Conference Centre
The conference centre enables EEPKTN members to plan, promote and host online events like workshops and conferences. Click on 'Create Meeting' to bring up a page for specifying the essential details of your event. The meeting will then be listed on the conference centre. When the event starts, invitees need only click the link alongside this event listing to enter the event.
You can set it up as a 'Closed Event' if you want to make it visible in the conference centre to specific invitees only. Otherwise all EEPKTN members will be able to see it there and join the event when it starts. All open events are recorded and automatically archived, allowing conference-centre visitors to replay past events at any time.
Before participating in your first online event, you need to make a few simple preparations. See 'How to get ready for online conferencing' below.
What is online conferencing?
The KTN online conferencing platform allows you to do many of the things that you would normally do in a face-to-face meeting. As well as talking to other participants as you might in a telephone conference, you can give visual presentations on screen and share documents with all participants. It is even possible for a presenter to cede control of an application running on his or her own desktop computer to other participants. This means that by sharing control of a wordprocessor application, for example, two people can jointly edit a single document in real time - no need for them to send revisions back and forth in a flurry of emails.
- Up to 100 people can meet in a single event.
- At any time, you can see who is present in the meeting, who the presenter is and who is talking.
- The presenter can at any time make another participant the presenter.
- Events can be recorded and replayed
- You can pre-record seminars and presentations and provide a link to them or email them.
- A participant can send any other a short private text message at any time during an event.
How to get ready for online conferencing
Before using 'My Meeting Room' or the 'Conference Centre' to set up or attend your first online meeting, you need to do the following:
- Get a headset with integral microphone and earphones. You can buy one from many high-street electrical retailers for less than £20.
- Install the software. This is quick to do but if you do not have the authority to install software on your computer, you may need the assistance of your IT department. If you do have the authority, you install it by clicking 'Getting Ready' on the 'Conference Centre'. The process will check that your machine is suitably equipped, install the software, and then play a demonstration. Install the software now.
- Learn how to use it and get familiar with the features. See 'Supporting Material' below.
Online conferencing for the technical
The conferencing platform is based on Interwise, which uses a free downloadable client program to provide integrated voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) via its global network of high-bandwidth servers.
The client software currently only supports a PC/Windows environment.
The install procedure uses ActiveX controls to check for the necessary hardware and components so you will need to allow this access.
The software uses normal http ports and protocols so no special adjustments to firewalls etc. are necessary. However, if your network has been specially configured for security then you may need to open some ports or change the port that Interwise uses.
Only one Interwise meeting type is integrated into the KTN platform - the type known as 'i-meeting'. All participants have equal status and no formal moderator is required.