How To

Adobe Connect Pro is a mature and sophisticated web conferencing program with secure access, an easy invitation system, and the capability to host large groups. It allows you to share presentations and multimedia from your desktop through video and/or audio.

The University has licenced Adobe Connect Pro as a more formal web conference tool. Many departments have been given access to the central Adobe Connect Pro service via a shared departmental licence. Please contact your local administrative or departmental IT support staff for more information and support. In addition, individuals may procure a personal licence, at cost, from the CCS Help Centre.

What do you want to do?

• Host a Meeting
• Start a Video Feed
• Present Media
• Manage Attendee List
• Manage Access and Entry
• Record Your Meeting
• Use Camera and Voice
• Share Files
• Share your Media
• Polling
• Chat via text
• Notes

Hosting a Meeting

To host a meeting, please follow the steps listed under Getting Started.

Initiate Video Conferencing

1. Click on the button at the bottom left of the “Camera and voice pod” to initiate video conferencing.
2. These privileges will only be granted to those with “Host” and “Presenter” status.To promote others to “Host” or “Presenter” status, click on their name in the “Attendee List” pod and then click on the “Set User Role” button in the bottom left of the pod.
3. You may set the meeting up to auto-promote participants to "Presenters". To do th, go to the "Meeting" tab, and then to "Manage Access & Entry". In the "Manage Access & Entry" menu click on "Auto-Promote Participants to Presenters".

Initiate Visual Presentation

To present a PowerPoint/Video file/Mp3:

1. Click on the “Documents” dropdown menu in the middle of the “Share” pod
2. Click on “Select from My Computer…”
3. Locate and open your file ( You may need to have the application (PowerPoint, Word) already open on the computer.  Sharing a document and then choosing the file will load slides, as an example, but you don't get any animations.  It may be better to share the PowerPoint file after it is opened within PowerPoint itself on the computer.

To activate the Whiteboard:

1. Click on “Whiteboards” dropdown menu of the “Share” pod
2. Click on “New Whiteboard”

To activate Application Sharing:

1. Click on “My Computer Screen” in the “Share” pod
2. Select from the “Desktop”, “Windows”, and “Applications” radio buttons
3. If you selected either the “Windows” or “Applications” radio buttons you must select from a menu of available windows or applications

Manage Attendee List

The attendee list will keep you updated on the people present in the meeting and their status. Through this list you can also indicate your status and adjust privileges such as microphone, video, and general hosting privileges.

• My Status: This drop down menu offers an array of statuses which will be indicated to the left of your name in the attendee list. You may clear your status as well. The default status is “active”.
• Set User Role: This is the quickest way to adjust permissions. Select a name from the attendee list and then click on the button in the bottom left of the pod.
• Create Breakouts: This button activates the “Breakout Rooms” pod which enables you to separate your attendees in to various groups. You may click on the same button to hide the breakout configuration.
• Pod Options: This button opens up a menu of various options related to the attendee list. Key functions of this button allow you to revoke all microphone rights, invite new attendees, remove attendees, and to adjust the specific rights of a selected attendee.

Manage Access & Entry

Through this menu you can engage in general control of your attendees list. To access this list click on the “Meetings” tab and then on the “Manage Access & Entry” tab. Through this menu, you will be able to invite participants, block additional attendees, block guests of attendees, put the meeting on hold, and auto-promote participants to presenters.

Recording Meeting

The recordings will be stored on the Adobe Connect server for others to view later. To record your meeting:

1. Click on the “Meeting” tab.
2. Click on “Record Meeting…”.
3. Fill out the meeting name and any additional information and click “Ok”.
4. To stop recording, click on the red dot located in the top left corner of the Adobe Connect window.
5. To later view a recorded meeting:
6. Open your web browser and navigate your way to “uoguelph.na4.acrobat.com”.
7. Enter in your username and password.
8. Click on the “Meetings” tab.
9. Click on the meeting you want to review.
10. Click on the “Recordings” tab.
11. Once recorded, you can select teh recording of the meeting you wish to view in the Recording list.
12. Once you have recorded the meeting you can share it with others by following these steps:
    • Log into server
    • Choose 'Meetings' from top menu bar
    • Select the desired meeting
    • Click on 'recordings' to view the recording information. 
    • Copy the URL listed and compose an e-mail message to let people know that the recorded session can be found at this URL. 

Camera and Voice

To initiate camera and voice capabilities, click on the button at the bottom left of the pod. The dropdown menu on the bottom right has options that allow you to adjust the video feed quality and orientation.

Using the "audio setup wizard" under Meeting/Manage My Settings can help you to test your audio.  Ensure you also click on the 'hands-free' button near the 'talk' button (bottom left corner). 

File Share

To use this pod:

1. Click on the “Upload File” dropdown menu.
2. Click on “Select from My Computer…”.
3. Locate the file you wish to share and click “Open”.
4. If you have files stored in the content library you may also upload your files from there.

Share

The share pod is a multifunctional visual presentation tool. You can use it as a whiteboard, an audio player (with Mp3s), video player (with FLV and SWF), you can also use it to share applications and present PowerPoint files.

To present a PowerPoint/Mp3/Video file:

1. Click on the “Documents” dropdown menu in the middle of the share pod.
2. Click on “Select from My Computer…”.
3. Locate and open your file.

To activate the Whiteboard:

1. Click on “Whiteboards” dropdown menu.
2. Click on “New Whiteboard”.

To activate Application Sharing:

1. Click on “My Computer Screen”.
2. Select from the “Desktop”, “Windows”, and “Applications” radio buttons.
3. If you selected either the “Windows” or “Applications” radio buttons you must select from a menu of available windows or applications.

Poll

To conduct a poll:

1. Select between the “Multiple Choice” and “Multiple Answer” options provided by the dropdown menu in the top left-hand side of the pod.
2. Type your question into the question field near the top of the pod.
3. List the potential responses to the poll. Remember, you may only have one selectable option per line.
4. Once all the information is typed in click on the “Open Poll” button at the bottom of the poll pod.
5. When all responses have come in click on the “Close Poll” button.
6. To display the results check the “Broadcast Results” box on the left-hand side of the pod.

Chat

This pod functions essentially like any instant messaging program with a few additional capabilities.

• To: Pull down this dropdown menu to specify who will receive your chat messaging.
• Pod Options: The button at the bottom right of the chat pod enables you to alter text size, toggle private messaging, clear chat history, and toggle timestamps.

Notes / Discussion Notes

As the host, you can use the “Notes” pod to present text which will remain in the pod until you alter it. 

If you still have any questions you may want to try Adobe's support page. 

If you still have concerns after visiting Adobe's official support page, you may want to try the Adobe Connect Pro forums.