[ubl] Collaboration Support

["Peter P. Yim" <yimpp@cim-oem.com>]

Further to our discussion at the joint tt/lcsc face-to-face meeting on 1/24/02 during which I was
tasked to help coordinate an initial set of meeting collaboration tools, I am setting up the
following to test out "screen sharing" and other tools that will augment our regular voice
conferences and help facilitate our ongoing lcsc work (and probably other subcommittee work too).


1. Candidate Tools to be tested --

   (a)  NetMeeting.  Our plan is to use it's "Application Sharing" feature, and use the phone for
voice conferencing (we'll disable the voice or video conferencing features of NetMeeting). Use of
its chat, whiteboard and file transfer features will be optional.
     -  I believe it comes with Windows 2000 "Start | Programs | Accessories | Communications |
NetMeeting".
     -  Try searching for "NetMeeting" under your system drive too; if it isn't already installed
with the Windows OS, it is a free download from Microsoft
     -  If you cannot find it (already in your system), you may need to download it from MS
         at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/download/
         for the time being, you would probably want to download and install NetMeeting 3.0.1 with
Service Pack 2
     -  by providing the exact location of the server, and by disabling voice and video, we would
have avoided the need for some of the primary TCP connections and all of the secondary TCP and UDP
connection needs and thereby avoiding most of the firewall issues. Dialup users probably will have
less issues than corporate LAN users. However, this awaits to be confirmed through testing on a
case-by-case basis.
     -  to setup your corporate firewalls to accommodate this, please refer to the
"NetMeeting-Firewall Configuration" documentation that can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/NetMeeting/Corp/reskit/Chapter4/default.asp
     -  during the first time use of NetMeeting, you will be prompted enter user profile
information and to test your audio setup. (fyi, I have chosen NOT to be listed in the directory,
and have disabled audio and video.)

   (b) VNC.  This would provide "Screen Sharing" and (optionally) remote access, to users from
almost any platform, as it only requires a java supported web browser on the client side to work.
     -  VNC is Open Source software and is distributed under GPL (GNU Public License)
     -  if you have trouble accessing, try reading through this FAQ number at
http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/faq.html#q20
     -  for those who would like to download or learn more about this software, go to
http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/


2. Test "office hours" --

Essentially, we want to see whether everyone can access the shared screens properly if we were to
use it to augment our phone conferences or work sessions. Since each location you work from may be
different (office LAN behind corporate firewalls, your home DSL/cable modem connection with or
without firewalls, dialup from home/hotel will probably all behave differently), you'd probably
want to test out each one of them. We also need to see how many people can be supported at the same
time before performance issues start to take its toll.

I will make myself available for testing during the following times (PST, i.e. California, US
time)--

   (a)  Mon 28-Jan-2002 08:30-09:30 PST
<http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?year=2002&mon=01&day=28&hour=16&min=30&sec=0>

   (b)  Tue 28-Jan-2002 08:30-09:00 PST (this would be before our regular Tuesday phone
conference.)
<http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?year=2002&mon=01&day=29&hour=16&min=30&sec=0>

   (c)  Tue 28-Jan-2002 right after the LCSC weekly phone conference, probably (hopefully)
10:30-11:00 PST
<http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?year=2002&mon=01&day=29&hour=18&min=30&sec=0>

On this one, we could be doing simultaneously voice conferencing, for those who are participating
in the LCSC meeting.

   During the above hours, I will also be available by phone at 650-578-9998.


3.  Connecting to the Meeting Host during the above "office hours"

   (a) with NetMeeting, just start your local NetMeeting application and then call "ubl.cim3.net"

   (b) for VNC, point your browser (recent Netscape or IE versions will be fine, just make sure
Java is enabled) to the following URL: http://ubl.cim3.net:5800/ ; enter "ubl" when prompted for a
password.


4.  Other Meeting Resources --

I have also set up a temporary site (supporting both http and ftp) where resources (wip, web pages,
spreadsheets, powerpoints, ...) to be used for the meetings can be uploaded.

The (lcsc work) site URL is http://ubl.cim3.org/~lcsc/
FTP access can be made to --
   Host name/address = ubl.cim3.org
   UserID = lcsc
   Password = ubl
once you are in, navigate down one level to "/web" to access the repository folders.

   -  My suggestion would be for a meeting organizer to open a folder for each meeting (try using a
long filename that makes it obvious), and then request members concerned to upload their material
over to that particular folder before the meeting.

   -  I've arbitrarily set a 500 MB storage limit for now. I can provide more storage if need be.


Feel free to contact me by e-mail if there is any question.  "See" you guys tomorrow (or Tuesday).


Regards,
PPY
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