7.6 Powerpoint Slides on the ViewStation

The ViewStation has a built-in web server that lets you present still slides (but not animations) from a MicroSoft Powerpoint presentation on the video monitors using a browser-based interface between the ViewStation and a PC.

The dialog between the PC and the ViewStation is managed by pcPresents, a software package that stores thumbnails of your slides in the ViewStation's flash memory so that the presentation can be controlled from the Polycom remote. Several different presentations may be loaded and named for use during a meeting. The PC must remain connected to the ViewStation via a web browser during the meeting. Slides presented in this way will be seen at the video resolution (small fonts will be hard to read) but with good color matching to what is on the PC's monitor.

• Write the Powerpoint presentation to a hard disk that is accessible from your site's video conferencing PC.

• On that PC, open the Internet Explorer browser configured to accept cookies and for Low security on the Intranet. (Unfortunately, neither Netscape nor higher security levels work adequately with the current Polycom/Powerpoint interface but we expect this to improve with later releases of the software).

• In the URL field, enter http:// followed by the IP address of your ViewStation:
  GB-aud: 192.33.117.146
  GB-conf: 192.33.117.144
  GB-conf2: 192.33.117.145
  CV-aud: 192.33.117.18
  CV-ER230: 192.33.117.16
  CV-ER311: 192.33.117.17
  CV-NTC400: 192.33.117.81
  SO-aud: 146.88.16.9
  SO-conf: 146.88.16.8
  SO-conf2: 146.88.16.10
  SO-West: 146.88.8.10
  TU-conf: 146.88.176.8
  VLA-conf: 146.88.17.8
  The Welcome web page for that video system should appear.
• Click on the Select a Presentation icon. A web page should appear including a button Press here to Select a PowerPoint Presentation

• Click on this button to obtain a pcPresents application window on the PC. This will prompt you for a user name and password that has been established for your ViewStation (get this from your local video conferencing technical contact person). Enter this information and press OK.

• A window will appear asking you to define a name and a password for the slide show. Assign a name that is meaningful to you, leave the password field blank, then click on the Please Press Here to Select a Presentation button.

• You will be presented with a File Management window for the disk(s) accessible from the PC. Use this to find and select your presentation file.

• Click on the pcPresents button to load the thumbnails from this presentation into the ViewStation.

• Pick up the ViewStation remote control and press its SLIDES button

• Select your presentation from the list of available titles, leave the password entry field blank again, and press SELECT on the remote control.

• Thumbnails of your slides will appear on the TV monitor. Use the ARROW buttons to point to the slide you wish to start with, then press SELECT again.

• The slide will be displayed on the monitor that shows your local (NEAR) video signal monitor. You should also see a slide icon with BACK and FORWARD arrows at the top right of the monitor showing your far video signal.

• Use the BACK and FORWARD arrow buttons on the remote control to move back and forward through your presentation. Press the UP arrow button to go to the first slide of the presentation. Press the DOWN arrow button to go to the end of the presentation. Press SELECT to end the presentation and return to sending live video. Press SLIDES to select another presentation.

This utility predates PolySnap (Section 7.5) and is more cumbersome to use. Its main advantage is that the slide presentation can be controlled entirely from the remote control and that it avoids the time delay associated with processing the computer screen to video frames during the presentation.

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