2 Speaker Adjustments
To mute the speakers, click the speaker button.
While muted, the speaker button display changes to and the speaker volume slider will not be displayed. Click the speaker button again to un-mute the speakers. To adjust the speaker volume, move the speaker slider to the left to reduce the level and to the right to increase the level of the speakers.
The placement and size of video screens displayed on your screen can be changed from the default of ‘Normal’ placement, ‘Medium’ video size and ‘Right Top’ preview screen (your own video) by using the ‘Video Layout’ function.
• Select [View] [Video Layout…] to open the Video Layout screen. Figure 14 shows the default Video Layout used when there are three active video channels being received from the Visual Nexus Meeting Server. The video layout shown in the screen indicates the received video channels from 1 to 3 and the preview screen P. In a live meeting this would be shown as the example given in Figure 11.
Meetings on the Visual Nexus Meeting Server can be configured to provide up to eight live video
channels to each endpoint if desired. In a call, the number of channels shown in the Video Layout
screen will be restricted to the number of channels configured for the meeting.
Figure 14 - Video Layout
Altering the ‘Placement’, ‘Video Size’, ‘Preview’ or ‘Number of’ video channels will cause the Video Layout screen to update showing the layout following your selections. Click [Set] followed by [Close] to confirm your selection or [Close] to discard the changes. Clicking [Reset] will return the settings to their defaults.
You can have more participants in a Meeting than there are video channels. The Visual Nexus
Meeting Server can automatically switch the video channels between the participants depending
upon rules setup in the Meeting reservation.
4.2.2 Full-Screen Video
To view the meeting in full screen mode on your computer:
• Select [View] [Full Screen Video] to use the full screen of your computer for the video image.
• To exit full screen mode, use your mouse to click on the video screen (you will not see a cursor displayed) and then press the [ESC] key on your keyboard.
When joining a meeting room, you can configure your Visual Nexus endpoint to automatically display
Full-Screen Video. Check the box [Full Screen Video when enter the meeting room] from
[View] [Display Settings] [Communication] tab.
4.3 PowerPoint Sharing PowerPoint Sharing is a powerful Visual Nexus tool that can be used during a single or multi person meeting. The PowerPoint Sharing function will allow you to interactively share the PowerPoint document on your PC with other meeting participants.
To view the PowerPoint presentation all users must have PowerPoint these applications installed on
their computer.
4.3.1 Start PowerPoint Sharing
Activate the ‘Share Document’ Toolbar:
• Click the icon on the toolbar to open the ‘Share Document’ tool bar or • Select [Actions] [PowerPoint Sharing…] to open the ‘Share Document’ tool bar
You now need to locate the document you wish to share:
• Click the ‘Select Document’ icon to display the ‘Select Document’ screen.
In the ‘Document’ field you can choose to set the Document ‘Send Method’ as ‘Send and Open document’ to send the document to all participants and immediately open the sent document or as ‘Send Only’ so that the document is distributed to all participants ready for opening at a later time. The default ‘Send Method’ is ‘Send and Open’. Click the Browse […] button on the screen and browse for the PowerPoint document that you wish to share, and click [Open]. Now click [Send] on the ‘Share Document’ screen to send to all participants and open the file for viewing. If a document has already been sent, then the document will be displayed in the list of sent documents in the ‘Select Document’ screen list (Figure 15 shows that a Visual Nexus PowerPoint presentation has previously been sent). Double click on a previously sent document to begin sharing it with all participants.
When joining a meeting room, you may Send (Register) documents you wish to share before other
participants join the meeting. The documents are stored by the Meeting Server and download to
each participant as they join the meeting – See Figure 16 - Registering Documents
Once you have sent and opened a document, the ‘Share Document’ tool bar updates to provide you with a comprehensive suite of presentation tools to manage your shared document.
Share Document Tools
Select a document to share
Close the shared document
Change the document view size
Stop / Start synchronisation of the document
Chairman can Allow / Prevent control of shared document (Moderated Meeting only)
Slide effects are maintained and slide transitions are quick as the PowerPoint presentation is being
run on each participants own copy of PowerPoint and only minimal data is being transferred.
4.4 Application Sharing You can use Application sharing while in a person-to-person call or in a virtual Meeting room. In addition to sharing application you can also use this feature to share files.
4.4.1 Using the Application Sharing Function
Application Sharing can be started when making a person-to-person call or while in a Virtual Meeting room that has Application Sharing enabled. To start Application Sharing:
• Select [Actions] [Application Sharing] to open the Application Sharing controls dialog or
• Click [Application Sharing] button on the toolbar to open the Application Sharing controls dialog
The Application Sharing tool bar as shown in Figure 18
Figure 18 – Application Sharing tool bar
Application Sharing Tools
Select the application
Exit Application Sharing
Allow remote user to control your application
Request control of a remote application
Redraw screen
Change display mode
Configuration
Click [Select the application] on Application Sharing tool bar to open [Select Application] dialog.
Select the application you wish to share from the list, and click the [Share] button. Please not that you need to run the application before you share it. The shared application is visible on the screens of all the Meeting participants who will be able to see all activity in the application.
Figure 19 – Application Sharing of Excel The shared application can be displayed in two modes on the remote PC’s screen, window mode and full screen mode. In window mode the application is displayed in a window that identifies the owner of the application.
The remote user can move and resize the window on their desktop. In full screen mode the application appears as if it is running on the desktop of the remote user’s PC and may only be moved by the person sharing the application. The shared application will be displayed in window mode by default. You can change the display mode using the [Display mode] button.
4.4.1.1 Requesting Control
A Meeting participant can request control of the shared application by: • Selecting [Control] [Request] from the ‘Shared Application control panel. or • Click [Request Control] button on the toolbar to request control of the application
The person sharing the application will see a ‘Request’ screen from which they may answer either [Yes] or [No] to the request.
Figure 20 - Request Control Granting permission allows the requesting party control privileges over the application. The member who has been granted control privileges will be able to control the application as if it were running on their own PC. Application owner can also grant permission to other users by clicking [Allow Control] button.
4.4.1.2 Regaining Control
When you have shared an application, you can immediately regain control at any time by clicking [Allow Control] button on the toolbar.
4.4.1.3 Stop Sharing
To stop application sharing, • Select the currently shared application from the [Select Application] dialog and click the [Unshare]
button.
The Application Sharing bandwidth is in addition to the bandwidth used by the Video and the Audio
transmission. If the screen refresh display of applications being shared is slow, there is a possibility
to improve performance by increasing the bandwidth available to Application Sharing.
Please discuss with your Administrator about this option.
4.4.2 Using the File Transfer Function
While Application Sharing mode is active you can transfer files among meeting participants. Open Windows explorer and highlight the file that you want to share.
• Right click the mouse on the file that you wish to transfer • Select [Visual Nexus] [Share Files]. The file is copied to a temporary store on the server.
Everyone in the meeting is then able to fetch the file and store it on their computer. • Open Windows explorer and open the directory where you want to save the file • Right click in the window and click on [Visual Nexus] [Fetch Files]. The file is copied into the
directory.
To cancel file sharing
Click the right button of the mouse on the transmitted file
4.5 Play Media Files The Meeting Manger can be used to play media files stored on your PC so that they can be viewed by other Meeting participants. To play a media file:
• Click [Actions] [Play Media…] to open the ‘Media Streaming’ screen
Figure 21 - Play Media
Media Tools
Browse and add a media file to the ‘Play list’
Select a media file from the ‘Play list’ and click to remove
4.6 Share Content The Meeting Manager allows you to share a local application running on your computer as a video window on the video client of remote participants through the use of “Share Content”. Because this is a standards based facility, it will allow you to share content with other Visual Nexus users as well as any third-party Video conferencing system that supports the H.239 Standard.
4.6.1 Enable Share Content
Share Content is disabled by default. To enable Share Content:
To use Share Content in a Meeting the Administrator must configure the Meeting with Share Content
enabled prior to the start of the meeting.
4.6.2 Selecting Content
To start Share Content in a call: • Click the Select Share Content icon from the Toolbar. or • Select [Actions] [Select Share Content].
The Share Content tool bar will appear on your desktop. It will also change the video window so that you can place the content under the Share Content tool bar.
The Meeting Manager displays a task tray icon which provides the User with a number of ‘short cut’ operations to some of the most frequently used functions of the Meeting Manager. The ‘short cut’ operations presented to the User change depending on the current status of the Meeting Manager.
Meeting Manager Task Tray Icon Status
Offline Not logged in
Online Logged in
Busy In a Call
Missed You have missed an incoming call
5.1 Offline Operations
5.1.1 Cursor Over Icon
Displays the application name associated to the task icon; Visual Nexus Meeting Manager.
5.1.2 Left Click Icon
Video Layout
Operation: Displays the ‘Video Layout’ screen. Enabled: Always.
Full Screen Video
Operation: Displays ‘Full Screen’ video. Enabled: When in a call.
Video Window
Operation: When ‘ticked’ displays the video window.
Operation: Displays the ‘Activity Log’ screen. Enabled: Always.
Exit
Operation: Closes the Meeting Manager. Prompts you to ‘hangup’ if there is an active call. Enabled: Always.
5.1.3 Right Click Icon
Profile
Operation: User can browse and select the Profile to use for logging in. See Section 2.3 Enabled: When there is no default profile or when the User logs out from the Meeting Server.
5.2 Online Operations
5.2.1 Cursor Over Icon
Displays the name of the ‘Profile’ the User is logged in to the Meeting Server with, the Meeting Server IP address and the Users account login name.
5.2.2 Left Click Icon
Video Layout
Operation: Displays the ‘Video Layout’ screen. Enabled: Always.
Operation: Allows a User to show a local application as a video window to a remote participant. Enabled: When Endpoint is set to ‘Enable Share Content’ and in ‘Share’ enabled meetings.
Application Sharing
Operation: See Section 4.4.1 Enabled: Always.
Help
Operation: Activates the Meeting Manager Help screen. Enabled: Always.
5.4 Missed Call Operations
5.4.1 Cursor Over Icon
Displays the last missed call. The User should check the ‘Call History’ screen for a complete list.
5.4.2 Left Click Icon
Call History
Operation: Displays the ‘Call History’ screen. Double click the missed entry to return the call. Enabled: Always.
Video Layout
Operation: Displays the ‘Video Layout’ screen. Enabled: Always.
Full Screen Video
Operation: Displays ‘Full Screen’ video. Enabled: In an active video Call.
Video Window
Operation: When ‘ticked’ displays the video window. Enabled: Always.
Activity Log Window
Operation: Displays the ‘Activity Log’ screen. Enabled: Always.
Meeting Server is the heart of Visual Nexus. It manages your virtual meetings and collaboration sessions. It enables you to reserve meeting rooms and to send email invitations for your meetings to other participants. During your conferences, it controls the flow of audio, video, and documents between participants. Visual Nexus supports a variety of meetings types such as chairman-controlled and open forum.
6.1 Reserving a Meeting As with any meeting, before you invite attendees you need to reserve a meeting room. With the Visual Nexus Meeting server this is easily accomplished by accessing the ‘Visual Nexus Online’ web portal of the on the meeting server.
6.1.1 Accessing Visual Nexus Online
To access the ‘Visual Nexus Online’ web portal on the Meeting Server,:
• Select [Tools] [VnOnline…] to open welcome and login web page of ‘Visual Nexus Online’
Figure 23 – User Login
Enter your User name and Password, supplied by your Administrator, and then click the [Login] button to login to Visual Nexus Online. You will be directed to your personal page on ‘Visual Nexus Online’.
To reserve a Meeting you need to enter the ‘Reservation’ screen.
• Select the [Reservation] tab in the title bar to enter the ‘Reservation’ screen or • Select the [Reservation] hyperlink in the main body of the page to enter the ‘Reservation’ screen
The reservation of a Meeting is accomplished through the use of ‘Templates’. Your Administrator has prepared Templates that best address the communication needs of your business. The ‘Templates’ will be displayed under the ‘Template Name’ column. When you hover over the Template name it will give you details of the meeting room. Once you have decided which Template best suits your Meeting needs, click the ‘New Reservation’ icon for the date you wish to make a Meeting Reservation.
The schedule list shows dates for one week, including the current day. If you wish to select a date
not displayed, click the icon at the top of the schedule to move to that date.
On the Reservation screen enter a name for your meeting in ‘Meeting Name’, a ‘Start’ and ‘End’ times and select the Meeting participants you wish to attend the meeting and then click [Add].
You can select [Auto Invite] to set automatic calls from the meeting server. The meeting server will
call in all the Users to the meeting at the time you reserved the meeting. You can also have an
option to call users into the meeting a few minutes before the scheduled start time.
If your Administrator has enabled Email notification then you will be able to email notification for the reserved Meeting. To do this, edit the ‘Subject’ text (default text is ‘subject_text’) and the ‘Mail Text’ to provide a more descriptive reason for the meeting and then click [Send Mail] to send the mail to the meeting participants.
You can change or cancel a Meeting reservation from the ‘Reservation’ screen:
• Select the [Reservation] tab in the title bar to enter the ‘Reservation’ screen or • Select the [Reservation] hyperlink in the main body of the page to enter the ‘Reservation’ screen
Browse for the meeting reservation you have made and select it to change the details or cancel the meeting reservation. You will be prompted to send Email notifications to the meeting participants to advise them of the change to the meeting if your Administrator has enabled this function.
The Auto Update feature of the Meeting Manager permits the Meeting Server Administrator to place appropriate Meeting Manager updates on the update section of the Meeting Server. These can be automatically downloaded to a User’s computer and the end point software automatically updated. The settings for this feature are in a special Update Service Settings Tool.
7.1 Update Service Settings Tool To run the Update Service Settings Tool:
You can change the ‘Update schedule’ settings to best suit your needs. You can schedule an update for a specific date and time or select the “Confirm update immediately” to check for and download any available updates.
You can manually check for updates by clicking [ Confirm update immediately ]
You can confirm if any updates are ready to be installed by using the Meeting Manager. Logout out
from the Meeting Server and then select [Tools] [Updates] to check for updates.
7.2 Installing Updates The Visual Nexus Update Service will automatically download any available updates and then display the message shown in Figure 28 when you launch the Meeting Manager:
Figure 28
Click [Yes], to start the installation of the update. Do not start the Meeting Manager until the installation of the update has been confirmed with the message shown in Figure 29.
Visual Nexus is a suite of products that both improves the speed and decreases the costs of business communications by connecting distant locations in real-time via high quality audio, video and data. Visual Nexus is developed by Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Visual Nexus Online
Visual Nexus Online is a web portal provided by the Visual Nexus Meeting Server. A non-registered User may download the Visual Nexus Endpoint client for installation on to a PC. A registered User may access the portal to make meeting reservations and manage their account settings.
Visual Nexus Meeting Server
The Visual Nexus Meeting Server provides a video / audio / data Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) with a built-in Gate Keeper, Presence Server and Web portal administration capability.
Visual Nexus Client Endpoint
The Visual Nexus Client Endpoint is a Windows® desktop client application providing business quality video and audio communication plus a full set of data sharing and application collaboration tools.
Visual Nexus Secure Transport
The Visual Nexus Secure Transport enables video and audio calls and collaborative conferences across network boundaries.
Visual Nexus SIP Option
The Visual Nexus SIP option is a gateway between H.323 video systems and SIP systems. It enables SIP clients to join meetings on Visual Nexus meeting servers. You can also make calls from Visual Nexus endpoints to SIP clients.
8.2 Visual Nexus Roles
User
A User is defined as a participant in either a person-to-person call or is a participant in a virtual meeting that has no specific control over the meeting.
Chairman
Moderated meetings may be assigned a Chairman to control the meeting. The assigning of a Chairman may be performed by your Administrator or buy a User when using a Meeting Template that has been created for Moderated meetings. The Chairman may control audio and video selection as well as data functions during the Meeting. The Meeting may be configured as ‘Open Forum’ – everyone may speak; Side Meeting – Chairman has a Private conversation with a participant or ‘Presenting’ – participants have to makes requests to the Chairman for permission to speak.
A User that can perform Visual Nexus system administration. An Administrator account is created by default when the Visual Nexus system is installed. The Administrator account may be replaced with one or more alternative Users who has been granted Administrator privileges. There must be at least one User with administrator privileges on a Visual Nexus system..
Organization Administrator
A User that can perform administration tasks in an virtual organization on a multi-tenanted Visual Nexus system. An Organization Administrator account should be created when a virtual organization is set up on Visual Nexus. The Organization Administrator may set up, modify or delete user accounts in the organization.
8.3 Meeting
Meeting
A meeting is held in a virtual room for audio, video and data communications. Meeting rooms and meeting room templates are created, edited or deleted by the System administrators. There are two types of Meetings, depending on the audio and video control methods employed for the desired communication style: �Normal Type �Controlled Type
CPn
A special kind of virtual meeting room where multiple video images are displayed in a single video window. Visual Nexus supports from 4 to 16 different video tiles in a CPn meeting.
Multi Window
A virtual meeting room where multiple video streams are displayed on the participant’s computer. Visual Nexus supports from 1 to 8 different video images in a meeting.
Normal Meeting
All Meeting participants have a equal status in the meeting. Each participant can speak and share data. Visual Nexus controls all audio and video broadcasts based on the attributes designated for the Meeting.
Controlled Meeting
The audio and video seen and heard is controlled by the User(s). This type of meeting includes Presentation Meetings.
Presentation Meeting
A Meeting, managed by a Meeting Moderator, who controls all audio and video broadcasts.
Presentation Mode
The period, during a Presentation Meeting, during which the Moderator makes a one-way presentation to other meeting participants. In this mode, general Users may request permission to speak; however, they will not be able to speak until permission has been granted by the Moderator.
Open mode is the period during a Presentation Meeting during which the Moderator has granted a general user permission to address the other meeting participants. The meeting mode transitions as soon as permission to speak has been granted. In this state the User who has been granted permission to speak can talk to all Meeting participants in a similar fashion as the Meeting Moderator. The Moderator can continue the Meeting in this state, or switch to any other mode he/she desires. Users may request permission to speak at any time; however, they will not be able to speak until permission has been granted by the Moderator.
Private Mode
Private mode is the time during a Presentation Meeting in which a general User has been granted permission to speak to the Moderator. The mode transitions as soon as the permission has granted. While in this mode, only the general User and the Moderator may converse with each other. The audio of other general Users will be muted. The Moderator can continue the Meeting in this status, or switch to any other mode he/she desires. General Users may request permission to speak; however, they will not be able to speak until permission has been granted by the Moderator.
8.4 Standards
E.164
An ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union) E series recommendation, representing a numbering plan for international electronic communications. An E.164 number uniquely identifies a public network termination point and typically consists of three fields, CC (country code), NDC (national destination code), and SN (subscriber number), up to 15 digits in total. This can be thought of as your Service number.
H.323
An ITU-T "umbrella" of standards for Packet-based multimedia communications systems. This standard defines the different multimedia entities that make up a multimedia system - Endpoints, Gateways, Multipoint Conferencing Units (MCUs), and Gatekeepers -- and their interaction over an IP-based network.
H.323 Alias
An identifier (name) for a terminal, User or Meeting using H.323 protocol. When conducting video streaming using H.323 protocol, the values identifying terminals, users or Meetings are assigned; however, these values are extremely difficult to comprehend. Therefore, a separate name (alias) represented by a character string is also assigned. This can be thought of as your Service name.
ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector)
A sub-organization of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), serving as the standardization sector for electronic communications. The development body for international standards related to telecommunications.
H.239
H.239 is an ITU-T recommendation from the H.32x Multimedia Communications' macro family of standards for multimedia communications over various networks. You can have the ability to send a computer or video presentation along with a video conference session with H.239.
