Remote Presentations
by Don Singleton
APCUG Vice President
Abraham Maslow said “When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks
like a nail”. He was right. You can drive a screw with a hammer, but it will not
stay as solidly as if you put it in with a screwdriver. You can drive a nail by
hitting it with a large pair of pliers, but a hammer does a better job. The best
solution is to have a well stocked toolbox, and pick the proper tool for the
job.
There are computer solutions that allow a person or many people at one location
see the desktop of someone else, potentially a long way from them, but which
tool is best depends on the particular job. When I first began working on my
article Remote Presentations and Sharing (http://reports.apcug.org/2008q4/6.htm)
in APCUG Reports Q4 and the corresponding program I remotely presented at the
Midwest Regional in Chicago, I focused first on the one tool I knew: LogMeIn
Free. It does the job, but it is really designed to allow remote access to an
unattended computer (access a home computer from work, or a work computer from
home), and there are other programs better suited to that job, and I presented
three others: Adobe ConnectNow, Microsoft SharedView, and Lotus Unyte, and I
continue to hear of others, and so I decided to write this follow up, sumarizing
what job each tool is designed for, and what other jobs it might be employed in.
I am still learning, and interested in hearing about other solutions, because I
am presenting my Remote Programs presentation again at the Phoenix Regional Feb
8 and 9 and it will be very different from the one I gave at Midwest. The
presentation I gave to HPCUG Huntsville PCUG, Tuesday, November 19, was
different from what I gave at Midwest, as was the one I gave to Channel Islands
PC Users Group, Saturday, December 13, and to SouthEastern Michigan Computer
Organization, Sunday, December 14, and to Computer Club Oklahoma City Thursday,
December 18.
Let me define a few terms:
House Call
House Call is where an inexperienced member of your user group that bought a
program you described at an earlier meeting asks you to “come over to his house
and show him how to make it work.” He may live an hour’s drive from your house,
and it may only take you 1/2 hour to show him what he needs to know, so it would
take 2 1/2 hours out of your life to provide 30 minutes of help, unless you can
ask him to download one or two free programs, and use them to reach through
cybespace and virtually show him your desktop, and talk him through the PPT
Presentation you used when you gave the talk at your user group, or reach
through cyberspace and virtually be able to see his desktop, and control his
mouse and keyboard, and walk him step by step through how to use the program.
Any of the programs I describe could be used for House Calls, but currently I
feel CrossLoop is the best tool for the job.
Two People Collaboration
I have a good friend, Paula Sanders, who reviews a number of programs, and
sometimes she hits a stumbling block and wants to show me what she is seeing in
the new program, and get my input. She is also a graphic expert, and frequently
I will have problems doing something, and I will want her to look over my
shoulder. We have found the best tool for that is also CrossLoop.
Three People Collaboration
An extension of the Two People Collaboration task is where you need a third
person in the loop. CrossLoop is just between two people. Adobe ConnectNow is
supposedly designed for that situation and it does have a unique meeting room
URL, but I find it very difficult to use. Perhaps when it comes out of beta it
will be easier, but if I needed to do a three-way collaberation today I would
use Microsoft SharedView or Lotus Unyte.
Lecture Mode Presentation
This what I see the normal user group program to be. A presenter is showing a
program or multiple programs on his computer, and the audience is watching what
is on his screen, and may ask a few questions at the end of the presentation.
This does not require any special software, other than what the presenter is
presenting, but there are two distinct variations, and they have very different
solutions:
Remote Presentation
In this variation of the Lecture Mode Presentation you have the normal user
group audience watching the presentation on a screen in a meeting hall, but the
Presenter is not in the hall; he may be at home in that city (a User Group
member scheduled to deliver a presentation who suddenly gets sick or disabled
and can’t make it to the meeting hall to deliver his presentation), or he may be
clear across the country (a User Group member scheduled to deliver a
presentation who suddenly has to travel on business, and who is delivering the
presentation from his hotel room on their free wifi, or a member of another user
group sharing his expertise with your user group.) This is the solution my Q4
article was focused on. My opinion is subject to change, but at this instant my
preferred solution would be CrossLoop, Microsoft SharedView, or Lotus Unyte in
that order (but all three are very good solutions).
Reaching the Home Bound members
In this variation of the Lecture Mode Presentation, the normal user group
meeting is proceeding as it usually does, but we want to support some home bound
members unable to attend the presentation in the meeting hall because of
illness, disability, difficulty driving at night, or needing to travel, and
watch from their homes or hotel room. The only audio requirement is they need to
hear the speaker speak, and it they could ask qustions by typing them in, that
would be nice. My personal opinion is that the Microsoft Live Meeting software
that the APCUG is working on will be the best solution for this situation,
although there is the possibility that Microsoft SharedView (which supports 15
connections) and Skype (which supposedly supports 25 people on a conference
call, although I have heard that problems arise with more than 10), might work.
With the Microsoft Live Meeting solution, a URL is provided that would just need
to be posted on the group’s website. With the Microsoft SharedView / Skype
solution someone at the meeting would need to send out the SharedView email
messages, and call the at home people with Skype.
Recording and Posting
A second way of Reaching the Home Bound members would be to record the meeting
and post it on the web page. This has the advantage of allowing it to be watched
anytime, but it has the disadvantage of not being able to ask questions, even by
typing them in. However this could be overcome by adding a meeting forum to the
site so that people can discuss aspects of the meeting presentation afterwards.
The Huntsville PCUG (http://www.hpcug.com/) is currently working on this
situation. They have found that a webcam does not allow people to see the screen
well enough, and will be trying a better camera. My personal opinion is that the
Microsoft Live Meeting APCUG is working on will be the best solution for them.
Collaberation Meetings
A collaberation meeting is one where many speakers are participating. It could
be a Round Table meeting where everyone participates, or it could be a Panel
Discussion, where multiple experts were sharing their ideas, while being watched
by a larger audience that does not participate. There are variations on
Collaberation Meetings.
Text Chat Rooms
For a number of years APCUG has had chat rooms on WebBoard
(http://webboard.apcug.org:8080/~apcug) and we have even provided WebBoards to
member user groups. But even if you did not get your own WebBoard, User Groups
could use any of the boards set up for various reasons. You’d have to invite
people to participate in the WebBoard conference – at least let them know that
that’s where the discussions would take place, but nearly all of them are
available for APCUG member’s use. You could even have one member connect using
the mIRC program (http://www.mirc.com/) and get a capture of the entire meeting.
Audio Conferencing
With Skype supposedly 25 people can be on a conference call
(http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=92),
although I have heard people say it gets a bit iffy after 9 or 10 prople; with
this one person would have to call each attendee. If they have Skype installed
on their computer, the call would be free. If they have to call a phone number,
it will cost a small amount. There are also many websites like
http://www.freeconference.com/ offering free conference calls, where all of the
participants pay long distance rates to call a certain number, and you have no
control where that number is. These sites make their money based on fees the
long distance companies pay to connect to that number. You can also use one of a
number of Audio Conferencing companies (you might want to talk to Joe Budelis of
Persimmon Telecommunications 609.333.6932 http://persimmon.homestead.com/). With
these companies the callers call an 800 number, and your user group would pay
based on how many lines were connected, and for how long.
Webcasting
Most webcasting services do video over the internet, and use a Audio
Conferencing approach to the audio. Many may require you to do your audio
conferencing through their service, but some may let you pick your own audio
conferencing provider. For example MyMeetingCentral.com has Toll-free
conferencing which starts at 9.9 cents per minute per line, and if you use a
webcam they call that live video, and the rate jumps to 15 cents per minute per
line. Audio alone is 9.9 cents per minute per line. You cannot use
MyMeetingCentral without getting the audio from them. They will record the video
/audio of you conference. The charge for that is $99 per conference. Audio is
recorded anytime for free. The free recording of the conference includes all
conference audio from all lines. The MP3 is available shortly after the call
concludes within your account online.
Summary of what each product offers:
Unless indicated to the contrary, none of these free products, and none of the
lesser expensive paid services include the ability to record. Also unless
indicated they do not include audio. I use Skype for audio, but you could use a
telephone conference call, an audio conferencing service, or an instant
messaging program that supports Voice over IP (VoIP)
Up to three participants can attend your meeting, including you as the host.
Does not include audio. Unique meeting room URL so you can just prearrange with
members to attend, or you can invite members with an email message. Does include
audio. Chat pod for exchanging instant messages with one or all participants.
Remote control - A meeting participant can take control of another participant’s
desktop with permission. Frankly this is one of the most confusing to learn, but
it is still in Beta, so it may get easier in the future.
For more participants, use
(Acrobat Connect™ Standard US$39/month for 1 meeting room
with up to 15 participants, but without integrated audio, and without the
ability to record meetings) or
(Acrobat Connect Pro Pay-per-use US $0.32/min/user
or 5 user US $375.00/month or 10 user US $750.00/month, with integrated audio
and VOIP and the ability to record meetings).
Up to 15 people (and I believe the presenter would be number 16). Handouts
feature allows you to post a total of 25 files per session. Invite members with
an email message.
For more, including Integrated PSTN and two-way VoIP audio, try
Microsoft Office Live Meeting either
Standard (up to 15 participant connections per meeting; minimum acquisition 5
users, $4.58 per user per month with no one-time fees, permits personal
recordings) or Professional (up to 15 participant connections per meeting;
minimum acquisition 5 users, $15.42 per user per month with no one-time fees,
permits shared and personal recordings).
Unyte (IBM Lotus Sametime Unyte Share)
2 users (host + 1 viewer). Invite the other party with an email message. For $30
a year you can get a unique URL that does not change each time, so you can just
prearrange someone to attend.
For $100/yr or $35/qtr you get 5 users (host + 4 viewers). For $300/yr or
$100/qtr you get 10 users (host + 9 viewers). For $450/yr or $150/qtr you get 25
users (host + 24 viewers).
There is also Lotus Sametime Unyte Meeting
which allows 15 people per
meeting for $48 per month, 25 per meeting for $75 per month, or 999 per meeting
for $999 per month, all of which have Toll-free Audio Conferencing Optional
(additional charge of $.09 per minute, per caller), or pay per use which allows
125 per meeting for $0.25 per minute, Toll-free Audio Conferencing Included.
Just between two people.
In Summary
Remote Presentations started with a program I did for the Midwest Regional.
Since then I have remotely presented variations of this program for five User
Groups and will be presenting a variation of it at the Phoenix Regional. Copies
of each of the PPT files used with these presentations have been uploaded to the
APCUG SharePoint Site in APCUG SharePoint > Shared
Documents > Programs > Remote Presetations. Also included in that folder are
copies of each of the APCUG Reports articles on this subject.