Manage CMR Hybrid Meetings

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of how to schedule CMR Hybrid meetings using TMS and useful information, tips and known issues about CMR Hybrid meetings.

In addition to scheduling using TMS, there are up to 3 additional ways to schedule a CMR Hybrid meeting:

  • Using the Cisco WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook

With the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook, users can schedule CMR Hybrid meetings directly from Microsoft Outlook for Windows. Advanced options like adding external video and audio dial-in participants are also available.

For scheduling information, see WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook Quick Reference Guide

For additional information, including how to schedule a meeting on behalf of another person or to assign a delegate to schedule meetings for you, refer to the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook help available in Outlook or the user guide, available on your WebEx site.

  • Using the Cisco Smart Scheduler

With Cisco Smart Scheduler, Macintosh, mobile and other non-Windows users can schedule CMR Hybrid meetings using a simple web-based interface which is touch-screen friendly.

For scheduling information, refer to the Cisco Smart Scheduler and WebEx Scheduling Mailbox Quick Reference Guide

For additional information, including supported browsers and mobile platforms, refer to the Cisco TelePresence Management Suite Provisioning Extension (TMSPE) release notes.

  • Using the Cisco WebEx Scheduling Mailbox

With the Cisco WebEx Scheduling Mailbox, users without the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook can create a TelePresence Enabled WebEx meeting in Outlook by inviting TelePresence rooms and then adding WebEx to the meeting by including a special invitee; the WebEx Scheduling Mailbox.

The mailbox may be called simply "webex" or something different. It as configured by the administrator and provided to users.

For additional information, refer to the Cisco TelePresence Management Suite Extension for Microsoft Outlook (TMSXE) Installation Guide and release notes.

For scheduling information, refer to the Cisco Smart Scheduler and WebEx Scheduling Mailbox Quick Reference Guide

Scheduling a CMR Hybrid Meeting

Procedure
    Step 1   Log in to Cisco TMS.
    Step 2   Go to Booking > New Conference.
    Step 3   For Title, enter a conference title. It will be displayed in all Cisco TMS interfaces, and in email notifications about the meeting.
    Step 4   For Type, select either Automatic Connect or One Button to Push. Automatic Connect: Cisco TMS automatically connects all participants at the meeting start time.
    Note   

    One Button to Push: Meeting dial-in information is automatically displayed on endpoints that support One Button to Push. Participants on those endpoints join the meeting by pressing a button. For endpoints that do not support One Button to Push, the meeting organizer adds a video dial-in number. For information about additional types, refer to the TMS help.

    Step 5   Set the Start Time and the End Time or Duration for the meeting.
    Step 6   Make sure Include WebEx Conference is checked.
    Step 7   Optionally, enter a WebEx Meeting Password. If you do not enter a password, WebEx will automatically generate one. It will be displayed on the Confirmation page, after you successfully schedule the meeting.
    Step 8   Optionally, click Recurrence Settings to create a series of meetings that are tied together, such as a weekly or daily meeting. Advanced settings are optional. Most settings will take their default values from the Conference Default values configured under Administrative Tools. Refer to the help for an overview of all available settings. For details on the Advanced Settings, click the Help button in Cisco TMS.

    If Secure is set to Yes, Cisco TMS will only allow systems that support encryption to participate in the conference.

    Step 9   Optionally, add notes about the meeting in Conference Information, which will appear in the meeting invitation.
    Step 10   In the Participant tab, click Add Participant and a new window will appear.
    Step 11   Available participants and a planner view with their availability is displayed based on existing scheduled and ad hoc meetings. The colored vertical lines represent your current requested time for the scheduled meeting.
    Step 12   Click the tabs to have participants listed by type. If you have used scheduling before, the default tab is Last Used with quick access to the systems you have used recently.
    Step 13   Hover over any system, or the blocks in the planner view, for additional detail about the system or scheduled meeting.
    Step 14   Add participants to the meeting by selecting their checkbox and clicking the button to add them to the list of selected participants on the right side of the window. Adding network infrastructure components like MCUs and Gateways is optional as Cisco TMS will handle this for you automatically.
    Step 15   Use the External tab to add systems not managed by Cisco TMS, for example endpoints in other organizations, or telephone participants.
    Step 16   For dial-out participants, enter their contact information, and Cisco TMS will automatically connect them to the conference at the scheduled time.
    Step 17   For dial-in participants (including endpoints that do not support One-Button-to-Push), Cisco TMS will reserve the capacity needed to host the site in the conference and will provide you with precise dial-in information to forward to the participant.
    Step 18   When all participants have been added, click OK. You are returned to the conference page, with the participant section of the page now showing your selected participants, and some additional tabs. These additional tabs allow advanced scheduling tasks such as altering how calls are connected, or setting specific MCU conference settings for the meeting.
    Step 19   Use the Video Conference Master drop-down list to determine which system should be considered the meeting organizer. Not all telepresence systems support the necessary features for this functionality, and only systems that are eligible will be displayed in this list. This is the system that will be prompted to connect the conference if it is not scheduled for automated call launch.
    Step 20   Click Save Conference. When the conference is saved, Cisco TMS will do all the routing calculations to determine the best way to connect your selected participants. If Cisco TMS is able to complete your request, you are presented with a confirmation page indicating that your conference has been saved and showing the details of your meeting, including the participant list and listing how each of those participants are scheduled to connect to the conference and the exact dial string any participants must dial.

    If your WebEx site is set up to send email confirmations, you will receive two additional email notifications from WebEx: 1. An email with the subject line "Meeting Scheduled" which contains the host key and the WebEx information for the meeting 2. An email with the subject line "(Forward to attendees) Meeting Invitation" which contains only the WebEx information for attendees.

    If Cisco TMS is unable to complete your booking request, you are returned to the New Conference page. A message banner states why it was not possible to save the meeting. This may be due to lack of availability, lack of network resources, or no known route to connect the participants together.

    In this case, try doing the following:

    1. Edit the conference settings to try to resolve the issue and try saving the conference again.

    2. After successfully scheduling your meeting, invite people to the meeting using your calendar application.

    Starting/Joining the Meeting

    The meeting starts the following way:

    • At any time, the host can join to start the meeting.

    • At the scheduled start time of the meeting, the MCU/TelePresence Server calls into WebEx.

      • If the WebEx host has not joined the meeting, the MCU/TelePresence Server becomes the default WebEx host.

      • If the WebEx host joins before the scheduled start time of the meeting, he/she becomes the WebEx host.

    • If the "Join Before Host" feature is enabled on the site, and the host has set Attendees Can Join Meeting Before Starting Time when scheduling the meeting using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook, participants may join the meeting 5, 10, or 15 minutes before the scheduled time (as configured by the host). Otherwise, participants must wait for the meeting to be started by the host before they can join.

    • Telepresence participants join the meeting.

      • If meeting was scheduled using Auto Connect, Cisco TMS dials and connects each supported endpoint.

      • If meeting was scheduled using One-Button-to-Push (OBTP), participants using endpoints that support OBTP press the button on their endpoint to join the meeting.

      • Participants using endpoints that don't support either Auto Connect or OBTP, join the meeting by dialing the video dial-in number listed in the meeting invitation.

    • WebEx participants join the meeting by using the link in the meeting invitation.

    Share Cisco WebEx Presentations

    The following procedure describes how a WebEx participant shares their presentation with TelePresence and other WebEx participants.

    Procedure
      Step 1   Log into the Cisco WebEx Meeting Center application on their computers.
      Step 2   Grab the ball or be designated as presenter by the WebEx host.
      Step 3   On the Quick Start tab, click Share Application.
      Step 4   Start application or desktop sharing.
      Note   

      For a list of supported mobile clients, refer to the CMR Hybrid release notes.

      Information, Tips and Known Issues About Meetings

      The following section contains useful information, including tips and known issues relating to CMR Hybrid meetings. The information is divided into sections corresponding to each product that is part of the CMR Hybrid Solution.

      Cisco TMS

      • Cisco TMS can be configured so that meetings must be approved by the Cisco TMS administrator before getting booked. This feature can be used to regulate port usage at companies that want to limit / regulate usage.

      • Cisco TMS limits the number of ports to the number selected under the external tab of the Cisco TMS meeting when it is scheduled.

      • Extending a meeting is supported for both TelePresence and WebEx using the Extend Mode setting when scheduling a meeting. Meeting extension is not guaranteed. If resources (ports) are fully booked at the scheduled end time of the meeting, the meeting will end.

      • A meeting organizer scheduling a meeting using the WebEx and TelePresence Integration to Outlook, should never modify that meeting later in Cisco TMS.

      If the original meeting is modified later in Cisco TMS, the meeting information in Cisco TMS will fall out of sync with the meeting organizer's Outlook calendar. The reason for this is that Cisco TMSXE does not have write access to the meeting organizer's calendar and, as a result, can't make any changes to it.

      MCU and TelePresence Server

      • If Conductor is used, the MCU/TelePresence Server calls into WebEx after the first TelePresence participant joins the meeting.

      • If Conductor is not used, the MCU/TelePresence Server calls into WebEx at the start of the meeting, even if there are no TelePresence or WebEx participants.

      • The MCU/TelePresence Server's role is different from a regular WebEx participant. When joining the meeting, if there is no meeting host currently in the meeting, the MCU becomes the default host and starts the meeting.

      • If there is already a WebEx host, MCU/TelePresence Server will not become the host.

      • If WebEx host leaves the meeting, the MCU/TelePresence Server becomes the host and the meeting continues.

      • If MCU/TelePresence Server leaves the meeting before the WebEx host leaves, the meeting continues.

      • If MCU/TelePresence Server leaves the meeting after the WebEx host leaves, the meeting ends.

      • If WebEx host leaves the meeting after the MCU/TelePresence Server leaves, the meeting ends.

      • If WebEx host stays in the meeting after the MCU/TelePresence Server leaves, the WebEx meeting continues.

      • TelePresence Server by default, sends video in the ActivePresence screen layout, which displays the active speaker in a full screen pane with additional participants appearing in up to six equally sized overlaid panes at the bottom of the screen (up to four panes for 2 and 4 screen endpoints). In full-screen mode in WebEx, WebEx participants appear in equally sized panes below the TelePresence video at the bottom of the window. MCU by default, sends video in a full-screen layout.

      Endpoints

      • Participants joining the meeting from any TelePresence endpoint may not see the presentation from WebEx if they are using their endpoint as a computer monitor.

      • Content presented from an EX60 can take a long time to appear. If the endpoint is registered to Unified Communications Manager, this can be resolved by enabling User-Agent passthrough in Unified Communications Manager.

      Cisco TMSXE

      When booking a meeting using Web Scheduling Mailbox, if TMSXE detects an error condition (ex: not able to connect with WebEx server), the error email is sent in plain text format to the meeting organizer.

      WebEx

      • In the WebEx Meeting Center, all TelePresence endpoints are displayed as one WebEx participant called "TelePresence systems" both in the Participant list and when a TelePresence user is the active speaker.

      • In the Meeting Center full screen view, the "TelePresence systems" participant appears as a black silhouette.

      • The WebEx host can mute all or individual participants after they join the meeting. It is not possible to mute TelePresence participants through the WebEx client. TelePresence participants must mute themselves.

      • To mute WebEx participants, you have to be the WebEx host.

      To reclaim the host role, you have to get the WebEx host key.

      • The meeting is started by the first participant who joins the meeting (host or other WebEx participant). The rest of the participants "join" the meeting.

      • If a WebEx audio only participant is talking, the last video participant to talk is displayed until the next video participant speaks.

      • The user's Outlook time zone and WebEx account time zone must be the same for the meeting to be scheduled at the correct time in both Outlook and WebEx.

      • When the WebEx portion of the meeting ends, the audio will end too.