Video Meeting Edition - FAQ

Aspen's Video Conferencing Pro helps bring people closer together through an intuitive remote meeting solution. Empowered with face-to-face interaction, meeting participants feel more engaged and in control. To learn more, review the questions and answers below or view the Video Conferencing Pro Quick Reference Guide under the PDF section of this page.

DO I NEED TO INSTALL VIDEO CONFERENCING PRO?

Yes. Although Video Conferencing Pro is an Internet-based service, you will need to install a separate tool. Aspen Conferencing ensures that the installation is quick and secure. Any personal information you provide is protected by Aspen's privacy policy. Once you install the tool, a shortcut will appear on your computer's desktop for easy access.

WHAT DO I NEED TO RUN VIDEO CONFERENCING PRO?

The primary requirements for using Video Conferencing Pro are a PC running Windows® 98 (Second Edition), 2000 or XP with 10 MB of free disk space and an Internet connection (ideally broadband). For more details, download our Tech Sheet under the PDF Section of this page.

HOW DO I CONDUCT MEETINGS?

A meeting is a gathering at one person's meeting room-a virtual conference room. The moderator enters his or her own meeting room, and other participants access it by clicking a web link (provided by the moderator). With audio conferencing integration, the moderator initiates the audio portion, prompting participants to provide their phone numbers online, and Aspen's Video Conferencing Pro immediately calls them back. This unique OpenGo(tm) audio feature eliminates the need for moderators or participants to keep track of call-in numbers and access codes.

In addition to the video capability, meeting participants who join can use additional integrated features, including application sharing, group web browsing and whiteboarding. If participants do not have web access, they can still participate just in the phone portion of the meeting. A meeting continues in a meeting room as long as participants are still present. If the moderator allows, the meeting can continue even after the moderator has left.

HOW DO I PLAN VIDEO CONFERENCES?

Video Conferencing Pro makes spontaneous, unscheduled video conferences just as easy as planned ones. Unlike many other conferencing services, with which you need to reserve specified meeting times, Aspen provides meeting rooms that are always open and available for use. To start a spur-of-the-moment meeting, just enter your own meeting room and contact others to invite them in-all they need is your conference ID. It's as easy as walking around the office and pulling people into a conference room.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN VIDEO CONFERENCES?

Video Conferencing Pro offers great flexibility for meeting participants to join in several ways, depending on what's most convenient for them:

• Anyone who installs Video Conferencing Pro can participate fully in online meetings and share video. All you need is a standard desktop webcam installed.

• Participants can join any online meeting by simply providing their name, e-mail and phone number (all of which are protected by Aspen's privacy policy)
• By joining online, participants have everything they need at their fingertips to see others in the meeting and to display/share files, add to a digital whiteboard and guide the group through web sites.
• With audio integration, anyone can dial into the telephone portion of a meeting, even without a computer.

HOW DO I INVITE PARTICIPANTS?

Inviting others to meetings is simple: Video Conferencing Pro generates an e-mail message in your default e-mail application, including a direct link to the meeting room, contact info and the phone number for audio-only access. You just add the date, time and any other comments and then send the message to whomever you want to participate.

Integration with Microsoft® Outlook® makes scheduling even easier. During installation, Video Conferencing Pro adds a button into your Outlook program that creates the same pre-filled meeting invite, but with full Outlook scheduling details. The meeting then gets incorporated into each participant's Outlook calendar for convenient notification and reminders.

HOW DO I SHARE FILES USING VIDEO CONFERENCING PRO?

Video Conferencing Pro offers multiple levels of file sharing, depending on the amount of control and interactivity desired. If you just want to display files to others in the meeting but don't require editing capabilities, use Document Viewing. Your files are first converted into Aspen's proprietary compressed file format for quick sharing. The pages of your file then show up in the meeting room in a slideshow-like presentation that you control, with annotation tools that let all participants 'draw' and type notes on the slides during discussion. However, your original file remains untouched and nothing is uploaded or stored on Aspen Conferencing servers.

For a greater level of group interactivity and involvement, use Application Sharing. It allows you to open files in their native application to show in the meeting, accessible to all meeting participants even if they don't have the application on their own computers. When you edit the document, other participants see your edits happening on the spot, and you can even grant access to let them make edits directly into your document. This powerful feature lets you share not only single files or applications, but regions of your computer's desktop and even your entire desktop.

WHAT OTHER INFORMATION SHARING AND COLLABORATION FEATURES DOES VIDEO CONFERENCING PRO HAVE?

Video Conferencing Pro helps facilitate meeting communication and involvement in many other ways:

• Digital whiteboards function just like the real thing, helping remote meeting participants communicate better by putting their ideas into diagrams and sketches that everyone can see.
• The Meeting History feature captures a running slideshow of information created during the course of the meeting, such as document annotations and whiteboards, letting participants easily review and refer back to earlier activities.
• Browser Sharing allows any participant to share a web site of interest with the entire group.
• Chat allows for real-time text messaging within the meeting, with controls for exactly who can see and join the conversation.
• Meeting management features make it simple to invite additional participants mid-conference or even lock the virtual conference room to prevent anyone else from entering.

DO I NEED A WEB CAM TO USE VIDEO CONFERENCING PRO?

No. You can participate in meetings and take advantage of all other integrated features, including viewing other participants' live video. However, if you would like other participants to see you during the meeting, you need a web camera that connects to your computer's USB port.

HOW MUCH DOES VIDEO CONFERENCING PRO COST?

Aspen Conferencing offers different pricing plans, depending on the type of service and conference room capacity you need: For more information, please view the Pricing page.

Select from one of our premium conferencing services:


• Audio Conferencing
• Web Conferencing
• Video Conferencing