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Working and convening remotely/Cisco WebEx usage instructions

< Working and convening remotely
Please be advised that WebEx has been deprecated and the Foundation WebEx account is no longer in service.

 When to use WebEx edit

  • International conference calls
  • Audio-only conference call with Polycom SIP conference phone

WebEx bandwidth requirements edit

  • Minimum
    • Outbound from the participant: 330 kbps
    • Inbound to the participant: 245 kbps
  • Ideal
    • Outbound from the participant: 2.4 mbps
    • Inbound to the participant: 1.8 mbps

Two Ways to use WebEx edit

  • WebEx Meeting Center which, according to the Wikipedia article on WebEx, "[r]ecreates face-to-face meetings with real-time data, application, voice and video sharing capabilities." Essentially using computer software you can share your computer screen, share and collaboratively edit files, etc.
  • As an audio-only conference bridge both within the US and international

As the host please be sure you end the call when the meeting is over.

 Scheduling a WebEx meeting edit

  • Navigate to WebEx site and click “Log in”
  • Log in to your account
  • Click “Meeting Center”
  • Click “Schedule a Meeting” under the “Host a Meeting” menu
  • Enter the topic, date, time, duration & attendee email addresses
  • Click "Schedule Meeting"
  • Click “More information”
  • At this point your meeting is scheduled and you should have all the necessary information
  • The meeting number and access code are for attendees
  • The host key is for yourself, the host
  • Click “Global call-in numbers” for international dial-in information

At this point your meeting is scheduled and you should have all the necessary information. The meeting number and access code are for attendees. The host key is for yourself, the host. From this screen you'll also be able to search for global call-in numbers for other countries.

Note: By default, a meeting scheduled in this way will appear in the public calendar, which can be viewed by any Internet user without logging in. One possibility to avoid that is to use the "Advanced Scheduler" instead (linked under "Schedule a Meeting"), and untick the checkbox "List on calendar".

Calling Foreign Participants with No Local Foreign Number edit

Follow the instructions below when calling foreign participants for an audio only WebEx conference when there is no local foreign number in their country.

  • First, check the list of global dial-in numbers below to make sure there is no local number in the participant's country which they could be using.
  • Create the webex conference (see instructions above)
  • When it is meeting time Log into WebEx and join the meeting
  • A dialog box called "Audio Conference" pops up with the ability to "call me at a number"
  • Enter the phone # of the participant you want to connect to the meeting (this means we get billed for the call so it should be used when there is no local foreign number for participants to dial)
  • webex calls the participant at the number provided above and they are connected to the conference.
  • Note: You can also invite participants into an active meeting by going to the Participants menu and selecting Invite > by Phone...

Starting a Meeting Center Conference edit

Meeting Center is the software portion of WebEx. If you set up an audio only conference, simply dial the number and input the host/access code listed on your meeting invite.

  1. Go to the WebEx login page and click on the "Host Login" button in the upper right corner of the page.
  2. For username and password, see above. Press "Log in."
  3. Click on your meeting on the calendar. You should see a "start meeting" link to click. This will open the Meeting Center software.

Certain Browsers/Operating Systems Do Not Work with the Full-blown WebEx Meeting Center edit

You can always use (and should) WebEx for audio only calls, however, the full blown Meeting Center software that allows you to share your computer screen, etc has some quirks. Here is what we have found so far...

  • Chrome browser isn't supported. You must use Firefox or Safari;
  • Meeting Center doesn't officially support the most recent versions of popular Linux distributions (ie, the two newest Ubuntu versions (10.04 and 9.10) as of this writing). Older versions appear to work. Cisco's techs have more up-to-date support of Linux on their roadmap but no ETA
NOTE: To make WebEx Meeting Center work under Ubuntu 10.04 follow these directions.
  • If you are using a 64-bit installation of Ubuntu 12.04 (or greater), you must install the following packages to make the WebEx Meeting Center and Desktop Sharing work. Run the following commands in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install icedtea-7-plugin
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-gtk

Teleconference PhoneKey Functions edit

During the teleconference, you may use any of the following commands by entering them on your phone keypad. 

*1 Dialout
*8 Continue without Host
*5 Lock
*5 Unlock
## Mute All Attendees
99 Unmute All Attendees
*6 Mute self
*6 Unmute self
*# Play participant count
** DTMF Help

Global Call-in Numbers edit

You should always use the link in the email invitation to make sure you have the most up-to-date list of global numbers. See Working and convening remotely/Videoconference international phone dial numbers for more information.

WebEx Technical Support edit

  • U.S. & Canada Toll-Free: 1-866-229-3239
  • International Toll: +1-408-435-7088

Self-Service Technical Support Resources edit

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