Microsoft Live Meeting
Encyclopedia
Microsoft Office Live Meeting is a commercial subscription-based web conferencing
service operated by Microsoft
. Live Meeting includes software that is installed on client PCs, and uses a central server for all clients to connect to. Currently, those servers are under the control of Microsoft, however, Microsoft also produces Microsoft Lync Server which is an enterprise conferencing server product.
and Solaris environments. The desktop client for Live Meeting is not compatible on the Mac in either Firefox or Safari
3.x , however non-Windows users can connect to a web-based Live Meeting, if the meeting organizer publishes an HTTP URL to access the meeting. According to Microsoft technical support on September 26, 2008, there is no release date planned for Safari 3.x compatibility.
Live Meeting is convergence software (i.e., allows integration with an audio conference). Using the web you are able to control PSTN
lines (mute all parties except your own, eject parties, etc.). User accounts are grouped together in Conference Centers (a unique URL) which starts with: www.livemeeting.com/cc/. . . or www.placeware.com/cc/. . . Users pay nothing to join a Live Meeting session. Charging for Live Meeting is done on an account basis. Supply of accounts is mostly done by resellers (Global Telecoms companies) who supply per minute or monthly standing charges.
Live Meeting Web Access (MWA) was redesigned in this release to provide a user experience that is nearly identical to the new Windows-based Live Meeting client. One huge benefit is that Live Meeting Web Access is a Java applet and therefore is available on non-Windows operating systems such as Linux, Solaris, and MacOS.
The Live Meeting product is also intended to operate with the Polycom CX5000 (formerly known as the Microsoft Roundtable
) which is a 360 degree video camera optimized to work with Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007. One new feature included in this version allows the Microsoft Office Live Meeting client to automatically switch the larger video window to the actively speaking participant. This auto-switch feature isn't specific to the Polycom CX5000 product - it will work with any USB-based camera. The main advantage of the CX5000 is its 360 degree camera view, which is suitable for conference rooms with several participants. With specially designed microphones, the CX5000 is able to determine the location of the active speaker and then tell Microsoft Office Live Meeting which camera angle to focus on.
. Microsoft acquired PlaceWare to improve upon NetMeeting, its own webconferencing technology. Microsoft subsequently dropped development of NetMeeting.
Web conferencing
Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...
service operated by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. Live Meeting includes software that is installed on client PCs, and uses a central server for all clients to connect to. Currently, those servers are under the control of Microsoft, however, Microsoft also produces Microsoft Lync Server which is an enterprise conferencing server product.
Overview
Microsoft Office Live Meeting is a separate piece of software which is installed on a user's PC (Windows Based Meeting Console). The software is available for free download from the Microsoft website. There is also a Java based console which has antecedent release functionality. This also operates in MacMac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and Solaris environments. The desktop client for Live Meeting is not compatible on the Mac in either Firefox or Safari
Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...
3.x , however non-Windows users can connect to a web-based Live Meeting, if the meeting organizer publishes an HTTP URL to access the meeting. According to Microsoft technical support on September 26, 2008, there is no release date planned for Safari 3.x compatibility.
Live Meeting is convergence software (i.e., allows integration with an audio conference). Using the web you are able to control PSTN
Public switched telephone network
The public switched telephone network is the network of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. It consists of telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables, all inter-connected by...
lines (mute all parties except your own, eject parties, etc.). User accounts are grouped together in Conference Centers (a unique URL) which starts with: www.livemeeting.com/cc/. . . or www.placeware.com/cc/. . . Users pay nothing to join a Live Meeting session. Charging for Live Meeting is done on an account basis. Supply of accounts is mostly done by resellers (Global Telecoms companies) who supply per minute or monthly standing charges.
Live Meeting 2007
With Live Meeting 2007 Microsoft offers both a hosted model for Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 as well as a CPE (customer premise equipment) solution, namely Office Communications Server 2007. In addition to Microsoft directly hosting Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007, hosting partners will also offer Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 as a fee-based service. Whether attendees use the Live Meeting service or the Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007) to power their web conference, they will use the same client to deliver a seamless meeting experience.- New features are
- Rich media presentations (incl. Windows Media and Flash)
- Live webcam video
- "Panoramic video" with Microsoft RoundTableMicrosoft RoundTableMicrosoft RoundTable was a videoconferencing device with a 360-degree camera that was designed to work with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Live Meeting. RoundTable provided remote meeting participants with panoramic video of everyone sitting around the conference...
- Multi-party two-way VoIP audio
- PSTN and VoIP audio integration
- Active speaker indicator
- Public events page
- Advanced testing and grading
- High fidelity recordings
- Personal recordings
- Virtual Breakout Rooms
- "Handout" distribution (File Transfer)
Live Meeting Web Access (MWA) was redesigned in this release to provide a user experience that is nearly identical to the new Windows-based Live Meeting client. One huge benefit is that Live Meeting Web Access is a Java applet and therefore is available on non-Windows operating systems such as Linux, Solaris, and MacOS.
The Live Meeting product is also intended to operate with the Polycom CX5000 (formerly known as the Microsoft Roundtable
Microsoft RoundTable
Microsoft RoundTable was a videoconferencing device with a 360-degree camera that was designed to work with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Live Meeting. RoundTable provided remote meeting participants with panoramic video of everyone sitting around the conference...
) which is a 360 degree video camera optimized to work with Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007. One new feature included in this version allows the Microsoft Office Live Meeting client to automatically switch the larger video window to the actively speaking participant. This auto-switch feature isn't specific to the Polycom CX5000 product - it will work with any USB-based camera. The main advantage of the CX5000 is its 360 degree camera view, which is suitable for conference rooms with several participants. With specially designed microphones, the CX5000 is able to determine the location of the active speaker and then tell Microsoft Office Live Meeting which camera angle to focus on.
History
Live Meeting was originally a separate company called PlaceWarePlaceWare
PlaceWare was founded in 1996 as a spin-off from Xerox PARC by Pavel Curtis, the founder of LambdaMOO, Mike Dixon, David Nichols, Richard Bruce, and Bob Krivacic.In 2003, Microsoft acquired PlaceWare and renamed its core product Microsoft Office Live Meeting....
. Microsoft acquired PlaceWare to improve upon NetMeeting, its own webconferencing technology. Microsoft subsequently dropped development of NetMeeting.
See also
- Comparison of office suites
- Web conferencingWeb conferencingWeb conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...
- Comparison of web conferencing softwareComparison of web conferencing softwareThis page is a comparison of web conferencing software available for various platforms.- Comparison chart :- Terminology :In the table above, the following terminology is intended to be used to describe some important features:...
- Collaborative softwareCollaborative softwareCollaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...