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Table of Contents » Linktivity WebDemo » Moderator Controls
Moderator Controls
« Recording | Main | Participant Controls »
Linktivity WebDemo provides an extensive array of moderator controls that allow the host to grant capabilities to selected meeting attendees.
In WebDemo moderator controls are referred to as Host Controls.
This review discusses the following aspects of the moderator controls available within Linktivity WebDemo:
Attendee List
Together with the button toolbars and the context menu, the attendee list is the core information center for the presenter/moderator within WebDemo. The attendee list provides the following information:
- Who has joined the meeting
- Which passive rights are assigned to each participant
- Which active rights are assigned to each participant
- Details about each attendee's technical configuration
Button Toolbars
In WebDemo all moderator controls are grouped into two button toolbars on the host control panel. The two toolbars have a distinct functionality and scope. By clicking on any of the top toolbar icons, the presenter/moderator turns on the passive right for all attendees to access that feature. For example, by clicking on the video conferencing icon, all attendees are granted the capability to see the presenter/moderator. The next step is to assign one or more attendees the right to actively use a chosen feature. The presenter/moderator accomplishes this by first selecting eligible participants in the attendee list and then clicking on the desired function icon in the bottom toolbar. Continuing the example of video conferencing: to allow user Giovanni to actively participate into a conversation, the presenter/moderator selects him from the attendee list and clicks on the microphone icon in the bottom toolbar.
This way the participant gets the role of presenter in a desktop sharing / application sharing or co-browsing session, can make annotations on the available transparent whiteboard, may speak through his microphone or broadcast images from his video camera.
The bottom toolbar is used to assign active rights
Available Host Controls
From the top toolbar on the host control panel the meeting host may control the following functions:
Context Menu
In addition to the button toolbars the moderator/presenter may use the attendee list context menu to further adjust participant rights within the meeting. The presenter/moderator opens the context menu by right-clicking on the attendee list. From this menu each available feature may turned on or off, affecting selected attendees only. This is useful if the presenter/moderator wants to exclude specific participants from co-browsing, desktop sharing or video conferencing.
The attendee list context menu
Default Capabilities
When a WebDemo meeting has just begun the participants only have the right to text chat and raise their hand to ask for attention. It is up to the presenter/moderator to assign additional rights.
Transferring Host Control
In addition to specific presentation rights the meeting host may also temporarily transfer the entire meeting control to a selected participant by right-clicking on the attendee list and selecting the Host Control > Transfer Hosting Capability option from the menu. By repeating this operation the presenter/moderator may reobtain host control at all times.
Transferring the entire meeting control to a participant
Excluding Participants
A WebDemo meeting host may exclude an existing participant from a meeting. In WebDemo this feature is called Terminate Selected User(s); it is available from the Host Control menu option on the attendee list context menu. Using the button with an open door icon at the bottom of the host control panel the meeting host may also close the doors for any attendees who might want to come into the meeting room. This feature is called Lock Session.
Monitoring Participants
The meeting host may monitor various technical details of each of the participants: screen resolution, performance, queue level and response time. These details may be displayed in the attendee list by choosing one of the Display options from the attendee list's context menu.
Changing the participant monitoring options
Another context menu option titled Properties provides information about the participant's IP address, Java version, operating system and screen resolution.
Cons
- It is not possible to see which partipants were actually invited to the meeting but have not yet entered the room.
- The two-step operation of the two button toolbars causes confusion and is not intuitive. The loudspeaker icon next to the attendees names, for example, gives the impression that attendees will be able to hear each other and/or the meeting host right away when the meeting starts, but this is not the case.
- When a meeting host transfers host control to one of the attendees, the capability to invite new participants is not transferred to the attendee. This behavior may be intentional, but then, when the attendee transfers host control back to the original meeting host, the disability to invite new particpants has become persistent. This behavior does not occur when the initiative to restore host control is taken by the original meeting host.
Conclusion
In Linktivity WebDemo the presenter/moderator disposes of an extensive range of controls to both enable and disable individual features for each live participant and to monitor the performance and connection quality of all attendees. To see how the moderator controls option in Linktivity WebDemo compares to the one offered by other tools reviewed in the Guide, consult the Moderator Controls Comparison Table
« Recording | Main | Participant Controls »
Posted on June 20, 2003 at 10:04 PM
Updated on December 25, 2004 at 12:22 PM
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