Subject: Re: [vmeet] Comments on today's vMeet webex session

From: "Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009 12:02:56 +0200

Hi everybody,

sorry for the delay in providing my feedback to this session - in my
defense, may I say that I was travelling and actually working to earn
a living (rather than spending time on way too many pro-bono projects
:-) ) - still, I'm sorry, and I hope this is not coming too late when
memories have faded & the iron isn't hot anymore.

Just a few notes/questions wrt the Webex experience:

- I connected via an overloaded 8M ADSL line in London, which
initially started out as poor connectivity to the Webex Web site. It
took me more than 10 minutes to get the meeting pages loading,
re-trying several times after the program hung and did not load.
Easing the load on the ADSL line finally allowed me to get online, 
although still with some difficulty.

- For a fully accessible IETF e-meeting, we should be able to
establish if each software we test can run under various platforms,
from a Pentium II running Win 95 to the latest multi-processor machine
running Win 7, through various guises of Linux, Macs etc. That's why I
was hoping that e-meeting participants provide a list of
the problems they encountered alongside what type of hardware/software
they were using. For example, we found out that smaller screen size /
larger zoom, made the whiteboard and/or presentations jump on screen
when the person having its control was moving the cursor around.
Should we establish minimum technical set-up for a satisfactory
e-meeting experience? Minimum screen resolution/size? Can I access
the Webex visual experience through my iPOD/Nokia/Blackberry?

- a question I forgot to ask at the time of the experiment: if the
telephone call drops out during the meeting, does one have to log-out
from the online e-meeting & log-in again in order to re-establish the
telephone call?

- bad telephone lines: I think that we had no participants calling
with a bad telephone line - say, some satellite-routed calls having
echo, digital distorsion, loud background noise. How does the Webex
software deal with those? I've read your notes re: echo, but what
about the rest? Can participants be arbitrarily muted by the meeting
controller? (also good to dispense of people wishing to tune-in to
purposely disrupt the meeting)

Last but not least, I'd like to echo everybody else in thanking Eliot
for setting this experiment up. When's the next one?

Kind regards,

Olivier

-- 
Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD
http://www.gih.com/ocl.html

---

From: Eliot Lear <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 02 May 2009 13:25:18 +0200

> the Webex visual experience through my iPOD/Nokia/Blackberry?

WebEx supports multiple platforms, including the iPhone.  I don't know 
about Nokia or Blackberry.

> from the online e-meeting & log-in again in order to re-establish the

No.  Under the participant menu you can have the system call you again, 
or you can dial into a local number and enter your attendee id to 
associate phone call with your login.
> purposely disrupt the meeting)

Yes.

> for setting this experiment up. When's the next one?

This is a good question.  Some had asked for another WebEx session to 
try their hands at being host.  I will hold such a session on the 19th 
of May at 8:00am PDT.  If there is any interest from people in the Far 
East I can also hold a second session at a more convenient time for them.

Eliot

---

From: Doug Otis <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 12:12:04 -0700

Eliot,

The WebEx tool appears well optimized for telephone bridges.  WebEx  
offers most of what is needed to enable remote presentations, once  
feeds to the room PA have been addressed.  (Something like Asus Eee  
B202 and BTC 9019 wireless media keyboard w/joystick/mouse for Ubuntu/ 
Mac/Windows at about $300/room should satisfy necessary hardware wired  
to the room.)  WebEx does not require changes to facilitate remote  
only interim meetings.  In addition, optional video feeds may make  
WebEx sessions too demanding for some networks.

One issue lacking in the WebEx tools are mechanisms to facilitate  
typical microphone queues within most IETF meetings.  There is no  
queuing function provided by WebEx, and only the host can see who has  
their hand raised icon set.   The expense of telephone bridges may  
mean this will not address all audio needs.  One might envision using  
VoIP services such as Vonage, or Skype with a voice mail feature to  
implement a low cost remote microphone queue without burdening the  
WebEx telephone bridge while minimizing teleco related expenses.

To be better prepared  for Stockholm, it also seems there should also  
be experiments run using a system wired into a room PA and digital  
projector conveying the WebEx session.  This would better approximate  
actual use within typical IETF meetings.   It also seems any BCP  
document needs to cover issues created by mixed local/remote  
meetings.  While some might want a BCP for remote only WebEx meetings,  
this would duplicate the efforts of the vendor.  It is where the  
application is being used in atypical configurations, that additional  
information becomes essential.  This documentation might even include  
hardware wiring and various control use.

Once these atypical details are covered, the IETF should setup  
practice WebEx presentation services to ensure both local and remote  
presenters are better prepared.  Practice with this tool should better  
ensure that its use will not slow an IETF meeting's progress.

-Doug