Updates to WebEx
WebEx web conferencing tool has been recently updated to the WebEx Meeting Center platform WBS29.11. Below is a summary of the changes that included in the new release. Please contact vTools team if you have any questions.
Applies to all WebEx users:
Support was updated for operating systems and browsers. See Cross-platform Features and Known Issues for more information.
Simplified in-meeting user experience
- More appropriate terminology for common functions:
- To avoid confusion with the Lock icon in Personal Room meetings, the lock icon that indicated SSL connection at bottom of meeting window has been removed and has been replaced with tool tip text indicating when there is a Secure Connection with SSL
- A vertical annotation bar is now available when viewing shared content in full screen on the Mac platform.
Leave Meeting command
The Leave Meeting command is disabled for sites that use telephony service provider (TSP) audio.
Accessibility enhancements for the in-meeting experience
The in-meeting experience is more accessible, with improved keyboard navigation and screen reader support.
Content viewing enhancements
- New icons for “Zoom in,” “Zoom out,” and “Fit to width” now appear at the top of the content area.
- Zoom in and out of shared content easily by just selecting the Zoom in or Zoom out icons.
- There is a new Pan tool for screen sharing (formerly called “desktop sharing”) and application sharing, which allows users to move content horizontally or vertically in the content area.
- Content is now centered in the content area, with “Fit to Width” selected as the default view option.
Video enhancements
- New Video panel layout default settings and consolidated controls allow users to view video and switch between layouts more easily:
- New video layout options at top of video window on the participant list when a video is being sent.
- When one user sends video, the default meeting window view changes to 50% video view (unless sharing is going on).
- When two or more people send video, the video panel automatically changes to video thumbnail view.
- If a web camera is detected, users are asked whether they want to start their video. In the same prompt, users can also choose to start their video in all meetings. This setting can be changed in video settings by selecting the gear-shaped Settings icon on top of the video window.
- The starting frame rate for thumbnails and active video has increased to 15 fps, improving the video experience in good bandwidth environments.
- In case of low bandwidth when video cannot be sent, the user receives a descriptive error message after 5 seconds that indicates that the user has bandwidth or local computer issues that may affect video display.
WebEx Productivity Tools
Updates were made to WebEx Productivity Tools support. For more information, see the “WebEx Productivity Tools Support” tables in Productivity Tools Release Notes.
Only applies to WebEx users with an assigned IEEE WebEx account:
Personal Room
- All Meeting Center customers now have their very own Personal Room. Think of it as your conference room. You get your own easy-to-remember link that never changes, so your colleagues will always know where your meetings are held. Meet instantly and simplify back-to-back meetings by managing your attendees through a lobby.
- Instant meetings that you start with the Meet Now command (formerly called One-Click) are now held in your Personal Room by default. You can change this option in “Preferences.”
- By default, WebEx will use the host’s username as the Personal Room identifier; for example, https://sitename.webex.com/
meet/username. - If a host’s username contains only numeric characters, such as 123456, the corresponding Personal Room identifier will be prefixed with “pr”; for example, pr123456.
- If a host’s username is in email format, such as user@company.com, the “@” sign will be removed when constructing the corresponding personal room identifier; for example, the username portion of the identifier will be usercompany.com, so the identifier will be https://sitename.webex.com/
meet/username.com.
Anyone Can Share feature
- The Share buttons and commands are enabled on Quick Start page, menu, and meeting control panel for all participants.
- The Make Me Presenter button on the Participants panel has been removed.
- The Share Documents command is turned on and is not changeable under participant privileges.
- When a participant selects Share and someone else is sharing, he or she will receive a warning message.
- The host can disable the Anyone Can Share option during the meeting.
Site administrators can turn off this option for their site if they do not want all participants to be able to share without passing the presenter role to them.
Recurring meeting enhancements
- Users can now navigate through each individual meeting or occurrence of a recurring meeting series. (Individual occurrences of a meeting series are listed separately in list and calendar views.)
- Users can create exceptions to a meeting series.
- When editing or deleting a particular meeting within a meeting series, users will have the option to edit or delete that particular occurrence or the entire series
- This applies to meetings scheduled through the web scheduler or through Productivity Tools.
Profile page enhancements
The Profile page has been reduced to contain key profile information.
Preferences page
The Preferences page is now the centralized location for all user settings.
- New collapsible categories
- “Webpage Preferences” and “Default Page Settings” have been moved under the General section
- The following settings have been moved from the Profile page to the Preferences Page:
- “My Phone Numbers” (from the Profile Page) and the Personal Conferencing Page have been merged under “Audio Settings”
- The One-Click Setup page has been moved to the Preferences page and renamed to “‘Meet Now’ Settings”
- It has been given a more modern look and feel, and made fully accessible.
Other Pages/Updates
Updates for operating system and browser support
Support was updated for operating systems and browsers. See Cross-platform Features and Known Issues for more information.