MeetingServer Features

Conferencing Features

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Interactive web conferencing tools

MeetingServer incorporates all of the essential web conferencing features in an attractive and easy-to-use interface.

Whiteboard		Draw diagrams that explain your ideas, or highlight and annotate presentations and documents. Take a snapshot of the whiteboard and add it to your presentation.
Application sharing		Share individual applications or the entire desktop. Collaborate in real-time on documents, spreadsheets or any other information, including input from remote participants.
Slide shows		Give slide shows to hold the audience's attention during presentations by showing pre-loaded PowerPoint and JPEGs. High performance ensures that slide transitions during a presentation are instantaneous. Instantly create new slides during the conference by taking snapshots of whiteboard, applications or annotated slides. Download and save slides locally.
Full-screen view		Take advantage of the full screen size when sharing applications, whiteboard, slides or the whole desktop.
Web video		Send a real-time webcam video stream into the conference. Video improves communication by making a remote conference more like being in the same room.
Recording		Record both the data and audio parts of the conference as a single, synchronised Windows Media Format archive. Keep meeting recordings for audit purposes, or to allow viewing of the conference via Windows Media Player at a later time.
Discussion		Use single or multi-party text messaging for private or public communications.
Polling/voting		Use polling and voting to make a meeting interactive and engaging. Create single or multiple response voting slides.
Easy-to-use interface		Meetings are easy to join and easy to use, with intuitive menus and comprehensive help text.

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Audio bridge integration

MeetingServer unites the phone and the desktop, seamlessly linking the audio and web sharing aspects of a conference.

Integrated roster		View and control participants in an audio conference from the desktop. MeetingServer matches the phone calls on the audio bridge with the participants on a web conference, so that both audio and visual modes are integrated. The powerful audio conference interface is ideal for audio conference control, even where no web conferencing features are required.
Active speaker indicator		Visual indication of the current speaker helps distinguish participants in a call.
Audio conference controls		By integrating closely with the audio bridge, MeetingServer can provide desktop controls for muting or forcing off participants, and for locking the conference.
Outdial		Enter the phone number, and MeetingServer generates a call from the audio bridge to a new conference participant.

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Conference management

MeetingServer's intuitive approach means it has never been easier to start and manage conferences.

Reservationless conference		Start a conference at any time by entering a pre-assigned conference reference and security code at the MeetingServer logon page. Alternatively, conference URLs can be published on a web page or document, or included in a scheduling mechanism, and a single-click starts the conference at any time.
Participants		Participants can be Presenters, who have the ability to control the conference, or Attendees. Presenters and Attendees are assigned different security codes for entering the conference. Presenters can easily promote Attendees to have Presenter privileges during a conference.
Instant invitations		A single menu click generates an email invitation containing the conference URL.
Recording management		Publish recordings with titles and comments, with a login code to ensure only authorized users access them. Link to a published recording using the its unique URL.
Administrator interface		Conferencing service operator can easily create new conference references, and add or update security codes.

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Integration and deployment

Setting up a MeetingServer conferencing deployment is easy - even if you need it to integrate with other services.

Customization		MeetingServer has a fully customizable and rebrandable user interface to project your own look-and-feel. Internationalize MeetingServer by simply modifying text files.
Reservationless model		MeetingServer uses reservationless, "on demand" conference scheduling. This facilitates integration with existing scheduling and authorization schemes and requires no integration or duplication of scheduling databases.
Audio Hardware		MeetingServer supports several third-party IP and PSTN audio bridges to offer a tightly integrated combined web and phone-based audio and data conferencing solution. Different audio bridges can be used in a single MeetingServer deployment, presenting a unified conference bridge interface to users.
Authentication		Many deployments require users to be authenticated against existing, external authentication and authorization systems before joining the conference. MeetingServer provides a straightforward authentication API for this purpose, avoiding any need to integrate, duplicate or synchronize user databases.
Billing		MeetingServer writes billing information to a database. It is simple to configure MeetingServer to write this information into the appropriate fields of an existing, external billing database to combine web and audio conferencing details.
Professional Services		Data Connection's Professional Services team will assist with training, integration and deployment, and offers round-the-clock technical support.

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Implementation and architecture

MeetingServer is entirely developed in-house by Data Connection, leveraging over twenty years of experience to provide a scalable, reliable high-performance solution.

Firewall-friendly		MeetingServer conferences run entirely over either http or https, avoiding the need for complex firewall configurations. Participants do not pre-install a client prior to using MeetingServer. Everything needed to participate in a conference is automatically provided when a participant's browser connects to the MeetingServer.
Scalability		A single server can support hundreds of concurrent clients, and for a large deployment, MeetingServer scales to thousands of simultaneous conferences and a user community of millions on a single server farm installation.
Server-farm architecture		As demand increases, grow the service by adding hardware without downtime. The architecture also ensures a highly available service with no single point of failure.
Security		MeetingServer supports Secure Sockets Layer for full meeting security. Meeting attendees require a conference security code to access both live conferences and recorded meetings.
Performance		The server uses adaptive bandwidth management and automatic background reconnection to optimize the use of all types and qualities of client network connection.
Platforms		Server: Windows 2000 & 2003 (Intel servers). Clients: Windows, Mac OS X Browsers: Microsoft IE, Netscape