Getting connected to your Virtual Meeting Room is Easy.
With the right video collaboration software attendees can choose their mode of communication depending on what's right for them at any given period of time. You can choose to make a voice call, chat or video call from one team collaboration app. What if you just want to make a SIP call? Different operating systems, platforms and connectivity often make access less than optimal. Even ‘standards’ that are supposed to make things easier can get in the way, as two vendors choose implementations that are valid, but different. And then there are the people that NEED to be in the meeting, but cannot (or will not) connect for themselves. On the extreme end of this would be people that still use the PSTN networks; how would you connect them?
A couple of scenarios:
- Phone bridges are pretty common in Video Conference products. Publish a number that prompts people for a meetingID; enter it and you’re in.
- Some more recent approaches use dynamically generated, one time call in numbers available by clicking a link. OK for computing devices, but not for POTS lines.
Both of the solutions above require advance setup, through integration with your equipment, or additional resources from your vendor. Either choice requires additional expense and complexity, and worst of all it requires users to DO something new and different.
Here’s a novel idea: Why not just call the person you want to have in the meeting? Or have them call you, on your regular number? Then, once the call is connected click and add them to the meeting…
This is what the next generation Professional Client in Viewme from eZuce allows you to do. Register the client to any existing SIP system, with your login and password to enable SIP calling right from your desktop.
When you’ve done that voila! The Phone icon appears on the control bar.
Make or accept a call to any phone number to be placed ‘in’ the meeting.
“BUT!” you say “Won’t everyone in the meeting hear you talking?
Great point, and one that is best addressed by having Sidebar Conversations as a core feature in the collaboration product. In Viewme it’s called Aparte, and allows any two people to have a private voice conversation separate from the meeting. (Actually with the newest release you can also Screen Share privately, but that’s a different story.)
So what YOU see is this, with the option to still hear the meeting being conducted:
And what the people in the meeting see is that you’re connected to an outside line.
By simply clicking the “Join to the Meeting” icon the remote person is added to the meeting as a full audio participant. Easy peasy, using the equipment, services, numbers and actions that are well known and understood you can connect anyone in the world to your Virtual Meeting Room, conference or any other type of Viewme Video Collaboration session. It’s all part of the coming wave of Unified Communications as a mashup.
Exciting stuff? The right video collaboration tool can save you money and make employees more productive! Read
You can also contact us for a demonstration or a Trial Meeting at contact@eZuce.com, or by calling 978-296-1005
