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Thinsy Virtual Conference Participant 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 features of the conference include:
- SIP audio bridge for audio conferencing
- Shared Desktop to view and access during conference
- A moderator video and up to 4 participant’s video can be displayed.
- Integrated Chatting functionality
- Recording of conference and playback
- Participants can come from both internally and externally.
- Email based invitations for participants.
The server includes the following architecture:
- Students need no client software install – any flash enabled browser works as the client
- Shared desktop encoded in h264 produces razor sharp desktop even at a low 256Kbps bandwidth
- Moderator video can also be encoded using h264 to reduce bandwidth requirements
- Raise hand function allows moderator to fully control the class
- Recording of classroom is easy and seamless
- Edge Origin design of virtual classroom allows for extremely high scaling
- Inbuilt microphone and chat functionality allow students to participate actively in class.
- Works over port 1935(non SSL) and 443(SSL).
Thinsy Virtual Classroom has a rich feature set for a participant, including the following:
- A participant can login to an existing conference and can listen to and speak in the audio conference. In the class mode, the participant cannot speak in the audio conference unless permitted by the moderator. In this case, the participant can raise a hand indicating he/she wishes to speak.
- A participant can login and view a desktop or a thinsy board published by the moderator.
- A participant can chat with other participants in the conference.
- A participant can view the moderator video and also publish his/her own video if a slot is available.
- A participant promoted as a presenter can use a desktop VM from a cloud, or desktop internal to VC or share his/her own desktop during the conference. The presenter will have the privilege of the mouse and keyboard access to shared desktops until the moderator revokes this privilege.
- A participant promoted as presenter can upload files to shared desktop VM.
- A participant promoted as presenter can display thinsy board in the larger window.
System Requirements
Operating Systems Supported
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Linux
Minimum Hardware Requirements
- Any two core or more system with at least 2GHz processing power
- Microphone, Speaker/Headset,
- Webcam (If needed to send video)
Software Requirements
Supported Browser with flash player enabled
- Firefox 3.x and above
- Internet Explorer 6 and above
- Chrome 9.0
- Flash player 10.0.45 and above
Bandwidth Requirements
The participant needs the following bandwidth requirements for successfully running a conference.
Download bandwidth:
Audio: 32Kbps
Participant Video: 150Kbps (per participant video)
Desktop shared from cloud/shared by others: 256Kbps
Upload bandwidth:
Audio: 32Kbps
Moderator Video: 150Kbps (If the participant is sharing their video)
Sharing own Desktop: 512Kbps (If the participant is sharing their desktop or board as a presenter).
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 conference Moderator, possibly in the Invitation Email. A login screen with the following dialog appears:
The dialog prompts you with the question “Are you the moderator”. Since you are a participant, and not the moderator, please click the “No” 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 ‘conference participant passcode’ is the numeric passcode supplied to you by the Moderator in the Conference invitation.
NOTE THAT IF YOU LOGGED IN THROUGH EMAIL INVITATION, SOME OF THESE INFORMATION ARE AUTOMATICALLY FILLED AND YOU NEED NOT FILL THEM AGAIN.
If the moderator has not started the conference yet, you may get a note saying that ‘Waiting for moderator to start conference’.
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.
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Bandwidth Status:
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.
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Leave Conference Button:
This will log you out of the conference.
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Mute Button:
As soon as you sign into the Thinsy Virtual Conference, you are also a participant in the Audio Conference Bridge. Pressing this 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.
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Hand Raising Button:
This button is available only if the class mode is enabled in Conference Server. Pressing this button will allow the user to indicate to the moderator that the user wishes to speak.
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Thinsy Player:
Pressing the Thinsy Player button takes you to the Player application. Pre-recorded Conferences can be viewed using the Player.
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Bandwidth Meter:
Pressing the bandwidth meter will start a bandwidth check and will display the available upload and download bandwidth and latency between client and server.
Conference Functions
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Leave Conference:
This will log you out of the conference.
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Send Webcam Video:
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.
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Color Chooser:
This menu will display a color palette from which you can choose the color for highlighting your chat messages.
View/Hide Windows
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Presenter:
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.
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Participants:
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.
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Chat:
The chat function of Virtual Conference allows participants to exchange brief text messages. This menu brings up the chat function.
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Participant List:
Pressing this menu brings up an overlaid window with the list of participants.
Desktop Functions
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Upload File:
Using this menu any participant may upload files that will end up in the desktop of the remote PC.
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View/Hide 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.
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Download ThinsyAirApp:
This menu allows you to install the component needed for the participant to share their own desktop or a large video screen. Note that the participant needs Administrator privileges in their desktop to install this component. Note that you need this component only if you are promoted to a presenter in the meeting.
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Conference Name/Call in number:
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.
When a moderator promotes you to a presenter, few more menu options are made available to you. These include:
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Conference Functions
Send Webcam Video 2:
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.
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Desktop Functions
Share My own Desktop:
You may share your own desktop instead of using a cloud desktop for a conference. To share one’s own desktop, you need to install a component called Thinsy Air Application using the menu Download ThinsyAirApp before sharing the desktop.
Conference Screen Layout
The conference screen has the following areas for conference functions:
- Desktop/Thinsy Board Screen is the largest area screen used to display desktop. Instead of a desktop, the user may choose to show video from a camera at higher resolutions. By default, the camera is shown at 600×400 and the video at 1024/768 resolutions.
- Presenter video is a 320/200 pixel window where either the moderator’s video or presenter’s video will be shown.
- Participant video is a 320×200 pixel window where up to 4 videos of participants will be shown.
- Participant List displays the current list of participants in the conference.
- Chat area allows users to view the chat and participate in the chat.
- The presenter video, participant video, participant list and chat area can be closed if needed. When you close participant video, the participant videos will not be streamed to you.
Features available to Participants
Muting/Unmuting Audio
As soon you have logged into the conference successfully, , you are a participant in the Audio
Conference Bridge. While you can hear others speak, 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.
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Viewing Shared Desktop
A Shared Desktop can be an external desktop setup on the cloud/network. B 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 or press ‘Hide Screen’ when you
are done.
Participant Video
The participant may choose to send the participant video by clicking on the ‘Send Webcam Video’ from ‘Conference Functions’ menu. The moderator video sent will be seen by all participants in the participant window, unless you have been designated as a presenter, in which case, the video will be part of the moderator video.
To stop publishing your video, click on ‘Stop Webcam Video’ from ‘Conference Functions’.
NOTE THAT CLOSING THE PARTICIPANT WINDOW, DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOUR VIDEO IS NOT BEING PUBLISHED. YOU WILL NEED TO STOP WEBCAM VIDEO FOR ENDING YOUR VIDEO PUBLISHING.
Chat
The participant 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.
Hand Raise
This button is available only when the Virtual Conference Server runs in Class Mode. In this mode, you will not be able to unmute your microphone or chat unless the moderator allows you the privilege. To indicate to the moderator, you can press the ‘Hand Raise’ button on the convenience buttons. Once the indication has been sent, the button will be changed as follows indicating you have raised your hand.
When the moderator allows you to speak, a popup will be displayed and you will be able to click on the unmute button.
Uploading files to Desktop
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.
Recorded Sessions
You 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 participant 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.
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View Recorded Session
Double 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.
Leaving a conference
To leave the conference, click on ‘LeaveConference’ button. You will be logged out of the conference.
Features available to Presenter
These features are available to you only when the moderator promotes you as a presenter.
Desktop Control
As a presenter, you will be able to have the control of the mouse and keyboard over the shared desktop.
Sharing your desktop
You (the presenter) 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 participiants…’ will appear.
At this time, you can minimize the Thinsy Virtual Conference Screen and share any other screen for the conference.
To stop sharing the desktop at any time, click on ‘Stop Sharing my desktop’ from the Desktop Functions menu.
Installing Thinsy Air Application
ThinsyAirApp is a component that needs to be installed in your 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
http://www.microsoft.com/net/ for installing .NET framework.
2. Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package from the URL
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9b2da534-3e03-4391-8a4d-074b9f2bc1bf&displaylang=en
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.
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