Save Time, Money, and Fuel with CIT Web Collaboration

Have you declined a meeting invitation just because you can’t afford the roundtrip drive time between Executive Boulevard and NIH Campus or you dread finding parking? Are you tired of trying to find a conference room that’s available when you are? CIT's Web Collaboration Services (http://webcollaboration.nih.gov/) enable you to overcome the difficulties of travel time and geographical locations.

With Web Collaboration at NIH you can:

• Attend a meeting, without leaving your office


• Confer with international colleagues; no plane tickets necessary


• Record a training session and post it online


• Keep in touch with your coworkers while you telework from home


• Include captioning for hearing impaired participants

What is it?

CIT’s Web Collaboration allows anyone with a computer and an internet connection to see and speak with colleagues or collaborators across the globe—or just across the NIH campus. CIT's Web Collaboration uses Adobe Acrobat Connect to provide Desktop Web Conferencing—Internet-based, synchronous, real-time meetings with participants in multiple locations using audio and video input devices such as desktop cameras and speaker phones. Offering virtual meeting space at NIH since February 2005, CIT’s present licensing provides two seminar rooms of 50 and 150 users, and will support ad hoc meetings with up to 200 participants.

Features

Desktop Web Conferencing allows meeting participants to view and hear each other, access shared content, display any application or document on your computer, remotely control another person’s computer, markup documents, perform electronic white-boarding, and present slide-shows.

CIT Web Collaboration Services offer the following features through Adobe Connect:

• Continuous access to customizable, virtual conference rooms (24/7)


• Ease of use and integration with Microsoft Outlook


• Collaboration, document sharing, white-boarding, chat, and online polling capabilities


• Use of Flash to deliver interactive Web content


• Unique support for video, voice, data, animations, and simulations


• Flexibility to view and present meetings on the many platforms used throughout NIH: Windows, Macs, Unix, and Linux. Currently both PCs and Macs can present meetings


• No software installation by users required for its online application (on rare occasions users may need to install the Flash Player, which is available as a free download)


• Rapid delivery of online seminars and surveys

Creating/attending meetings

Anyone from anywhere in the world can access a Connect meeting using the Internet. If you are simply attending a meeting, an account is not needed. To create meetings, or to view access-controlled content, you need a Connect account. Non-NIH employees can attend and even create meetings, as long as they are sponsored by an NIH IC. You can self-schedule meetings for up to 50 participants. Please contact Connect Support for assistance in scheduling larger meetings.

To request a Connect account, simply contact the NIH Help Desk. You will need to provide your CIT Account Code. Contact your administrative officer to determine your billing information.

Contact information and help

To get more information about Connect and view some of the easy-to-follow tutorials, visit the CIT Web Collaboration website (http://webcollaboration.nih.gov)—where we offer more than just tutorials. If you have any questions, or need help in setting up a session, please contact the NIH Help Desk at http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/support or call 301-496-4357, 301-496-8294 (TTY) or toll free at 866-319-4357 and ask for the Connect Support Team.