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hotComm CL Help

Copyright (c) 2005-2007 1stWorks Corporation. All rights reserved.


hotComm CL is a Windows program that you can use to connect to a multi-media room as a Guest, a Presenter, or a Moderator.


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Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Basics

To use hotComm CL:

1.
Double-click the hotComm CL startup icon on your desktop.

desktop icon
Note: hotComm CL minimizes to a tiny headset icon in the lower-right corner of your entire Windows desktop. Right-clicking on this icon gives a menu of options. See Icon Menu. CL desktop icon


2. Wait while hotComm CL connects to the 1stWorks Network. When the earphones on the tiny headset icon change from white to Red and blue, you are connected (online).

Offline (white earphones)
Offline
   Online (red and blue earphones)
Online


3.

Each room, webinar and conference has its own instructions for how to connect. Please see the instructions for the specific event.

Passwords - Guest, Presenter, Moderator

The password determines the level of features available to you during the meeting. If you are clicking a weblink and are not prompted for a password, then you are a guest.

If you are ... Then ...
Guest You view presentations, and communicate by voice and text chat.
Presenter In addition, you can present visual content.
Moderator In addition, you can control the session.



4.

You then participate in the session.

Connected to session

  • Hear audio and see charts, slides, or other materials when they are presented.

  • Type messages in the lower white panel.

  • Read the message transcript in the upper white panel.

  • Present using Microphone, Sounds, Audio recording, hotCam (charts, slides, presentation materials) and webcam. See Middle Toolbar Features.

  • For status information and emoticons see Bottom Toolbar Features.

  • To change identity or exit hotComm CL, see Icon menu.

  • For display options, see Toolbar menu.

  • For sending Private Messages, see Invited List.


5.

Close and exit



Action Description
Exit hotComm CL To completely close hotComm CL, right-click the hotComm CL headset icon in the lower right corner of your desktop, and select Exit.
Close session To close the session but leave hotComm CL running, click the Close button (piece of paper with a red X) in the hotComm CL toolbar.
Close window To close the hotComm CL window but leave hotComm CL running, click the Windows Close button in the hotComm CL window.



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Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Invited List

This panel lists the Identities of the people who are in the session.

The little icons next to their Identities tell you several things:

Icon Meaning Invited List
Microphone Person has their microphone turned on.
Green dot This is you. Each person sees themself with a green dot.
Red headphones The Room server robot or remote SysOp.
Blue headphones hotComm Standard/Pro moderator
Green headphones hotComm Standard/Pro user
Pink headphones hotComm Standard/Pro with OUT/DND status
Yellow L hotComm Lite user with "In" status
Pink L hotComm Lite user with "Out" status
Blue Lc hotComm CL moderator
Blue L with Yellow c hotComm CL presenter
Yellow Lc hotComm CL user
J A Java client guest
J or L with red hook Firewalled user

Private Message. To send a private text message to someone in the session, double-click their name in the Invited List, type the message and click Send now. Only you and they can see the message.


Moderators and Presenters right-click menu. Moderators and Presenters can right-click on a name and see a menu of options for managing the individual guests.



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Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Middle Toolbar Features

These are the Middle Toolbar features. Note that these may be disabled by the moderator:

Middle Toolbar


Microphone

You can talk, using VoIP (voice over Internet). The microphone is set by the moderator to work one of these ways:

  • Stays on

    Click the Microphone button to turn the microphone on. It stays on until you click the button again.

  • Push-to-talk

    Press-and-hold the Microphone button while you record a message. The message is played when you release the button.

Voice

VoIP Settings: To change microphone settings, right-click the microphone button.

More information: See Audio in the online User Guide.


Sounds

CL provides a set of sounds that you can send during a session. You can hear the sounds, and see text such as <Applause!>.

To send a sound, click the Send Sounds button (Ear) and select a sound from the menu.

More information: See Sounds in the online User Guide.


Record
Audio

To record the audio portion of the session, click the Record Audio button. To stop recording, click the button again.

The recording is stored as a WAV file in the T'SCRIPTS folder on your Windows desktop. It can be played with any standard WAV file player.


Close
Session

To close the session, click this Close button.

Note: Although this closes your session, hotComm CL continues to run. To completely exit hotComm CL, right-click the headset icon in the lower right corner of your Windows taskbar and select Exit.


Help

To access help, click this button.



hotCam

See Presenter Features.



WebCam

See Presenter Features.



Whiteboard

See Presenter Features.





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Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Bottom Toolbar Features

These are the Bottom Toolbar features:

Bottom Toolbar


hotPointer

If your Timed Camera is on, you can use the hotPointer as a visible cursor. Left-click to start using it. Right-click to select a different cursor design. By default, hotPointer starts when Timed Camera starts. Moderators can turn off hotPointer through Preferences.


Collaborator

If your Timed Camera is on, you can click this icon to bring up the Transparent Collaborator to mark over the image. A Selections toolbox gives you a choice of colors, line widths and some other characteristics.


Mic Status

Look in the Mic Status area for information about the session -- for example, to see if anyone is speaking, or if the mic is silent.


Audio-On

Click Audio-On to control what you hear:

Option Description
Audio-On All sounds and voice are heard.
Mute-Gun+ Sounds (such as the gunshot and applause) are muted, but you can still hear voice.
Mute-All All voice and sounds are silent.



Emoticons

To post an emoticon at the end of a message, right-click on the smiley face icon and then left-click on an emoticon icon.


Encryption

The padlock icon indicates that all transmissions are encrypted.


Word or Line typing

Click on Word or Line to control how you send messages:

Option Description
Word Send one word at a time
Line Send the entire message when you press your Enter key.



Online or Signed-Out

This describes your connection to the 1stWorks Network. You must connect to the 1stWorks Network before you can connect to anything else.

Status Description
Online-Direct You are connected directly to the 1stWorks Network. This is the preferred status.
Online-Tunnelled You may be connecting through a satellite, a restrictive firewall or a proxy server. Note: If you are connecting through a satellite, you may be able to change to Online-Direct: Click the Online-Tunnelled message, check Directly, click OK, exit hotComm CL (right-click the headphones icon) and then restart hotComm CL.
Signed-Out You are not connected to the 1stWorks Network. If you have connected successfully in the past, exit hotComm CL, delete temporary Internet files or clear cache, and try again. If you have not connected successfully before, check your firewall settings to make sure that they allow hotComm CL to access the Internet.


Identity
(name)

This shows your current identity, as seen by the others in the session.

To change your identity, click the name. In the next window, change the identity and click OK. Then, exit and restart hotComm CL.


Raise Hand

Click to post the Raise Hand icon, showing that you want attention.




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Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Presenter Features

Presenters have additional features. In some rooms, these features may be available to guests.

hotCam Still and Timed Camera
(Still)
(Timed)

You can use the hotCam virtual digital camera to show still or moving content, such as changing charts or PowerPoint presentations. Note: in some rooms, guests do not have this feature.

  1. Right-click on the icon and select a camera type.

    Option Description
    Still Application Single snapshot of a window.
    Still Window Single snapshot of one window in a multi-window application.
    Still Collaborative Single snapshot of a window, with a drawing toolbar attached for marking up the snapshot.
    *Timed Application Updated snapshots in timed intervals. This looks to many people like video.
    *Timed Window Updated snapshots of one window in a multi-windowed application, in timed intervals.

    * Timed Camera is not available to guests.


  2. Left-click on the icon. The icon changes color and lifts up.

  3. Move the icon to the window you want to send as a snapshot, click the window's title bar to bring the window to the front, and then click anywhere in the window to take the snapshot.

  4. Use the hotPointer cursor (an arrow) as a pointer on the screen. You can turn the cursor off and on by clicking the arrow icon on the lower left corner of your hotComm CL window.

In the right-click camera menu, you can also select:

Option Description
Set Timer Interval Select the number of seconds to use as the interval for the Timed Camera updates.
Start hotPointer on Timed Camera The hotPointer is a colored arrow that displays your cursor movement. Select this to start the hotPointer automatically when you start the Timed Camera.

Note: you can start the hotPointer later by clicking the arrow on the left side of the bottom line of your hotComm CL window.


More information: These basic instructions don't even scratch the surface of what you can do with hotCam and presentations. Please see information in our Support area, including the online User Guide, and in Training with Professor hotComm.


Webcam

If the room is webcam-enabled, you can send full-motion video through webcam. Left-click the webcam icon in the middle toolbar to start sending video.

More information: See Webcam in the online User's Guide.


hotWeb

hotWeb

Use hotWeb to send a webpage. Type the address in the hotWeb toolbar, or select a page from your Internet Explorer favorites list.

The webpage opens in a hotWeb window. You can navigate from page to page, or you can select Transparent Collaborator from the Collaboration menu, and draw on top of the display.



Whiteboard

Use the WhiteBoard to draw and type onto a plain white background. A Selections toolbox gives you a choice of colors, line widths and other characteristics.

To send or email a screenshot of the Whiteboard (with mark-ups) to all session users, select Send Screenshot or Email Screenshot from the hotWeb Collaborate menu.

More information: See Selections Toolbox in the online User's Guide.




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Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Moderator Features

In addition to having all the Guest and Presenter capabilities, Moderators have these features:

Preferences

To set presentation preferences, right-click on the middle or bottom toolbar and select Preferences.

Preferences

Feature Description

ThruVu

You can make the hotComm CL window transparent. First, set the opacity level of the hotComm CL window. Then right-click the hotComm CL icon in the lower right-corner of your Windows taskbar, and select Enable ThruVu on S1 Window (see Icon Menu.)


Capture every..

Select the number of seconds to use as the interval for the Timed Camera updates.


Bring to Front

If checked, Timed Camera windows will appear in front of other windows.


True Color

If checked, Still and Timed Camera screenshots will use True Color. Note that this sends a larger graphic, so do not use True Color if you are presenting to low-bandwidth users.


Start hotPointer on Timed Camera

The hotPointer is a colored arrow that displays your cursor movement. Select this to start the hotPointer automatically when you start the Timed Camera.

Note: you can start the hotPointer later by clicking the arrow on the left side of the bottom line of your hotComm CL window.




AE Settings

You can create, change, and delete Abbreviation Expansions (AE). These are key sequences that expand into longer strings. An AE can include text that posts into the transcript, webpages that display in separate windows, and sounds.

More information:   Abbreviations in the hotComm online User Guide.


Session Control Toolbar

Session Control

Use the Session Control toolbar options to control what guests can do in the room. Click each icon to toggle between enabling and disabling the feature.

To control these features, click the button in the Session Control toolbar. To release them, click again.
Keyboard Privatize Keyboard. Typing by guests can be seen only by Moderators and Presenters. Guests cannot send pre-defined sounds.
Private Messages PM Disable Disable Private Messages between Guests.
hotWeb Isolate Users Guests cannot see other guests in the Invited List, see their typing, or hear them speak.
Note: Using Privatize Keyboard, PM Disable, and Isolate Users at the same time effectively means that Public users are aware of the Moderator/Presenters only, and can interact only with them.
Whiteboard Whiteboard, hotWeb, Gimmickry Disable whiteboard, hotWeb, and the features controlled through Gimickry.
File Transfer File Xfer Disable Disable drag-and-drop file transfers.
hotCam (Camera) Camera and DD Disable Disable Camera use.
Webcam Video Disable Disable Webcam use.
Microphone on left Normal/Push-to-talk Toggle (left microphone button) Change between normal microphone mode (hands-free) to push-to-talk mode.
  • Normal (left microphone button out): Public users click their microphone button to turn their mic on or off. The microphone stays on until turned off.

  • Push-to-talk (left microphone button in): Public users hold their microphone button down while they talk. When they release the button, their mic is turned off.
Microphone on right Open Mic Disable (right microphone button) Allow an open session with multiple microphones on, or restrict it to only one microphone on at a time.
  • Open session (right mic button out): Multiple people can speak at once.

  • One at a time (right mic button in): Only one Public user can speak at a time. When the Public user clicks their mic button, the Moderator/Presenter sees a request from that person to speak.
Webcam Record Disable Disable recording and copying, saving, or emailing transcripts.


The combination of microphone button settings offers more options (On means in, Off means out).

Left Mic button Right Mic Button Result
In In Disable all microphones.
Out Out Allow an open session. Multiple people can use their microphones in normal mode (always-on).
In Out Microphone mode is Push-to-talk, but multiple people can use the microphone at the same time.
Out In Microphone mode is normal (always-on), but only one person can have a microphone on at a time.






Top
 

Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Icon Right-click Menu

The icon menu contains options for managing your hotComm CL. To see the menu, right-click the hotComm CL icon (headset) in the lower right corner of your Windows Taskbar.

Icon menu

The options are:

Option Description

Restore Opens a hotComm CL session.

Exit Exits the hotComm CL program.

Change Identity Select this to change your Identity. Then, close and restart hotComm CL.
Clear Bad IP List Clear the list of users who have been blocked by moderators. Only moderators have this feature.
Auto Start hotComm CL Select this to start hotComm CL automatically when Windows starts.
Cascade Windows on Primary Puts all hotComm CL windows in the center of your primary monitor. Use this if you are having problems with window sizing or location, or to re-dock the transcript.
Set S1 window On-Top This keeps the hotComm CL window on top of any other windows.

Set S1 window ThruVu Make the S1 window background transparent so you can see through it to the underlying windows.

About hotComm CL Shows revision number and copyright information.

hotComm CL Goes to the hotComm CL website.

Help Opens this help file.





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Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Toolbar Right-click Menu

The Toolbar Right-click Menu contains these options. To see the menu, right-click anywhere in one of the hotComm CL toolbars (for example, right-click on Audio-On).

Toolbar menu

Display options. Click the option to turn it on or off.

Feature Description

Preferences... See Moderators.

AE settings ... See Moderators.

Auto-typer(AE) Types out a longer phrase when you type a shortcut. For example, if you type "BRB", it types "be right baaaack!!!!" The shortcuts are pre-defined.

Gimmickry Enables or disables a combination of features including:
Sounds (ear with music notes) Raise-hand
Emoticons Language tags
Indent Transcripts  

Note that room moderators can disable Gimmickry in the room.

Language tags In the transcript, display a tag to show the Windows language setting of the person typing, such as <EN> for English.
Indent Transcripts In the transcript, indent everything except for the first line of a post.

Use System Color Change the background color for the Invited List.

Word-by-Word When checked, each word you type is displayed after you type it. When unchecked, your typing is displayed when you press the Enter key.

Other features in the Toolbar right-click menu:

Feature Description

View Emoticons Opens the Emoticons window. Click an emoticon to post it in the room. Note: you can move the emoticon window.

View Playback Bar Opens the Session Recording Playback Bar. Use this to playback full session recordings. Note that this does not play back audio-only recordings.

Text-to-Speech If Microsoft's text-to-speech SAPI interface is installed on your computer, you can select a voice that reads the text to you. You can select:
  • The voice, such as Microsoft Mary.
  • What to read, such as transcript, private messages, your own typing.
  • VoIP Priority: whether a presenter's audio has priority over the text-to-speech.






Top
 

Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

Contents

Basics
      Passwords - Guest, Presenter, Moderator
      Guest
      Presenter
      Moderator
      Close and Exit
      Exit, in Icon Right-Click Menu
Invited List
      Invited List
      Private Messages
Audio, Sounds, Recordings
      Microphone, in Middle Toolbar Features
      Sounds, in Middle Toolbar Features
      Record Audio, in Middle Toolbar Features
      Mic Status, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      Audio-On, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      Text-to-Speech, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      Word-by-Word, in Toolbar right-click Menu
Still Camera, Timed Camera
      hotCam, in Presenter Features
      hotCam, in Middle Toolbar Features
      Still Camera, in Presenter Features
      Timed Camera, in Presenter Features
      Timed Camera Setup, in Moderator Features
      hotPointer, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      Collaborator, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      True Color, in Moderator Features
Transcript and Typing
      Emoticons, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      Word or Line typing, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      Raise Hand, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      AE Settings, in Moderator Features
      AE Settings, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      Auto-typer (AE), in Toolbar right-click Menu
Connection and Identity
      Online or Signed-Out, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      Identity, in Bottom Toolbar Features
      Change Identity, in Icon Right-Click Menu
      Encryption, in Bottom Toolbar Features
Other Presenter Features
      WebCam, in Middle Toolbar Features
      WebCam, in Presenter Features
      hotWeb, in Presenter Features
      Whiteboard, in Middle Toolbar Features
      Whiteboard, in Presenter Features
Other Moderator Features
      Preferences
      ThruVu Setting
      Session Control Toolbar
      Clear Bad IP List, in Icon Right-Click Menu
hotComm CL window display
      Gimmickry, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      Language tags, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      Indent transcripts, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      Use System Color, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      View Emoticons, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      View Playback Bar, in Toolbar right-click Menu
      On Top, Set S1 Window
      ThruVu, Set S1 Window, in Icon Right-Click Menu
Other
      Auto Start
      Cascade Windows on Primary

Top
 

Basics    Invited List    Presenters    Moderators
Middle Toolbar    Bottom Toolbar    Icon Menu    Toolbar Menu

Contents
 

For more information, see the hotComm Support web site.

Please send comments about this document to [email protected].