About this site:

This website is Netmeeting enabled. You can make internet chat calls from here. Audio and video calls are possible if you have a soundcard and / or web cam. You will be able to contact me directly if the "Online" graphic has appeared next to 'Webmaster Status' on the left.

Netmeeting is a free online conference package from Microsoft, available for download (1.6Meg). It comes with windows 98/2000/XP and may be installed on windows 95 with some versions of Internet Explorer. Netmeeting allows live video / audio calls across the internet between any 2 computers or to H323 videophones.

If you do not have Netmeeting installed on your computer, this page will attempt to download the package from Microsoft : You will be asked 'do you want to download and run Microsoft Netmeeting?' - answer yes here to get the software. No licence is required for this product, which is a free unrestricted version.

This site is configured to place calls either directly or using a public directory server, which is simply a server on the internet which keeps track of users location on the internet (by using their IP address). For best video performance you will benefit from non-modem connection eg ISDN or ADSL. Don't worry too much about this, as Netmeeting automagically adjusts the video rate to suit the your connection ;-)

If the online indicator on the left is showing, you will be able to send me an ICQ instant message to request a meeting.

Who is this site for?

This site is here to provide a contact area, offering NetMeeting users a convenient way to place calls to each other.

It is mainly suitable for home users on dialup with a dynamic IP address, who wish to use NetMeeting to contact other users for chat and exchange of ideas.

Because of the way many commercial organisations set up their network connections, it may not be possible for users to connect for two-way communication - if you are inside a firewall or NAT network, your mileage may vary.

It is not intended to replace or substitute full commercial conferencing facilities, but can be very useful even so.

It is not suitable for unsupervised use by children, due to the possibility of unsolicited calls from other site users.

I am working to provide a private meeting area for each user, which would allow calls by invitation only. This would offer users the option of not listing in the main user list, and improve privacy .

About the NetMeeting program:

Netmeeting is a video conferencing product from Microsoft. It offers text chat,a shared whiteboard, file and program sharing. These features are referred to as T120 applications. It can also handle audio and video conferencing over a range of network connections such as modem and LAN.

With Audio and video - H323 applications - over a modem, Netmeeting will give preference to audio, making it ideal as a low cost internet phone. A limited video rate is possible, with much greater image size and quality on a real LAN or ADSL connection. This makes for a cheap video conference solution within large organisations.

Shared tools such as the whiteboard allow people to swap pictures, doodle and type text in a window. Text chat can be run at the same time, which allows you to send private messages to one person or broadcast text to the whole meeting. You can also share windows applications, files and your desktop remotely.

Standard Netmeeting controls allow text chat, shared whiteboard, with program sharing and file transfer if you choose to allow it. Click the users name place a call. The page will then attempt to contact them through the directory server. Because the internet is often busy at peak times, please be patient : it may take up to a minute before they receive an incoming call alert.

What you should see here:

Clicking on the Netmeeting logo will show the video window. It will also show if you make an internet call using this site. It will remain deactivated until I accept a connection, when you should start to receive images and audio from my webcam and sound card.

A first time set up of Netmeeting is very simple. Netmeeting will step through about 5 dialogue boxes, asking for a user name and email address you can use to identify yourself if you are in a meeting. If you have a sound card, it will also offer to adjust the sound level on the microphone and speaker at this time. If you also have a web camera, you can set it up now.

If you have just installed Netmeeting, please refresh this page to make sure everything is running smoothly. You can expect a pause of maybe 5-10 seconds until Netmeeting has loaded. When making a call please be patient - it may be up to a minute until the server is contacted. The web page may also appear to have stopped responding - don't panic, this is normal! All the hard work is going on behind the scenes and if the call fails, your browser will let you know.

Controls are always available to try out the chat, whiteboard and other functions even if I'm not on the internet right now - have fun!

Use this button to start a chat window. You will see a panel listing who is in the meeting, a box to type your replies, and a box showing the chat history, which updates whenever somebody types a message. You can choose who to send your replies to, either an individual or the whole meeting. You can save a chat session by going to the chat menu and choosing File->Save

Use this button to start the whiteboard. This is a neat tool to allow you to draw diagrams, type text, and use a highlight pen. To share pictures for everybody to see, from the whiteboard menu choose Tools->Select Area or Tools->Select Window. Netmeeting will then paste the picture onto the whiteboard

Use this button to send a file to a person you choose in the meeting. This allows you to send private files to one person instead of the whole meeting. Usually you would send material not suited to the whiteboard or chat windows, eg documents, photos, programs, sound files or video.

Program sharing - this is the big one! You can work easily with other meeting participants by sharing programs. Only one computer needs to have the program, and all participants can work on the document simultaneously. In addition, people can send and receive files to work on. Control of the shared program remains with the person who shared it - and you can stop sharing immediately by pressing the 'Esc' key. This feature allows remote software demos, viewing somebodys' desktop while they show you how to use a program or find a web page can be quite handy!

System requirements:

• 56k modem or (better) ISDN, ADSL or LAN connection
• Internet explorer 4 or higher, MS Netmeeting
• Netmeeting requires at least 200mhz pentium, 32 meg RAM for audio.
• Sound card, headset or microphone / speakers
• Webcam or video camera preferred
• 800x600 screen size to view this page and have whiteboard, chat etc active

These system requirements are really a minimum, though you should get acceptable results. The biggest bottleneck is the internet connection. After that, you will get better results with 64meg RAM because when voice calls are compressed it can take up a lot of memory to do it as you and others speak.

Common problems - FAQ

Netmeeting needs to be able to reach the other users computer to make a call. Check that their connect status indicator shows a tick mark not a

I can't see their video:

Right-click the video window, select 'Properties'. You should now see a dialog box. Choose the 'Video' tab, and make sure 'Send' and 'Receive video automatically at the start of each call' are selected.

I can't see my video:

Your brightness setting may be too low for indoor lighting. Select the Video tab, click 'Source' and check the brightness slider is at max. If it is, choose the 'Advanced' tab, and make sure the Speed/Light setting is set for 'Low Light' conditions. Do you have a web camera attached (is it plugged in?).

OK we made a call, but neither of us can hear or see each other.

Is text chat ok? If it is, one of you may have 'make secure calls only' selected : Go to the netmeeting menu : Tools->Options->Security. Make sure the checkboxes 'I prefer to make (or receive) secure calls' are not checked. This will result in data-only calls.

I can see but can't hear the other end (or they can't hear me)

A number of things can cause this. First (obviously) check your sound card and microphone / speakers. Netmeeting compresses the audio for transmission using a CODEC. If you and the remote user are using different Codecs, you might have this problem : Start Netmeeting from the globe icon on the taskbar or in the system tray. Go to the Netmeeting menu Tools->Options->Audio->Advanced.

A box pops up allowing you to choose manual compression settings ("preferred codec for audio compression"). Here you can change the Codec NetMeeting uses to compress audio, to match that in use by the other party (use text chat to ask them which they use). You will need to close the dialog boxes, hang up and restart the call for the new settings to work.

I don't get it:

Sorry, can't help you there - have you tried visiting a yogi, spirit guide or shaman? Else see email, above ;-)

Notes:

1. For best audio quality, use a headset rather than microphone and speakers, because of feedback which can sound a little like an echo. You can expect 1-5 frames a second of video depending on network conditions (or the weather, I can never remember which ;-)

2. If you don't have Netmeeting on your computer, this page will attempt to get it from Microsoft. The total download size is 1.6meg, a little over 5 minutes on a 56k modem - quite quick to get a video conferencing package! Hold on, you'll soon be chatting. All it asks for is a name you choose to use, and your email address so people can find you.

3. Netmeeting is free, Internet Explorer is free. Call costs are whatever you pay to use your Internet Service Provider - often the cost of a local call will let you make international internet calls!

4. Netscape users - This site now works with Netscape 4, and I will start work soon for v6 users. To use Netmeeting in netscape, you need a small download (78k) called Esker, which the site will attempt to download when you visit. It is a free plugin designed to allow Netscape to use microsoft activeX tools like Netmeeting, though it will work with other sites too!

Netscape required a number of changes, including modifying the page to manage the download from Esker ( www.esker.com ). The good news is that Netmeeting is included as part of Windows 98, 2000 and XP, so if you are using these platforms you will probably* already have Netmeeting installed on your computer (*stingy system admins excluded ;-)

This bit can be quite technical, and many people would want to skip this section if you're sucessfully able to make netmeeting calls.

Networks, firewalls and NAT

Netmeeting needs to be able to reach you through a unique number, your IP address. You can find out your IP address by going to the Netmeeting menu, choosing the option 'Help->About Windows Netmeeting'.

 

 

At the bottom of the window which pops up is a line which says 'IP Addresses : 127.0.0.1' or similar. This number is your address on the internet, identifying your computer in a way similar to a house and street number is used for mail deliveries.

NAT

Network address translation is a way for large numbers of people to share an internet address. Using the mail analogy, NAT allows many people to share the same address. In this case, your IP address would show up as the IP address of the NAT gateway (or front door) rather than that of your computer (or apartment). So Netmeeting has no way of knowing how to contact your computer using that address.

H323 proxy

The only way round this is to add a machine called a H323 proxy, which *does* know how to address Netmeeting requests to your (or the remote) computer. Since this can involve expense, there would need to be high demand for this service, which allows Video, Audio, and other data streams to be routed to thd caller / callee.

Firewalls

Many organisations run a firewall computer, which is a device to isolate your network from the general internet. This is *always* a good idea for security and other reasons. The problem with firewalls is that many have to be specially set up to allow Netmeeting calls in both directions. This is quite difficult because of the way Netmeeting sets up call requests.

I don't have any persuasive arguments to get your system admin to change the operation of their firewall. If you really need this service, I suggest you start by buying them a few beers, waiting till they're slightly drunk, then suggesting politely that 'it might be nice if our firewall passed through H323 call requests and Netmeeting connections'.

Don't be surprised if your system admin then either : Throws up (not uncommon), Goes green, then red (likely) or simply starts to baffle you with technobabble which you've absolutely no hope of understanding or benefiting from. This is perfectly normal behaviour, which is designed to stop you asking for things you don't understand. It's for your own good ;-)