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Thinsy Virtual Conference Moderator User Guide Software Version 2.6.4, Document Version 1.5 © Thinsy Corporation Introduction Thinsy Virtual Conference offers video conferencing, audio conferencing and desktop sharing over a network connection of 512Kbps or more.
The server includes the following architecture:
Thinsy Virtual Classroom has a rich feature set for a moderator, including the following:
System Requirements Operating Systems Supported Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Linux Minimum Hardware Requirements
Software Requirements Supported Browser with flash player enabled
Bandwidth Requirements The moderator needs the following bandwidth requirements for successfully running a conference. Download bandwidth: Audio: 32Kbps Upload bandwidth: Audio: 32Kbps Accessing Virtual Conference Server Virtual Conference Login You can participate in the Thinsy Virtual Conference using any Web Browser with Adobe Flash 10.0.45.1 or later. Browse to the Conference URL provided by the Thinsy Virtual Conference Administrator. A login screen with the following dialog appears:
The dialog prompts you with the question “Are you the moderator”. Since you are the Moderator, please click the “Yes” button. You also have the option of choosing an alternate language at this time The next dialog that pops up looks similar to the one below:
Please enter your name, as you want it displayed to other participants in the Conference. The ‘moderator password’ is the alpha-numeric password supplied to you by the Administrator Conference Screen. NOTE THAT IF YOU ACCESSED THE VIRTUAL CONFERENCE SERVER FROM EITHER INTERNAL SCHEDULER OR EXTERNAL SCHEDULER, SOME OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE AUTOMATICALLY FILLED. Conference Main Page Once logged in successfully, the following main page is displayed.
The Virtual Conference main page is laid out with an Application Control Bar on top, and the remote desktop below. Conference Menus and their functions Here’s a guide to the buttons and functionality available in the Application Control Bar.
This is not a button but a status of the available bandwidth between client and server. Less bandwidth will affect the quality of your conference participation. Pressing this button allows other participants to join the conference. Note that the moderator and all participants are also signed into the Audio Conference Bridge at this time. When this button is press, you are asked for the conference name and a passcode which will be the password for all the participants to join the conference. Pressing this button when the conference is progressing, will end the conference and log out all the participants. Pressing this button, will allow you to mute or unmute your audio. Pressing this button will allow you to switch between a Thinsy Board video camera and desktop for the large screen during the conference. Pressing the record button causes the following streams to be recorded: Pressing the Thinsy Player button takes you to the Player application. Pre-recorded Conferences can be viewed using the Player. Pressing the bandwidth meter will start a bandwid Conference Functions This will end the conference and log all participants out of the conference. You (the moderator) may invite participants to the conference by sending them email. Pressing this menu enables you to send video from a webcam attached to your computer. Note that when this button is pressed, you will be offered a choice of Video devices attached to the computer. Once you choose your webcam, the Adobe Flash security prompt will ask you to allow access to the Camera. Confirm by pressing the “Allow” button in that dialog. Once web cam video is published, you can stop the webcam video at any time by selecting the menu Stop Webcam Video. Note that unless you stop the web cam video, the video will continue to be published even if you hide your window. Pressing this menu enables you to send board video from a webcam attached to your computer. Note that when this button is pressed, you will be offered a choice of Video devices attached to the computer. Once you choose your webcam, the Adobe Flash security prompt will ask you to allow access to the Camera. Once the camera is published you can find the video in full window instead of shared desktop. Pressing this menu will disable audio for all participants and will allow only audio from moderator alone. The users can unmute explicitly to join in the conversation.
View/Hide Windows Pressing this menu brings up the Presenter Video Window. If the presenter video is not being published, a black video window appears. Note that when the presenter first starts sending Video, this window will pop up briefly, and then fade away. Pressing this menu brings up an overlaid window with participant video in it. Video from as many as four participants may be displayed in this window. The chat function of Virtual Conference allows participants to exchange brief text messages. This menu brings up the chat function. Pressing this menu brings up an overlaid window with the list of participants. Using this menu any participant may upload files that will end up in the desktop of the remote PC. The moderator may share their own desktop instead of using a cloud desktop for a conference. To share one’s own desktop, the moderator needs to install a component called Thinsy Air Application using the menu Download ThinsyAirApp before sharing their screen. This menu controls whether the video in the central screen (either from the desktop or board) is visible or not. When desktop/board video is visible, pressing Hide Screen menu will hide the video. When desktop/board video is invisible, pressing View Screen menu will show the video. This helps the user to control the data being viewed by themselves especially when there is inadequate bandwidth. This menu controls whether desktop is visible to other users. When moderator presses Lock Screen, the Screen is visible only to the moderator. When the moderator presses Unlock Screen, the Screen is invisible to all. Finally, the application control bar displays the name of the conference, and the options telephone call in number. If the telephone call in number is present, participants can call in using a regular telephone to participate in the Audio Conference Bridge. Conference Screen Layout
The conference screen has the following areas for conference functions: Starting and running a conference
Preparations for conference NOTE THAT ALL THESE FUNCTIONS CAN BE DONE ONCE THE CONFERENCE IS STARTED AND IS PROCEEDING AS WELL.
A Shared Desktop can be an external desktop setup on the cloud/network. By setting the shared desktop co located with the conference server in the same cloud/network, access to desktop can be quite fast even if the moderator is accessing the server remotely. Alternatively an internal desktop may be configured with in the conference server for desktop access. By default, Thinsy Virtual Conference Server is configured with an internal desktop. The type of desktop to be used can be configured by the Administrator using the console of the Conference Server. By default, the desktop will not be displayed. You can view the desktop by clicking on the ‘View Screen’ sub menu from ‘Desktop Functions’ menu. If you do not need desktop for the conference, it is suggested that, you do not press ‘View Screen’ to save bandwidth.
You (the moderator) may share your own desktop using the menu option ‘Share my own Desktop’. For sharing the desktop, an AIR component needs to be installed in the client desktop. Refer to next section for more details on the AIR component and installing component. NOTE THAT SHARED DESKTOP FEATURE IS AVAILABLE CURRENTLY ONLY FOR WINDOWS CLIENTS. ALSO SHARED DESKTOP FEATURE IS SUPPORTED ONLY OVER PORT 1935 AND 443(SSL) AND IS NOT SUPPORTED OVER PORT 80. Once the ThinsyAirApp is installed, you can select Share My Own Desktop menu from Desktop functions to start sharing the desktop. This will start a VNC session and a Thinsy Component which will convert the VNC data to a Flash supported format and will share the desktop. When these components are started successfully, the following screen with a message ‘You are currently sharing your own desktop with all participants…’ will appear.
At this time, you can minimize the Thinsy Virtual Conference Screen and share any other screen for the conference. ThinsyAirApp is a component that needs to be installed in the moderator’s desktop when you want to share your own desktop during the conference in Thinsy Virtual Conference Server. ThinsyAirApp is an AIR component based on Adobe AIR technology and will install Adobe AIR package (if not already installed), VNC server for sharing the desktop and a Thinsy component which will convert VNC data to H264 based RTMP format. ThinsyAirApp is supported over Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. ThinsyAirApp installs two packages as part of the installation. 1. An installer package known as ThinsyAirApp Installer 2. ThinsyAirApp which contains the components for sharing the desktop. NOTE THAT FOR WINDOWS XP USERS, THERE ARE ADDITIONAL DEPENDENCIES MUST BE INSTALLED AS FOLLOWS: 1. Install Microsoft .Net framework 4. Refer to the following URL 2. Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package from the URL To install the ThinsyAirApp component, click on ‘Download ThinsyAirApp’ from Desktop Functions as follows.
Add “Click on Save File to save the file. This process may be different for different browsers and it’s recommended that you follow the steps in your browser.
Once the file is saved, then you can click on the downloaded executable to install the application. If the browser prompts that the application is an executable, click on Yes to continue the installation.
The following installation screens will appear. Select the appropriate information and continue the installation.
Press “Continue” to install the Application Installer Package. Once the application installer is loaded into the desktop, the AIR application will be loaded along with the Adobe AIR package if not already deployed into your system. The following screen will be displayed to select the path for installing ThinsyAirApp. In the following screen, deselect the Installation Preferences – Add short cut icon to Desktop and Start application after installation.
When the application is installed, a progress bar will be displayed. Once the application is installed, successfully, you can click on ‘Share my own Desktop’ function from the ‘Desktop Functions’ menu. The moderator may choose to show a video of higher resolution in the conference – for example, a black board or a teacher in front of a black board instead of a Desktop for a class/conference. To send Thinsy Board Video, a Thinsy component called ‘ThinsyAirApp’ should be installed. Thinsy Air Application can be installed by clicking on the ‘Install ThinsyAirApp’ menu from Desktop Functions. To show the video, use the Send WebCam Video 2 menu from ‘Conference Functions’. This will display a list of available cameras connected to your system. Once you choose your webcam, the Adobe Flash security prompt will ask you to allow access to the Camera. Confirm by pressing the “Allow” button in that dialog. Once the webcam is published, the desktop screen will be removed and the Thinsy Board Screen will be published.
To stop publishing the Thinsy Board Video, you can click on ‘Stop Webcam Video 2′ from ‘Desktop Functions’ menu. The moderator may choose to send the moderator video by clicking on the ‘Send Webcam Video’ from ‘Conference Functions’ menu. The moderator video sent will be seen by all participants in the presenter window, unless you have designated a participant to a presenter, in which case, the video will be part of the participant video. To stop moderator video, click on ‘Stop Webcam Video’ from ‘Conference Functions’. NOTE THAT CLOSING THE PRESENTER WINDOW, DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOUR VIDEO IS NOT BEING PUBLISHED. YOU WILL NEED TO STOP WEBCAM VIDEO FOR ENDING YOUR VIDEO PUBLISHING. It may be necessary for you to upload a file to the desktop for sharing with other participants. To upload a file to desktop, click on ‘Upload file’ from ‘Desktop Functions’ menu this will display the following window.
Select the necessary file and upload progress window will be displayed. Once uploaded successfully, a status bar will be displayed and the uploaded file will be displayed in the Desktop screen.
Participants can be invited to a conference, by invoking the ‘Invite Participant’ menu from ‘Conference Functions’.
If the conference has not started, when inviting participants, a 5 digit passcode will be prompted which will be the password for participants to login to the meeting. If email to participants is being sent after conference is started, the passcode supplied when starting the conference will be used automatically. The email address of the participant and an optional message will also be prompted. Once these details are input, an email with the URL, passcode and the optional message will be sent to the participant. FOR EMAIL TO WORK SUCCESSFULLY, AN SMTP SERVER CONFIGURATION MUST BE SETUP FOR THINSY VIRTUAL CONFERENCE SERVER. REFER TO THINSY VIRTUAL CONFERENCE SERVER ADMINISTRATION GUIDE.
Starting a conference Once your preparations for the conference is done, you may start the conference by clicking on ‘Start Conference’ button at the convenience buttons at the top left or using the menu ‘Start Conference’ from ‘Conference Functions’ menu. In the ‘Start Conference’ window, a passcode will be prompted. This passcode is a 5 digit number which will be used by participants to login to this conference. Note that a passcode will not be prompted if
Also, the window will prompt for a conference name. As soon as the conference is started successfully, , you are also a participant in the Audio Conference Bridge. While you can hear the initial music, you need to unmute the microphone to speak. Pressing the Mute Button enables you to unmute yourself, and send audio. NOTE THAT THE FIRST TIME YOU UNMUTE YOURSELF; YOU WILL BE PROMPTED TO CHOOSE AN AUDIO INPUT DEVICE TO SEND TO THE CONFERENCE. You may also be prompted by the Adobe Flash Security dialog to allow access to the Microphone. Please press the “Allow” button, when prompted by the Adobe Flash Security prompt. During the conference, a green Microphone button indicates that you are sending Audio, and a red Microphone button indicates that you are muted.
During Conference YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ADD ALL THE FUNCTIONS PROVIDED IN ‘PREPARATIONS FOR CONFERENCE’ SECTION DURING THE CONFERENCE AS WELL. IN ADDITION, THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU. To record a session, click on the ‘Record’ button in the convenience button. To record a session, the conference must be started. When recording is on, the following streams will be recorded: IN THIS VERSION, ONLY RECORDING OF A SESSION WITH ONE OF THE DESKTOP IS SUPPORTED I.E, YOU MAY RECORD A SESSION WITH DESKTOP, MODERATOR DESKTOP OR THINSY BOARD. EVEN THOUGH, SWITCHING BETWEEN THESE IS ALLOWED DURING A LIVE CONFERENCE, PLAYBACK OF MULTIPLE STREAMS MAY NOT WORK AS RECORDED. IT IS ALSO RECOMMENDED THAT YOU SETUP THE CORRECT DESKTOP BEFORE STARTING RECORDING. Recording can be made in two modes: You may switch between desktop and your own desktop by clicking on ‘Share my own Desktop’ in the ‘Desktop Functions’ menu. Clicking on ‘Stop sharing my desktop’ will restore the shared desktop. At any time, if the moderator wishes to mute all the participants but themselves, the mute all but me button may be pressed. This will mute all the participants. Hand raise function is available when a conference is set in Class mode. To set the conference server in class mode, refer to Thinsy Virtual Conference Server Administration Guide.
Against each participant, a green button which when clicked will allow the participant to speak in the microphone. Clicking on the red button will stop the microphone for the participant. The moderator may chat with others using the chat text area and participate in the chat. Clicking on the ‘View Chat’ from the ‘View/Hide Windows will display the chat text area. If the chat text area is minimized, and any participant starts a chat, a chat text box with the message will appear briefly and disappear. The moderator may lock the desktop at any time by clicking on ‘Lock Screen’ from ‘Desktop Functions’ menu which will stop the desktop being displayed to the participants. Only the moderator may view the desktop. This may be useful when the moderator wishes to type a password or sensitive information. When the moderator clicks on ‘Unlock Screen’ which will restore the desktop display to all participants. Ending a conference To end a conference, click on ‘End Conference’ button or ‘End Conference’ menu from ‘Desktop
Recorded Sessions The moderator may view the recorded sessions by logging into the Thinsy Virtual Conference Server and clicking on the ‘Player’ button in the convenience functions. This will take the moderator to a play mode where the list of conferences will be displayed as follows.
The conference list will display the name of the conference, the date and time, duration of the conference, the size of the recording. From here, the user may view a recording, upload or delete a recording. Clicking on a specific recording name, will start the player for the recording. The user may stop, pause, seek or rewind the conference using the conference button.
Selecting a conference, the moderator may upload the recording. The recording along with a Thinsy Player will be uploaded. There are two upload options available: Uploading the recording to a webserver. This will upload the streams files (which include the desktop, Thinsy Board, moderator video and audio), a configuration file, the player swf file and a html file which can be used as a URL to access the player. The files are uploaded using FTP and ftp connectivity should be available between Thinsy VC server and the webserver.
Amazon Cloud front is the distribution channel for VOD content using Amazon CDN. Thinsy Virtual Conference Server allows the user to upload content to Amazon S3 and create a distribution point using Amazon Cloud Front. Refer to more information in Amazon AWS for creating and distributing video content. To upload the Thinsy recording to Amazon cloud front, you need to create a access key/secret key pair which will be used by Amazon to authenticate video being pushed by Thinsy Virtual Conference Server. Refer to Thinsy AWS Console to create the access key/secret key. To upload the content, select the recording and do a right click. This will bring the following menu from which select ‘Upload to Amazon S3′.
At the prompt box, input the access key and secret key.
Thinsy Virtual Conference server will upload the content to a directory which has the same name as the conference name into S3, and create a distribution under Amazon Cloud Front. When completed, a URL will be created for you and displayed. This URL will be the access point for viewing the recording using Amazon CDN. A recording may be deleted by selecting the recording and doing a right click and clicking on ‘Delete’ displayed menu.
A RECORDING ONCE DELETED CANNOT BE RETRIEVED. THE THINSY VIRTUAL CONFERENCE SERVER WILL PROMPT BEFORE DELETING THE RECORDING AS SHOWN BELOW.
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Thinsy Virtual Conference Moderator Guide
