Telepresence System User Guide

Version 3.0.1

Introduction

This User Guide describes how the Telepresence equipment works and the features included in the Telepresence computer program.

Audio/Visual Equipment

The Telepresence system (Telepresence) uses several pieces of audio/video equipment and a computer program which runs on your Macintosh computer.

You have on your desk:

• a camera which sends your picture to the other person
  
• a television monitor which shows the picture of the person you are talking to
  
• a speaker which plays the speech of the person you are talking to
  
• a microphone which plays your speech to the other person
  

Each of these is linked directly into Telepresence through special wiring. Each piece of equipment also needs to be plugged into a power outlet and turned on.

The ITRC Telepresence system operates like a telephone system except that you use your computer to make calls and to hang-up. The system handles all the connections for you, so you interact only with the computer screen.

The Troubleshooting section at the end of this document describes how to check your equipment if there are any problems. Ideally, your power bar should be left ON and each of the four pieces of equipment listed above should also be left ON at all times.

Using the Telepresence System

There are two things you need to do to use the Telepresence system. First you need to login to the system to inform the Telepresence system that you are in your office. Once the system knows that you are available, it allows other people to contact you. If you have not logged in you will not be accessible through Telepresence. See the section Logging in for full details.

The next thing you need to do is start the Telepresence program. This is the program that lets you call other people. It is described in the section called The Telepresence Program.

Logging in

Telepresence Login Window

Your computer account name will be automatically put in the User name box (where it says "your-name"). You should not have to change this.

The first time you start up your computer you will have to enter your password in the Password box. It will show up as a series of dots so no one can read your password. (If you do not know your password please contact the Telepresence technical support person.) Only authorized people may use the Telepresence system.

• if your computer name is not shown correctly, type it in the User name box.
  
• type your password in the Password box.

After you have successfully logged in to the ITRC Telepresence system for the first time, you may not want to be bothered by the login prompt every time you turn on your computer. If you don't want Telepresence to ask you for your password every time you login, then the next time you login do steps 1, 2, and then step 3:

• select the Don't ask for passwordoption.

ALTERNATELY You can turn the request for password back on from the File menu of the Telepresence program. If the password feature is currently turned off, the menu item will appear as :

Ask for password.

When the feature is on, a check mark will appear in front of the menu item as

[[radical]] Ask for password

By selecting this item, you can turn off or turn on the Startup Window.

You can control other's ability to contact you using the door states feature of the Telepresence program. You may set your door state when you register or you may change it any time in the future. Your current door state is highlighted. (The door state meanings are described in the section Setting Your Door States .) To change your door state point to the desired door picture and click your mouse button.

• set your Accessibility by selecting one of the door states.

• select the button.

You are now ready to use the Telepresence system.

Starting the Telepresence Program

There are two ways to start the Telepresence program:

• select the Telepresence item from the Apple menu,

• double-click the Telepresence icon on your desktop.

If you have not yet logged in you will see the login window, as described above. It takes several seconds for the system to start up while it checks to see who else is available and who is away, so be patient. In a few moments you will see the Telepresence window.

The Telepresence Window

Telepresence Window

The individual parts of the Telepresence window are described from top to bottom.

Close box In the top left corner of the window is a close box (shown above). If you point to this box and click your mouse the window can be closed (or hidden) in the same way as any other Macintosh programs. This is described in more detail in the next section.

Your Door State

The icon of the door indicates your current accessibility. The icon is either an open door, a slightly open door, a closed door or a locked door. See the section Setting Your Door States for more details.< p>

Message Box To the right of your door state is a message box. Messages give you information about what the system is doing. You will also see messages here if a person's line is busy or if they are unavailable. You will hear a tone whenever a new message appears to remind you to look at the status line. Messages are removed once the action about which they provide information is complete.

Name list The names of people you can contact are in the name list. Names which appear in grey show people who are currently not registered with the system and cannot be contacted. Names which are appear in black show those people who are logged in. Choosing names and making calls is described in detail later in this document.

Other people's door states:

The tiny door icons to the left of the names in the name list let you know other people's door settings. When you are in contact with a person in the list this icon changes to a check mark.

Special Items in the Name List:

Outside line This item will allow you to place video calls to non-internal locations. It will also allow you to receive incoming video calls from external locations. See the section Outside Video Calls for more details.

Project Room This item allows you to connect directly to the CSRI Project Room (Pratt 376), in Toronto. In this way you can attend a meeting in the Project Room while remaining in your office.

ICR Board Room This item allows you to connect directly to the ICR Board Room (Davis Centre 1331), in Waterloo. In this way you can attend a meeting in the ICR Board Room while remaining in your office.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You should be extremely careful when contacting either the CSRI Project Room or the ICR Board Room. You don't want to accidentally jump into another meeting that may be taking place in those rooms.

Buttons There are several buttons under the name list. When they appear in black they are enabled, and can be selected. When these buttons appear in grey it means they are disabled, and cannot be selected. Buttons are explained in detail later in this document.

Comment There is a small button in the bottom right corner of the Telepresence window, the Comment button. Select this to send a message to the system administrator of the Telepresence system. When you select the button, a window will pop up allowing you to type a message.

Comment box

Here are some occasions when you would select the Comment button:

• bug whenever anything happens that you think is a bug, press the button and do your best to explain precisely what seemed to go wrong.

• uncertainty if you don't know how to do something, or if you don't know what will happen if you do something else, use this option.

• surprises when something happens that you didn't expect, use this option and describe what you thought was going to happen.

• complaintsif you don't like the way something works or doesn't work, make your complaints here

• suggestionsif you can think of ways of improving the system, let usknow

• comments use this to comment on any aspect of the system

Setting Your Door States

Door states determine whether another Telepresence user can walk into your office by video, glance at you, and whether they have to request permission before making contact. All calls and glances will be announced with a tone regardless of your door state. The door states have the following meanings:

                 Glance              Ask                                                 
                         Contact  Permission                                             
 Open            yes     yes         no      * others may contact your office without   
                                              having to ask for permission. * others     
                                              may glance into your office.               
 Ajar            yes     yes         yes     * others may contact you but you must      
                                              explicitly accept the call. * others may   
                                              glance into your office                    
 Closed           no     yes         yes     * others may contact you but you must      
                                              explicitly accept the call * others may    
                                              not glance at you at any time              
 Locked           no     no          n/a     * no-one may contact you or glance at      
                                              you while your door state is locked        

To change your door state:

• 1. Click on your door icon to the left of the message box. A window containing the four possible door settings appears.

• 2.Click on the door setting you want. The door setting window will go away and your door will be set to the new selection.

  Your door icon will show the setting you have just chosen. Others will see this setting next to your name in their Telepresence Window.

  

  Window to change door setting

  Mirror Button

  Select the button to see what you look like to other people in the Telepresence system. It connects your camera to your monitor. The button remains highlighted (black) while the mirror is on. If you make or receive calls while the mirror is on, the mirror will go away during the call and return at the end of it.

  Select the button again to turn the mirror off.

  Window Button

  Select the button to see the electronic window on your monitor. The button remains highlighted (black) while the window is on. If you make or receive calls, the video window will go away during the call and return at the end of it.

  Select the button again to turn the window off.

  The Window feature will be highlighted while you have the video window open.

  Glancing

  Select the button to glance into someone's office. A glance is a video only connection between you and the person at whom you are glancing. You may only glance at someone if their door is open or ajar. Similarly, others may only glance at you if your door is open or ajar.

  The people you are glancing at will hear a distinct tone, which is different from the Telepresence contact tone. They will, of course, see you glancing.

  NOTE: You can only glance at people who are at your own local site. i.e. Waterloo people may glance only at other Waterloo people, and Toronto people may glance only at other Toronto people.

  The button will be highlighted whenever you have selected someone in the name list at whom you can glance. It will remain disabled (grey) when you cannot glance at the person.

  NOTE: If you cannot glance at the name selected it might be because that user is at a remote site or because the person's current door state prevents glancing. In either of these cases the button will remain disabled (grey).

  Contacting Telepresence users

  When you select a person from the name list, and their door is not locked, the button is enabled (it turns black). (Note that you cannot select the name of a person who is not logged in, and their names are show in grey). Select the button to contact that person.

  If their door is open, they will hear a tone and will be automatically connected with you.

  If their door is ajar or closed they will first be asked if they want to receive your call. They will be presented with a dialog box which looks like this:

  

  Contact Request dialog box.

  They can select to receive your call, and a full audio/video connection will be established between you.

  The person you are contacting may be on the telephone or have a visitor and decide that they cannot talk to you right now. They can select , and you will be informed that they are busy, and an audio/video connection will not be established.

  If the person you are trying to contact is away from their office, in a few seconds your message box will indicate that they did not answer. In this case we say the call request has "timed out."

  IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT LONG DISTANCE CALLS

  If the name you have chosen is someone at a distant location, it will take longer to setup the call. You will also notice that the picture is not as good, since the call goes over long distance telephone lines. These calls need special equipment located at both your location and also at the distant location. If this equipment is already in use at either end the call cannot not go through and you will get a BUSY message.

  HANGING UP BEFORE THE OTHER PERSON HAS ANSWERED

  At present you cannot hang up a call until it is answered or it "times out" (See above).

  Multi-Person Calls

  You can have a video call with up to three other people at one time. This is done exactly the same way as making a call to one person. You begin by making a call to one person.
  • Choose a name and select the button.

  When this first call is established the contact button changes to an add button. At this point there are two of you in the call. You can now add a third person to the call.

  • Choose another name and select the button.

  Your screen will be divided into quadrants, and each of the three people in the meeting will be in one of the quadrants. The fourth quadrant will be blank. You can now add a fourth person to the call.

  • Choose another name and select the button.

  The fourth person is added to the fourth quadrant of the screen. You are unable to add any more participants to the call, and the add button is disabled (grey).

  IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WATERLOO

  Because of the limitations in the currently available transmission equipment, only one person from Waterloo may be added to a meeting with Toronto.

  Hangup

  When you are in a video call the button is enabled.

  Hangup from a person-to-person call

  Select the button to end the call. This button acts much like hanging up the telephone. Your connection with the other person will be finished.

  Hangupfrom a multi-person call

  In a multi-person call there are three or four people in the call. Select the button to end your own involvement in the call. This button acts much like hanging up the telephone from a conference call. Your connection with the other people will be finished, but they can continue to talk among themselves.

  IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • after you hangup, the other people in the multi-person call continue to be connected, and may continue their discussions.
    
  • when one person hangs up from a three-person meeting, the remaining two people revert to normal face-to-face conversation (the quadrants go away).

  Hangup When You Added a Person at a Remote Site

• If you selected the CONTACT or ADD buttons to contact a person at a remote site, a slightly different thing occurs when you press HANGUP. Let's say you added a person named Bob who is in a remote site. When you press HANGUP you may be asked something like:

  Do you want to hangup on Bob ? CANCEL OK

  • If you select CANCEL neither you nor Bob will be disconnected. If you select OK both you and Bob will be disconnected. There may be no way for you to hangup yourself and leave Bob in the call.

    This may be modified in a future release of the Telepresence system.

    Outside Video Calls

    The outside line... item in the name list allows you to place a video call to any location with a Telepresence system, and to any site with a standard videoconferencing facility.

    Choosing outside line... and selecting will connect you to the outside video line and display the following window:

    

    Outside Video Line Window

    You may return to the Telepresence window at any time by pressing CANCEL. The Outside Video Line Window will automatically close. If you have made any video calls, you will be disconnected from your outside video line. You may also click in the Close Box in the upper left corner of the window to close the window and disconnect from the outside video line.

    To dial an outside video call

    To place an outside video call you will need to know the video phone numbers of the place you are calling. Usually two phone numbers are used.
    • Select "outside line..." from the name list.

    If the outside line is already in use by someone else, you will see a busy message in the message box.

    • Select .

    • the Outside Video Line Window will appear.

    • Telepresence will connect you to its outside video line.

    • Select the box labeled "Line 1:" and type in the first video number.

    • Select the box labeled "Line 2:" and type in the second video number. If there is only one video number, skip this step.

    • Press the button.

    • the Telepresence system will dial the numbers.

    • Your video monitor will go blank and show the numbers being dialed.

      Note: Telepresence remembers the numbers you last dialed. The next time you select "Outside line...", the last numbers you dialed will appear in Line 1 and Line 2. You can replace it with new numbers or you can press DIAL to call the same location.

      To speed dial an outside video call

      Numbers that are commonly called by Telepresence are accessed through the Speed Dial Box which is located above Line 1. When the name of a location is selected from this list, the video numbers of the location will automatically appear in Line 1 and Line 2. New numbers can be added to this list by contacting your system administrator.

      Receiving Outside Video Calls

      If you are expecting an incoming video call from outside the Telepresence system, you will need to use this feature to receive the call.
      • Select "outside line..." from the name list

    • If the outside line is already in use by someone else, you will see a busy message in the message box.

    • Select .

  • the Outside Video Line Window will appear.

  • Telepresence will connect you to its outside video line.

  • Click on .

  • You will see a blank screen on your video monitor until the outside person calls in. The outside caller will be directly connected to your office.

  • The Outside Video Line Window will go away.

  To stop waiting for a call or to end an outside video call

  • Select from the Telepresence Window.

  *Outside video calls can be part of a multiparty call only in Toronto because of limitations in the connection equipment currently available.

  Moving and Hiding the Telepresence Window

  When you are not using the Telepresence system you can hide (or close) the window in one of two ways:
  • click on the close box (upper left corner),
  or
  • select the Close menu item under the File menu.

  When the window is hidden a small picture or icon will appear on your screen see below). Selecting this icon will Open the window again.

  

  Telepresence Icon (when window is hidden)

  Both the window and the icon can be moved around on your screen and placed in the most convenient location.

  To move the icon, point to it and hold the mouse button down. Drag the picture to the new location. Let your mouse button up when you have the picture placed where you want it.

  To move the window, point to the Telepresence title at the top of the window and hold the mouse button down. Drag the window to the new location. Let your mouse button up when you have the window placed where you want it.

  The system will remember where you have left things.

  Quitting the Telepresence Program

  You should leave the Telepresence program running while you are available during the day. This ensures that your colleagues can reach you if they wish.

  If you accidentally quit the program

  If you accidentally select the Quit menu item from the File menu you will no longer be registered with the system. You re-start the Telepresence programs described in the section Starting the Telepresence Program. You will be asked to login again.

  Conference Room Administrators

  Each location is provided with a pair of buttons for facilitating group meetings and traditional videoconferences. These buttons are available only on computers belonging to the conference room administrators.

  

  Conference Room buttons

  This button connects the CSRI Project Room directly to the ICR Board Room, for a room to room videoconference.

  (Toronto only)

  (Waterloo only)

  This button connects the CSRI Project Room directly to the Toronto codec (in Waterloo it connects the ICR Board Room to the Waterloo codec). Pressing this button sets up the room to be like a traditional videoconferencing room. Dialing the codec and other videoconferencing controls are done in the room with the PictureTel keypad and other controls. See the ITRC Videoconferencing managers for more details.

  When a meeting is in progress, the button will appear highlighted (in black) on the screen of the administrator who selected the meeting button.

  To end a meeting press the button again, and the button will toggle back to the unhighlighted state.

  A IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE MEETING FEATURE

  The meeting administrator should not turn off their Macintosh, nor should they quit the Telepresence program (using the Quit menu item in the File menu) during any video meeting. Doing either of these may prematurely end the video meeting.

  File Sharing

  You can use standard Apple Macintosh techniques to share files with co-workers. These techniques allow you to copy files to/from co-workers' computers or a central file server. The complete details on Macintosh file sharing are available in your Macintosh Reference manual, but here are a few pointers.

  Control Panel : User & Groups

  You can use this utility to decide who has access to your files. You create users, give them passwords, and define groups of users.

  IMPORTANT NOTE: You assign a password to each person who has access to your files. These passwords are for your computer only. If you change any person's password on your computer, it will not affect their password on any other system.

  IMPORTANT NOTE: There are many people who can 'see' your computer over the network. This includes many people at the Universities of Toronto and Waterloo whom you don't know. All of these people have <Guest> access to your computer. Use the File Menu : Sharing ... menu to control <Guest> access.

  Control Panel : Sharing Setup

  You must have File Sharing turned ON for your co-workers to have access to your files. Select the START button in the File Sharing section of this control panel.

  Control Panel : File Sharing Monitor

  This control panel tells you what folders you have made accessible to other people, and it tells you who is connected to your computer.

  Finder : File Menu : Sharing ...

  This menu item lets you define who can access a folder on your computer. First select a folder on your desktop, then select the File Menu : Sharing ... item. This opens a window which allows you to specify who can see files, see folders and make changes to the selected folder.

  IMPORTANT NOTE: It is recommended that you use extreme caution when enabling anything in the Everyone row. Doing so may give people you don't know access to your files. See the Macintosh Reference manual for more details.

  Chooser : AppleShare

  The AppleShare feature of the Chooser lets you mount disks and folders that your co-workers have made available to you. You will need to enter a password to mount these disks and folders. See the Telepresence administrator for your password. You are able to set this password yourself, so if you make it the same as your email password, you only need to remember one password.

  Screen Sharing

  Screen sharing is the ability of a person using one computer to see and modify a document on a co-worker's computer screen. This is a particularly useful way to collaborate on a document, brainstorm, or edit a budget.

  The Telepresence system includes two programs that facilitate screen sharing. One is called VIS-A-VIS and the other is called Timbuktu, and they are quite different from one another.

  VIS-A-VIS

  VIS-A-VIS is a program that allows two or more people to share various types of visual images, such as drawings or photographs. Each person can see and modify the image. One of the drawbacks of VIS-A-VIS is it's inability to share the documents you use every day. You cannot share Word, Excel or FileMakerPro documents. It does let you share a snapshot of anything on your screen, so you could share a snapshot of an Excel document. However, the snapshot is simply a picture of what your screen looks like, and VIS-A-VIS doesn't know how to edit it. You can put marks on it, much like you would markup a printed copy of a document, but you cannot change the document itself in VIS-A-VIS.

  Timbuktu

  Timbuktu allows you to open a window on your computer screen that is an exact duplicate of your co-worker's screen, and allows you to control their mouse and keyboard. Anything any of you does in that window happens immediately on their computer. You are, in fact, tele-operating their computer. This means you can see and work on a document together, and you can use any program available from their computer. The main drawbacks of Timbuktu are that it is awkward to use and it is slow.

  Both of these programs are commercial products, with their own extensive manuals. There is a copy of these manuals in your office. The following is a synopsis of the most important commands.

  VIS-A-VIS

  Starting VIS-A-VIS
  • double-click on the VIS-A-VIS application icon.

  Calling a co-worker

  • select the Call menu item in the Connect menu

  • select a zone(Toronto people are in "Toronto") (Waterloo people are in "icr")

  • select a user (they must be running VIS-A-VIS)

  Reading a file

  • select the Open menu item in the File menu

  • VIS-A-VIS can read only PICT and TEXT files

  Capturing a snapshot of your screen
  • open the document you want to share, scroll to the part of the document to share

  • in VIS-A-VIS, select the Capture menu item in the Capture Menu menu

  • VIS-A-VIS will now hide itself, revealing the document to share

  • push and hold the mouse button down at the top-left of the screen region of interest

  • drag (while holding the button down) to the bottom-right of the region of interest

  • release the mouse button

  • VIS-A-VIS comes back and pastes the region into your VIS-A-VIS document

  Saving a document

  • select the Save or Save as menu items from the File menu

  Quitting VIS-A-VIS

  • select the Quit menu item in the File menu

  Timbuktu

  Starting Timbuktu
  • select the Timbuktu menu item in the Apple menu

  Turn on Guest Access

  • select the ON button in the Guest Access region of the Timbuktu window.

  • this allows your co-workers to connect to your machine

  Setting Passwords

  • select the Define Passwords... menu item in the Timbuktu menu

  • enter a password, a comment, and check the privileges associated with the password

  • select the OK button

  Connecting to a co-worker

  • select an AppleTalk zone (Toronto people are in the "Toronto" zone) (Waterloo people are in the "icr" zone)

  • select a Host (the name of the user's computer)

  • enter the ITRC Timbuktu password (ask the Telepresence administrator for this password)

  select the button

  Changing scrolling method

  • select the Set Preferences... menu item in the Timbuktu menu

  • check (or uncheck) the Scroll screen-sharing window automatically box

  Making it faster
  • select the Set Preferences... menu item in the Timbuktu menu

  • uncheck the Connect to hosts in color when possible box

  Quitting Timbuktu
  • close the sharing window

  • close the Timbuktu window

  Trouble Shooting

  Important note: Make sure the Red light on your power bar is ON.

  Problem Description What to check

  I cannot see the other person * Is your monitor turned ON?

  - my Telepresence monitor is black * Is it plugged in to the power outlet?

  * Is your monitor set to "video" and not to "TV"?

  * Is the video cable still plugged into the back of

  your monitor? (place marked video input)

  * Has the other person tried a Mirror feature to check

  that their camera is working?

  The other person cannot see me * Has the other person checked the above?

  * Have you tried a Mirror feature to check that your

  camera is working?

  If you also see only a black screen check * Is your camera plugged in to the power outlet?

  the following: * Is the power cord plugged into your camera (black thin

  cord at back)?

  * Is the video cord plugged into your camera (place

  marked "VIDEO" on the back of the camera)?

  I cannot hear the other person * Is the volume turned up properly?

  * Is your speaker turned ON? (red light ON?)

  * Is your speaker plugged in to the power outlet?

  * Is the speaker cord plugged into your speaker?

  The other person cannot hear me * Is your microphone plugged in to the power outlet?

  * Is your microphone turned ON? (There is a tiny switch

  located part way along the power cord which should be

  set to ON.)

  * Is your microphone wire plugged into the audio box

  under your desk?

  * Is the audio box turned ON? (light should be ON)

  * Is the "gain" on the audio box turned all the way up?

  There is noise from my speaker when I * Is the volume on your speaker turned too high?

  am connected to someone else * Is your speaker too close to your microphone?

  You cannot select a name in the name list * Is the name shown in grey? (person not registered)

  * Did you point directly over the name before clicking?

  You cannot select the Contact feature * Did you first select a name from the name list?

  * Was the name shown in black?

  You cannot find the Telepresence * Is the small Telepresence icon showing on your

  window on your screen computer? (clicking on it will re-open the window)

  * Is the Telepresence program icon on your computer?

  (double clicking on it will re-start the program)

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