IT Services
How to...
Quick start Guide to using AdobeConnect Pro at Sussex
This guide describes in detail how to set up and hold a meeting using the AdobeConnect Pro suite.
- Requirements
- Create a Meeting - The Adobe Connect Welcome Screen
- Inviting Guests
- Inviting External Guests
- Login to the Meeting & Check Equipment
- Checking your headphones and microphone
- Login to Adobe Connect Pro
- Enter the Adobe virtual meeting room as the host
- Camera Setup
- Audio Setup Wizard
- Using the Meeting Room screen
- Setup to ensure communication between host and participants
- Participant types
- Displaying (sharing) documents to Participants
- Broadcast video (using Camera and Voice Pod)
- Recording a Meeting
- Ending a Meeting
- Access / Edit a recorded meeting
- Delete a meeting
- Further help and Resources
Documentation adapted from information produced by David Walker, Dundee University.
Further information at the Adobe Connect website: www.adobe.com/resources/acrobatconnect/
See also Adobe Connect Pro Support Centre: www.adobe.com/support/connect/
1. Requirements
Please ensure that your browser is up-to-date. If you are using your own PC you will need
- the latest version of Adobe™ Flash Player installed
- audio speakers or headphones,
- microphone
- a webcam if you require video
If you are using one of the rooms in Fulton you need to arrange to collect a key to access the microphones. Please call 8090 and ask for the AV Support Team.
2 Creating a Meeting - The Adobe Connect Welcome Screen
If you wish to invite external attendees, please either use FireFox or manually email the link to them via your preferred email client (A bug in Internet Explorer causes invites to external users to fail.)
To create a meeting please visit the following URL and log in using your IT Services username and password: https://connectpro.sussex.ac.uk/
On the screen displayed, click on the My Meetings tab
From this page you will be able to create new meetings, import content for meetings such as presentation slides, audio file, animations and word-processed documents. You will also be able to view upcoming meetings in your calendar, and details of previous meetings under the “My Meetings” tab.
If you create a meeting then you are the ‘Host’. The host will invite colleagues to the meeting and they will show as ‘Participants’ .
To create a new meeting click on the 
button, you will then be prompted to provide the following information to set up your meeting.
- Name – This is the title for your meeting (no spaces allowed)
- URL – This should uniquely identify your meeting, for example https://connectpro.sussex.ac.uk/TestMeeting123
- Summary
- Start Time
- Duration
- Select a Template – Choose from:
- Shared Templates\Default Meeting Template
- Shared Templates\Default Event Template
- Share Templates\Default Training Template
- Language
- Access – Choose from:
- Only registered users may enter the room (guest access is blocked)
- Only registered users and accepted guests may enter (Default)
- Anyone who has the URL for the meeting may enter (use if inviting external people)
Do not select audio conferencing as most meetings will not require it.
Click the "Next" button.
3 Inviting Guests
When adding guests from within the University, simply click the "Search" button (search by Surname) and then click “Add”.
You can change the permissions each participant has in the meeting by selecting the user from the “Current Participants” panel and clicking “Permissions” then selecting the permissions you wish to allocate: Participant, Presenter, Host or Denied. All of the user permissions can be altered during the meeting by the Host.
To send the invitations out to the guests click “Next” once you have selected the users from the list. The following page will be displayed.
Move the selection to Send Invitations. NB: If you chose to allow anyone who has the URL to access this meeting then the Send Invitations screen above will look different and all participants will need to me emailed manually, see below.
Click “Finish” to send out the invites and complete the meeting creation process. If you wish to invite guests from outside of the University you can copy the content of the message body and send it via email.
4 Inviting External Guests
If you wish to invite external guests, please either use FireFox or manually email the link to them via your preferred email client as a bug in Internet Explorer causes invites to external users to fail.
To invite external guests who are not members of Sussex University the process is slightly different. When setting up the meeting, under the Access section, click ' Anyone who has the URL for the meeting can enter the room', see details below.
Click "Next"
Select the guests from the University that you wish to invite by searching, highlighting and clicking the "Add" button
Click "Next"
Click the "Send Email Invitations" button
An email message window will appear. Type the email addresses of the external participants. This will send the clickable web address for the meeting to the external guests.
5 Login to the Meeting & Check Equipment
5.1 Checking your headphones and microphone
Using Confernce enabled Seminar rooms, Fulton
If using one of the conference enabled seminar rooms please work through the steps below, otherwise go straight to 5.2 Login to Connect Pro below.
When the screen below is dsiplayed, select "Line-In Device (such as CD Player)" and click on "OK".
 |
Launch "Cyberlink PowerDirector" using the icon on the desktop. Click on the "Capture tab" and wait until a live image of the room appears. Close Power Director |
5.2 Login to Adobe Connect Pro
Launch Connect Pro from the desktop icon and login (or link https://connectpro.sussex.ac.uk/) and wait for the software to load. (NB do not ask it to remeber your password)
5.3 Enter the Adobe virtual meeting room as the host
Click onto the "My Meetings" tab and click on the green "Open" button for your meeting. You will be taken to the meeting.
5.4 Camera Setup
From the Menu bar select "Meeting", "Manage My Settings", "Select Camera".
Select your Camera (for Fulton use AVerMedia DBA Analog Capture).
Click on Close
Turn on the Camera Pod if not already showing. From the menus select Pods, select Camera and Voice.
 |
Click on "Start Camera and Voice". When the Microphone and camera dialog box appears, click on "Allow" . Click the Camera and Pod options button, select High Bandwidth. Select Camera and Pod options again choose Standard. |
5.5 The Audio Setup Wizard
It is highly recommended that you run the “Audio Setup Wizard” before your meeting. This will test your headset/microphone/speakers and ensure that your hardware is functioning as it should. We also strongly recommend that you use a headset and microphone combination, rather than a webcam microphone and built-in speakers.
After entering the meeting select Meeting, then Manage my Settings and select Audio Setup Wizard. Follow the on screen instructions to complete the step-by-step process:
Audio Setup 0 of 5 - On the screen below, simply click Next.
Step 1 of 5 Sound Output: Checks that headphones or speakers are working
The click the Test/Play button. Click the next button if the sound is working (NB: If no sound is available please check the audio settings on the PC. Start > Control Panel > Hardware and sound > Adjust system volume and check the sound has not been muted or set too low)
Step 2 of 5 Select Microphone: You may have to select your device from a pull-down
Select your microphone. (For Fulton select Rear/input....)
Step 3 of 5 Test Microphone: Makes a recording to test that your microphone is working
Step 4 of 5 Test Silence Level: This will set the sound level from the level of background noise in your office
Step 5 of 5 Click "Finish", you may find that you see a summary of the settings.
6 Using the Adobe Meeting Room Screen
When you enter a meeting, your screen will consist of a number of “pods”, each of which performs a specific function. A typical setup might look something like this: Sharing, Chat, Attendee List and Note.
- Attendees Pod - allows change to attendee status and assign microphone rights from the Attendee List.
- Allows participants to comment or attract the attention of hosts and presenters.
- Push the “Talk” button to transmit your voice. Use the “Hands Free” button to broadcast continually (broadcasting when button is grey). Click the pull-down to change volume settings
The large grey area of the Sharing pod is the focal point of the meeting. From here you can share documents and use a whiteboard. It is possible to share the entire screen, individual windows or specific applications. Compatible file types for sharing are Powerpoint (.ppt), Flash (.flv and .swf), images (.jpg), sound (.mp3) and compressed folders (.zip). FlashPaper can convert printable documents in other formats to Flash. To use other file types you will need to Share your computer, see 9. Displaying (sharing) documents to Particiants .
When working as a Host you will also have three standard layouts, Sharing, Discussion and Collaboration. You may also create aditional, personalised layouts using the + tab.
7 Setup to ensure communication between host and participants
During the set-up process, meeting hosts should select a connection speed for the meeting which is compatible with that of the attendee who has the slowest form of connection. Choosing a combination of bandwidth/image quality will benefit those attendees who have slower connections. If possible choose High Bandwidth and Standard.
8 Participant types
There are three levels of user in Adobe Connect Pro and the host needs to set up the participants with the correct permissions level so that they can contribute to the meeting.
Hosts: Can create meetings and send out the invitations, add and share documents, change the meeting room layout, promote and demote users and create breakout rooms.
Presenters: Can broadcast video and audio and share content that is already being used in the meeting room as well as material that is on their own computer.
Participants: Can view video or listen to audio broadcast by Host or Presenter. They are also able to use text chat.
- Attendee pod. To change user role, highlight name in attendee list and then click the “Set User Role” button. You can choose Participant, Host and Presenter, or use the menu option, Present and choose the appropriate role.
- As a Host you can also assign individual rights to particular attendees. Click the “Pod Options” button at the bottom right corner of the attendee list and then “Change Enhanced Participant Rights”. You can then select various options from the pop-up window that appears.
9. Displaying (sharing) documents to Particiants
When sharing information with Particpants you can choose to share your entire screen (during which time you will only be able to see your computer screen) or you can use the Share option to show a document in the Share Pod, allowing you to see the other active pods, eg partiipant, chat.
9.1 To share the entire screen
- Using the What do you want to share? click My Computer Screen...
- Select Desktop and then Share from the options window that appears
Once you have completed your meeting navigate back to Connect Pro. It is now safe to end the meeting.
9.2 To open in the Share pod
Using the Sharing pod buttons click on Documents and choose Select from My Computer.
Browse to your file (PowerPoint) and select Open.
10 Broadcast video (using the Camera and Voice pod)
If you are planning to broadcast a video of your meeting, make sure your camera is set up and plugged in. You must also make sure that there is a Camera and Voice pod on each layout that you intend to use. To turn the pod Camera and Voice pod on and off use the Pods menu.
Click the Pods menu, “Camera and Voice” button and when the “Camera and Microphone Access” pop-up appears, click “Allow”.
Video is now broadcast via the Camera and Voice pod to all attendees. Please note that audio is broadcast automatically with video.
To mute the audio, click the “Hands Free” button (broadcasting when button is grey). When audio is in use a small icon of a loud speaker moves next to the host/participant name in the Attendee pod.
Pause video and mute audio (host's only) by hovering over your name in the Camera and Voice pod and clicking the icons that appear.
11 Recording a meeting
Meetings can be recorded for future use. The whole session will be recorded – video, audio and any screen/desktop sharing.
From the Meeting menu select “Record Meeting”.Complete the screen then click “OK”. A message is displayed on the screen and a small red dot is shown in the top right of the screen.
To stop recording click on the small red dot shown in the top right of the screen.
The meeting will be saved to the Adobe Connect server.
12 Ending a meeting
To end the meeting, select “Meeting” from the menu, then “End Meeting”.
You can then enter a message into the pop-up, which anyone trying to access the meeting will see.
If you close the meeting window rather than ending the meeting, it will still be available, and any users with the URL will be able to access it.
13 Access / Edit a recorded meeting
Go to the Adobe Connect Pro homepage select “Meetings” from the grey menu bar.
All the meetings you have created will appear in the list. Select the meeting you want to look at and then from the meeting information page, select “Recordings”.
Any meetings you have recorded will appear here. Select the meeting. This URL is a direct link to the recording and can be added to your Study Direct course or emailed so that it can be viewed.
On the next page, click the URL to view it.
It is also possible to edit a recording, removing unwanted passages. Click the “Edit Recording” button and a recording of the meeting will appear, along with a simple toolbar.
The controls are very simple. Drag the pointers to the start and end points of the sections you want to remove, click “Crop” and, when finished, “Save”.
14 Delete a meeting
Go to the Adobe Connect main interface page and select “Meetings” from the grey menu bar. All the meetings you have created will appear in the list.
Place a tick against the meeting(s) to be deleted abd click the Delete button and confirm that you wish to continue.
15 Further Help and Resources
The Resources tab provides further online information or on-line tutorials can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/connect/gettingstarted/index.html
Please ensure you log out from the system once finished by clicking Log Out from the top right hand corner of the webpage.
created on 2010-02-03 by Sandy Radford
last updated on 2012-12-19 by Samantha Jane Elmer