Chapter 2

Conference Manager

Overview

The Conference Manager is your seat at Communique! conferences. From the Conference Manager you can conduct meetings as well as access Communique!’s suite of collaborative tools, called Plugins.

This chapter discusses:

The Conference Manager Interface

The Conference Manager interface can be thought of as five separate areas: the Menu Bar, Plugins, the Virtual Conference Room, the Speed Dial Bar, and the Status Bar.

Menu Bar

The Menu Bar provides access to menus used to control conference parameters. You use selections from these menus to start conferences, leave conferences, invite people to a conference, and adjust personal preferences.

Plugins

Provided with the Conference Manager are a number of tools that provide users with powerful multimedia capabilities that can be used while in conferences. These tools are represented by a row of small icons. Each icon represents a different Plugin.

Virtual Conference Room

Below the Plugins is the Virtual Conference Room that displays the members of the conference in progress. Each conference member’s Business Card Photo appears in this area when a conference is in session. You can double-click on a member’s photo to see that person’s complete Business Card.

Speed Dial Bar

The Speed Dial bar contains buttons that allow users to initiate conferences or invite new members in one easy step. As on a conventional telephone, Speed Dial buttons can be programmed, and they will automatically "dial" the selected party, which can either be an individual user or a group of users.

At the left end of the Speed Dial bar is a button with a pair of clasped hands on it. This button launches the Speed Dial editor, which allows you to create new Speed Dial buttons or edit existing buttons. If you have defined more Speed Dial buttons than will fit on the bar at one time, you can use the arrows at the right end of the Speed Dial bar to scroll through them.

Status Bar

The Status Bar provides information for the user about what is happening in the conference or hints on using menu items and tools. When you position the mouse pointer over a tool icon or menu item, a short note in the Status Bar identifies the item’s function. Your conference address appears on the right side of the Status Bar. This is the address other people should use to invite you to a conference.

Conference Management

To initiate a Communique! conference you must first select and invite conference members. Invited persons running Communique! receive a conference request from you. They can choose to accept or reject the invitation.

You can invite up to 23 other people into a conference with Communique!.

Selecting Other Users

Communique! provides users with several methods of selecting other users to conference with. Users are most basically identified by their user name and hostname, using the format user@host. However, using the Communique! Notebook Editor, users can be easily given nicknames or aliases to quickly and easily identify them when starting a conference. When you start a conference, or invite other users to an existing conference, you can use the following facilities to provide you with a list of users to conference with.

There is a Personal Notebook file that stores a list of everyone that you have conferenced with in the past. The Personal Notebook can also be edited using the Notebook Editor. Using the editor you can add users to your Notebook, create groups of users to make inviting several people at once easier, or remove users that you do not ordinarily conference with.

Also included with Communique! is a facility for a Corporate Notebook. This file is created by your system administrator, and is available for everyone in your organization to use. This file will generally contain user addresses of people in your organization, and common groups that will be included in conferences.

Finally, Communique! will scan your network and find other users running Communique! so that you can invite them into conferences. After the network scan is complete, a list of addresses of potential conference members will appear in the Addresses window.

Depending upon how your network is set up by your system administrator, you may not see every user available for conferencing with the network scan.

Communique! also provides you with the ability to enter a custom username and hostname and invite them into a conference. Sometimes this method is more expedient than searching through the various notebook files or performing a network scan.

Starting a Conference

1. Select Start from the Conference menu.

The Start Conference dialog will appear.

From this dialog you can select the other Communique! users that you want to invite into the conference. Individual users can be selected from your personal Notebook or from the Corporate Notebook. You can also invite conference members from a list of users generated by a network scan, or by entering the username and hostname of the person you wish to invite.

2. Select the Members that you wish to invite.

Choose the users that you wish to invite from the Address List, or enter their addresses manually. To select a user or group from the Address list, either highlight their entry in the list and click on the Add button, or double click on their name.

If you wish to remove a user or group from the list of people who will be invited to the conference, highlight their name in the Members box and click on the Remove button. If you change your mind about removing them, they can still be re-added to the Members list.

3. Once you have selected all of the users you wish to invite, click on the Invite button to start the conference.

When you have selected the groups and users that you want to invite, all of their names should appear in the Members box. Once you have verified that the Members list is correct, you should click on the Invite button.

After the Invite button is clicked, the Start Conference dialog will close and Communique! will issue invitations to all of the users that you invited. In the Virtual Conference room, your business card will appear, as will icons representing the other users you have invited. As users accept your invitation, their business card pictures will appear. If a user rejects your invitation, his icon will be removed from the Virtual Conference Room. Also, if any of the users that you invited are not running Communique! or cannot be reached, a message will appear notifying you.

If you invite a user who is already participating in another conference, they will be notified that you are attempting to invite them.

Adding Members to a Conference in Progress

Once a conference is in session any member can invite other members into the conference. You add members in much the same way that you would initiate a new conference.

1. Choose Add Members from the Conference menu.

The Add Members window appears.

The Add Members window looks and functions exactly like the Start Conference window, differing only in that you extend the membership of the current conference with Add Members rather than create a new conference.

2. Select the person or persons you wish to invite into the conference from your Personal Notebook, the Corporate Notebook or Network Address Lists.

3. If the people you wish to conference with are not present in your listings, use the Custom Address feature to invite them.

Speed Dial Buttons

Communique! also provides users with another method for starting conferences or adding members, Speed Dial. The Speed Dial bar enables you to invite other users by simply clicking on a Speed Dial button. The buttons are user configurable, and can include individual users or groups of users.

When you click on a Speed Dial button, invitations are automatically sent out to all of the users to which the button corresponds. If a conference is already in progress, the users will be invited to join the existing conference. If you are not a member of a conference, then a new conference will be initiated with the people that you invite.

To edit the Speed Dial buttons, you can either click on the Handshake button, or you can select Edit Notebook from the Options menu. When the Edit Notebook dialog appears, you should click on the Handshake button to edit your Speed Dial buttons.

Joining a Conference

To join a conference you must be invited by another user. Invitations appear on your computer’s desktop and feature the Business Card Photo of the person extending the invitation and a list of other members. You can accept or reject the invitation.

Accept—When you accept an invitation, your Business Card Photo appears in the Virtual Conference Room. As other members arrive, their Photos appear in the Virtual Conference Room as well.

Reject—You are removed from the Member List, and the person who invited you is informed that you have declined the invitation.

You may have Communique! automatically accept all conference invitations. This option is available from the Preferences menu.

Leaving a Conference

You may leave the conference at any time you choose.

1. Choose Leave from the Conference menu.

You are asked to confirm your decision to leave.

2. Click Yes.

Others in the conference are informed of your departure, and your Business Card Photo disappears from the Virtual Conference Room. The conference ends when only one person remains in the Virtual Conference Room.

Other Conference Behavior

If you are participating in a conference, and you are invited into another conference, you will be notified that someone attempted to invite you to conference with them.

Command Line Conferencing

Communique! provides users with another way to initiate conferences, Command Line Conferencing. By using Command Line Conferencing along with Autostart video (see Chapter 9, The TV Tool), Communique! provides users with a way to start conferences in one step.

To use this feature, you can use the -invite flag when you start Communique!. The -invite flag can be used along with the other Communique! command line flags (-pcolor and -nobanner). Using the -invite flag, you can invite individual users or groups from the Corporate Notebook or your personal Notebook file. Some examples of valid syntax include:

communique -invite rafe@alamo

communique -nobanner -invite gdlach@cougar duane@primus

communique -invite Finance -pcolor -invite scott@avalon

Note that the order in which you give command line options is unimportant.

When Communique! starts, the people that you invited from the command line (either the members of the group(s) or the individual users) will automatically be invited into a conference with you. If the users are unavailable, or they are already in another conference, you will be notified.

Since both audio and video start by default, all members who join will automatically be fully involved in the conference, unless their preferences dictate otherwise.

Using the Command Line Conferencing feature, you can also add specific conference configurations to your window manager’s menu, making it easy to start a conference by selecting a single menu option. For details on adding Communique! to your window manager’s menu, refer to the Communique! Administrator’s Guide.

The Notebook Editor

The Notebook Editor is a utility that enables you to edit your personal Notebook file. Your personal Notebook file includes a list of all of the users that you have conferenced with in the past, and can be customized to include references to users or groups of users that you conference with frequently, or to provide aliases for users with addresses that may be hard to remember.

To launch the Notebook Editor, select Notebook Editor from the Options menu on the Conference Manager.

The Notebook Editor Interface

The Notebook Editor’s interface centers around two lists. The list on the left displays the contents of an existing Notebook, and the list on the right displays the members of the group that the user is currently editing. Above the Notebook list are three buttons identical to those found on the Start Conference dialog. They enable you to list your personal Notebook, the Corporate Notebook, and scan the network, respectively. You can incorporate users from any of the three Notebooks in a group that you are editing, and you can select entries from your personal Notebook to edit.

On the right is a list that contains the contents of the group that you are currently editing. Above the list is the name of the group you are editing, which can be changed. Below the list is an entry field with the word "Add:" next to it. In this field you can manually enter a username and host to the group you are currently editing.

Between the two lists is a group of buttons that enable you to edit notebook entries. The buttons allow you to create new groups, modify existing groups, and delete groups.

At the top of the dialog are two buttons which allow you to switch between the Notebook Editor and the Speed Dial Editor. The button with the book on it switches to the Notebook Editor, the button with the picture of a handshake takes you to the Speed Dial Editor.

Under the two lists are the OK, Cancel and Help buttons. The OK button saves any changes you have made to your notebook file. The Cancel button leaves the Notebook editor, discarding any changes, and the Help button launches a help window with information on the Notebook editor.

At the bottom of the dialog is the Status Bar. The Status Bar displays informational messages regarding the usage of various controls on the Editor.

Notebook Editor Controls

The following buttons provide you with the tools necessary to create, edit and delete groups in your notebook file.

Add Selected Items to Group

The Add Selected Items to Group button copies any items that you have selected in the Notebook list to the Member list.

Edit the Selected Group

This button allows you to move an existing group to the Member list and edit its contents. To do so, select the group you wish to edit from the Notebook list and click on the Edit Selected Group button. The name of the group will be moved to the Group field, and the group’s current membership will appear in the Member list.

Show Members of Selected Group

The Show Members of Selected Group button expands the contents of a group, displaying it in the Member list. In order to use this function, select a group that appears in the Member list and click on the Show Members of Selected Group button. The name of the selected group will be removed from the Member list, and the members of that group will be listed in the Member list.

Create a New Group

When Create a New Group is selected, you are given the option of storing the group that you are currently editing, and working on a new group. If you select Save, the current group is moved to the Notebook list and the Member list and Group name field are both cleared. If you select continue, the current Group data is discarded and the Member list and Group field are cleared.

Delete Selected Items

The Delete Selected items button is used to remove selected entries from either the Notebook or Member list. Before entries are removed from the Notebook list, you are prompted for confirmation. Items which are deleted from the Notebook list are removed permanently.

Clear Member List

The Clear Member list button removes all of the entries currently in the Member List. If the Member List is empty and you click on the Clear Member List button, the Group field will be cleared.

Save Changes

The Save Changes button stores any changes you have made to the group you are currently editing. If you created a new group, it is added to the Notebook List. It also clears the Member List and the Group field so that you can start editing another group.

The Speed Dial Editor

The Speed Dial Editor allows you to edit the Speed Dial buttons found at the bottom of the Conference Manager interface. Using the Speed Dial editor you can create or delete buttons, modify the contents of existing buttons, or change the order of the buttons. There is no limit on the number of Speed Dial buttons that you can have configured.

Each Speed Dial button can contain either an individual user or a group taken from your personal Notebook file, the Corporate Notebook file, or from a network scan. To create a new Group for a Speed Dial button, you should use the Notebook Editor to add it to your personal Notebook file, and then add it to the Speed Dial button list.

Once you are finished modifying the Speed Dial buttons, you should click on OK to save the changes and exit the Speed Dial editor. If you want to discard any changes you have made, you should click on the Cancel button. To get Help information on the Speed Dial Editor, click on the Help button.

The Speed Dial Editor Interface

The Speed Dial Editor’s interface is nearly identical to the interface of the Notebook Editor. The only differences are that the Member list from the Notebook Editor is replaced by a list of Speed Dial buttons in the Speed Dial Editor, and the buttons between the Address list and the Button list are different from those on the Notebook Editor.

Speed Dial Editor Controls

The following controls are used to manipulate the contents of your Speed Dial button list. Using these controls, you can add new Speed Dial buttons, remove existing buttons, or modify the order in which the buttons appear.

Add Item to Speed Dial Bar

The Add Item to Speed Dial Bar control moves a user or group from the Address list to the bottom of the Button list. The item will then appear on your Conference Manager on the Speed Dial bar.

Move Item Up

Using Move Item Up, you can move the group or user that is currently highlighted up in the list of Speed Dial buttons. This control is used to reorder your Speed Dial list according to your preference.

Move Item Down

By selecting a user or group from the Speed Dial list and clicking on the Move Item Down button, you can move that user/group one slot down on the Speed Dial list. This control is used to change the order of the Speed Dial list to suit your preference.

Remove Selected Items

When you click on this button, any items you have highlighted will be deleted from the Speed Dial list. You can highlight several members of the list and remove them all at once.

Remove All Items

When you click on the Remove All Items button, all of the members of your Speed Dial list will be removed and you can start adding new members to the list. This command is useful if there are many entries in the Speed Dial list that you don’t use any longer.

Save Changes

The Save Changes button stores any modifications you have made to the Speed Dial button list. This allows you to switch to the Notebook Editor without losing any changes in your Speed Dial list. Note that clicking on Cancel discards any changes you have made, even in you have clicked on the Save Changes button.

Choosing Conference Plugins

The Plugin Configuration Tool allows you to select which Plugins will load when you launch Communique!, and what order they will appear in on the Plugin bar on the Conference Manager. By hiding Plugins that you don’t use and hiding optional Plugins that you don’t have licenses for, you can decrease the time it takes Communique! to load and lower Communique!’s usage of system resources.

The Plugin Configuration Tool can also be run by starting Communique! with the -config command line flag. This will load the Plugin Configuration Tool without loading the Communique! Conference Manager.

Available Plugins

The Plugin Configuration Tool’s interface contains two lists; the one on the left lists the Plugins that have been installed, and the one on the right contains a list of the Plugins that load when Communique! is launched. Some of the Plugins in the Available list may require additional licenses; check with your Administrator to make sure that you have all necessary licenses.

There are three ways you can configure the Plugins that will load when you run Communique!. You can:

When using Communique! Lite, you must load the Audio Tool Plugin to receive audio.

Choose a Package of Plugins

1. Pull down the Packages menu.

Full—selects the standard Communique! Plugin distribution with full functionality

Audiograph—selects TV Tool Lite and fully enabled Audio in addition to basic conferencing Plugins

The TV Tool Lite Plugin is limited to reception only and may not send video.

Lite—place basic conferencing Plugins in the selection list with Audio Lite and TV Tool Lite; audio and video may be received but not sent

Clear—empty the Selected Plugins list for creating a new set

2. Choose the Package set purchased for your workstation.

The Selected Plugins list will contain the Plugins from the Package that you selected.

3. Choose Save from the File menu.

4. Choose Exit from the File menu.

The next time you launch Communique!, it will include the Plugins that you have selected. To make any changes, you will need to run the Plugin Configuration Tool again.

Creating Your Own Set of Plugins

You may create your own set of Plugins for use with Communique! In order to use a custom set of Plugins:

1. Select Clear from the Packages menu.

2. Highlight a Plugin that you wish to use in the Available Plugin list.

Highlighting TV Tool selects TV Tool Lite if either Lite or Audiograph were the packages chosen prior to clearing the selection list.

Highlighting Audio Tool selects Audio Tool Lite if Lite was the package chosen prior to clearing the selection list.

3. Click the Select button to copy the Plugin form the Available list to the Selected list.

The Plugin is placed at the bottom of the Selected Plugins list.

4. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for each Plugin you wish to load.

5. Choose Save from the File menu.

6. Choose Exit from the File menu.

The next time you launch Communique!, it will include the Plugins that you have selected. To make any changes, you will need to run the Plugin Configuration Tool again.

Loading Other OpenDVE Plugins

1. Click on the Search Path button.

A window will appear, prompting you for Plugin Search Paths.

2. Enter the path to the directory containing the OpenDVE Plugin(s) in the text field near the bottom of the window.

3. Click OK in the Plugin Search Path window.

Any OpenDVE Plugins found in the new search paths will appear in the Available Plugins list.

4. Highlight the new Plugin.

5. Click the Select button.

Continue loading Plugins, adding search paths as necessary, until you’ve selected the desired set of OpenDVE Plugins.

6. Choose Save from the File menu.

7. Choose Exit from the File menu.

The next time you launch Commuique!, it will include the Plugins that you have selected. To make any changes, you will need to run the Plugin Configuration Tool again.

Removing Plugins from the Selected List

If you no longer wish to use a Plugin, you can remove it from the Selected Plugins list.

1. Highlight the Plugin to be removed in the Selected Plugins list.

2. Click on the Hide button.

The Plugin will disappear from the Selected list and will not load the next time you run Communique!.

A Plugin not loaded is only unavailable to the person not loading it. Other conference members may still have access to the Plugin.

3. Choose Save from the File menu.

4. Choose Exit from the File menu.

The next time you launch Commuique!, it will include the Plugins that you have selected. To make any changes, you will need to run the Plugin Configuration Tool again.

The Communique! Business Card

Every Communique! conference member has a Business Card that can contain information including their name, phone number, and photograph.

Each person in the conference is represented in the Virtual Conference Room by their Business Card Photo. This photo is usually a self portrait, but can contain any image the user chooses. Double-clicking on someone’s photo in the Virtual Conference Room shows you their complete Business Card.

Creating Your Business Card

Before conferencing with others, you will want to create a Business Card.

To create or modify your Business Card:

1. Select the Create Business Card item from the Conference menu.

The Business Card Editor appears.

2. Click in each of the entry fields and enter the appropriate information.

Pressing Return or Tab will take you to the next field. All of the fields are optional, and any can be left blank.

3. The Nickname entry is used by Communique! to refer to you. If you leave this field blank, your account name—often called login name—is used.

Changing your nickname does not change your conference address which is always your user name and hostname.

4. Choose Save from the File menu to save your Business Card.

Creating Your Business Card Photo

There is a small image in the upper left corner of your business card. This is your Business Card Photo. This image is used to represent you in the Virtual Conference Room. You can create or choose your Business Card Photo in the Photo Booth.

If you have a computer equipped with a video capture card and camera you can use the Photo Booth to snap a picture of yourself. If you do not have a video capture card or you wish to use an image other than a personal photo, you can load an image from a file.

To avoid conflicts with other Plugins that use video capture, the Photo Booth option is disabled while conferencing.

Snapping a Picture of Yourself

1. Select Create Business Card from the Conference menu.

The Business Card Editor window appears.

2. Select the video capture card appropriate for your computer from the Photo Booth menu.

The Photo Booth window appears.

3. Select the Start Preview option from the Photo Booth’s Camera menu.

If your video capture card and camera are connected correctly, video output from your camera appears in the video preview area.

If you do not see an image in the video preview area, or if the picture needs adjustment, you should verify that the correct video input port, video format, and image settings are selected in the Video Hardware Setup window.

4. Select Setup from the Camera menu to change the settings.

A Video Hardware Setup window appropriate for your video capture card appears.

Check that the video source is actually connected to the specified input. For example, if your camera is plugged into port 2 of the video capture card, Input 2 must be selected.

You may also need to specify the video format required by your equipment, such as NTSC, PAL, or SECAM.

Not all video capture cards support all video formats. The Video Hardware Setup window limits selection to those formats supported by your video capture card.

5. If necessary, adjust the image using the sliders in the Video Hardware Setup window.

Depending on the type of video capture card you have, you can adjust such image attributes as color, contrast, and brightness.

6. Dismiss the Hardware Setup window.

7. Select Snap Photo from the Camera menu.

Communique! waits three seconds before taking your picture. The resulting image displays in the camera lens. If you are unhappy with the results repeat Steps 5-7.

8. Select Save Photo from the Photo menu.

Your photo is saved to disk. You may create a new photo at anytime in the future by repeating the preceding steps.

Loading Your Photo Image From Disk

If you do not have access to a camera or wish to use an image you have stored on disk as your business card photo, you can load the image from disk.

1. Choose Create Business Card from the Conference menu.

The Business Card Editor window appears.

2. Choose any entry from the Photo Booth menu.

The Photo Booth window appears.

3. If you are using the Motif window manager, select Load Photo from the Photo menu. If you are using OpenLook, skip to step 6.

A file selection dialog window appears.

If you are unfamiliar with using the file selection dialog, see Chapter 17 for a brief introduction.

4. Select the image file you wish to use as your Business Card Photo.

5. Click OK.

The image you selected will appear in the camera lens, reduced to the appropriate size.

6. Under OpenLook, you should use the File Manager to locate the file you wish to use as your Business Card Photo.

7. Once you have decided which image you wish to use, drag it onto the camera lens.

The image you selected will appear in the camera lens, reduced to the appropriate size.

Color Tuning

All monitors vary slightly in the accuracy to which they reproduce colors and shading. To assure accurate color reproduction you will want to use the Gamma Correction utility to adjust Communique!’s colors. You should only need to go through this procedure once. Adjust the Red, Green, and Blue sliders until the inner boxes are as close as possible to the color of the outer boxes. Be sure and save your settings.

Conference Manager Preferences

The Communique! Conference Manager has several properties you can adjust to suit your personal preferences. These properties are edited from the Conference Manager Preferences window. The Preferences dialog is available from the Options menu in the Conference Manager.

Preferences

Startup Location
The Startup Location setting controls the placement of the Conference Manager window when Communique! is started.

When Remember is selected, the Conference Manager window appears in the same position it was in the last time you used the Communique! software.

Setting this value to Center always places the Conference Manager window in the center of your screen. Center is the default selection.


Startup State
With iconic enabled, the Conference Manger window does not appear at startup. The Conference Manager appears as a small icon in the corner of your desktop. Double clicking on the icon restores the Conference Manager window to normal size.

A Startup State of Normal, however, allows Communique! to appear as it normally does. Normal is the default state.


Save Members
This option toggles whether or not other users who you conference with will be automatically added to your Personal Notebook file. If this option is set to Yes, every time you conference, everyone in the conference who is not already stored in your Personal Notebook will be added at the end of the conference.

If this option is off, then other users will not be added to your Personal Notebook automatically.


Startup Auto Answer
With Yes clicked for Auto Answer, Communique! automatically accepts all incoming conference invitations.

A No selection, however, allows you to choose whether to accept or reject any conference invitation as it arrives. No is the default selection.


Video Buttons
When enabled, the Plugins’ icons will show short animated clips when clicked. You may want to disable these if you are using a relatively slow computer. They are enabled by default.

The Max Frames option limits the number of frames the Video Buttons show. This setting is relevant only if Video Buttons are enabled. The default value is 8.

Adjusting Conference Manager Preferences

1. From the Conference Manager’s Options menu, select Preferences.

The Conference Manager Preferences window appears.

2. Adjust the properties according to your preferences.

3. Click OK to save them as defaults or click Cancel to abort your changes and exit the Preferences window.

Click Reset if you wish to restore the Preferences to Factory Defaults.

Getting Help

Online Help is available from many of the Communique! Plugins. You can click on the Help button at any time for information about the tool or feature with which you are working.

Many tools, the Conference Manager included, feature a Help menu to access this information.

Accessing the Help Index

Detailed Help is available from the Help menu of most Communique! tools.

1. Select the Index option from the Help menu, available in any Communique window.

The Help Viewer window appears.

2. Double-click any of the items listed in the Help Topics section of the Help Viewer.

Information for the selected topic appears in the help text area in the Help Viewer window.

3. Repeat Step 2 on each topic for which you would like help.

4. Select Close from the File menu to exit the Help Viewer.

Accessing Version Information

Each Communique! tool features a Version window which can provide you with the tool’s revision number and other information.

1. From any Communique! window that has a Help menu choose On Version from the Help menu.

The Version window for that tool appears.

2. Click OK to exit the Version window.

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