Webcam, audio selection added (Jan. 2021)
About Roles and Permissions
Helen
About Roles and Permissions
This article is only relevant for the Product Owners of this application: in our words ‘the manager’.
As with most applications, we have built in a Permissions and Roles system to organise and manage the users and content.
For example, all trainers from Country X do not have to have access to the content from Country Y. The same with the content from the Marketing Department and the Sales Department.
It’s very easy to create and manage this (important: only applies if you have our Teams or Corporate package).
Company level vs. Department level
To improve the structure of your account, you can create various Departments. This could be anything: a country, business unit, your own team structure etc.
This has the following consequences:
1. Teachers
- Teacher on Company level has access to all content, also from all the Departments
- Teacher on Department level only sees the content of that particular Department
2. Content
- Content stored on Company level is accessible for all users, also for everybody in the Departments
- Content stored on Department level is accessible only for that particular Department
3. Managers
- Managers can also have different roles. A Manager on Company level can manage everything and also has access to everything.
- You can also appoint a Manager for a specific Department. This Department Manager can only manage that particular Department and also has only access to the Content of that Department
If you have any question about this topic or you need any other type of support, please contact our Support Team.
Optimising your Virtual Classroom
Helen
How to optimise your Virtual Classroom session
There are several strategies that can be adopted to get better performance and experience out of your Virtual Classroom. By taking certain precautions, we can increase the number of participants in a room, as well as improving the quality of the session.
1. Use Google Chrome browser
At the moment, the browser that best supports our Virtual Classroom is Chrome. This browser is best suited for so-called webRTC (Web Real-Time Communication), which is an important basic element of our application.
During a training session, the resolution of the videos that each participant sends changes, adapting to the number of participants. The quality changes as others join, so the load on bandwidth and CPU is minimised.
For example FireFox is not able to receive this information and adapt the resolution of the video it sends, so each connection made with this browser ends up overloading the whole call. Firefox is working to resolve this situation, but in the meantime, avoid using this browser to join the rooms.
Please do not use the old Microsoft Explorer browser anymore. This browser is outdated and does not include the required software to run our application.
2. Don't use a mobile phone
Our application is accessible by mobile phone and you will go in ‘Viewer Mode’. Due to the smaller screen, we had to limit a number of functions.
For example, you can’t see your fellow students. There is not enough space on the screen to show, besides from the trainer and presentation screens, the webcam footage of the other students.
3. Check your audio input
Check that your audio is not generating echo. A single person generating echo will end up disturbing the whole classroom. Set the audio input on your device to an optimal level to send the signal without amplification.
4. Use headphones
This minimizes the possibility of echo being generated in the room
5. Mute the microphone
If you are not speaking, keep your microphone off. This reduces noise and increases the overall quality of the session.
Please be aware that the trainer can also turn off your/all microphones.
6. Disable the camera
When your Wifi signal is limited or you have a bandwidth issue, it will help when you turn off your camera. In that way you can continue attending the session, but less data is sent, which will help the overall quality on your computer.
7. Change from Wifi to Ethernet cable
In some offices or homes, the wifi signals is limited due to various reasons. Or the computer is too far from the router. This could cause that some of the video streams are not properly transmitted to your computer and visible in the Virtual Classroom.
In that case, we advise people to use an Ethernet cable to connect to the internet router. This increases bandwidth dramatically.
This is especially important for Trainers, who are the managers of the Virtual Classroom and need to have the best experience in order to manage the session as good as possible.
Suggestions on further improvements, please let us know. We try improve the software and the User Experience continuously and any suggestions are very welcome.
Adding host to training session
Helen
Adding host to training session
We recently added this great new feature and got very positive feedback on it from our trainers.
High workload
When you are doing an online training session the workload can be very high. There are many things to focus on whilst you already need all your attention for your giving your training.
Adding a host is then the right thing to do. You can focus on the training and the students, he/she manages all other things.
Less VC-experienced trainers
Our system is not only used by experienced Virtual Classroom trainers. There are many trainers who only do it once or are especially invited for one particular session.
In that case, adding a host to that training session is highly recommended.
The trainer can focus 100% on the training. The host is managing all other things: the slideshow, the messages from the chat box, creating an interaction ‘on-the-fly’ etc.
Steps
It’s very easy to add a host to a Training Session:
- Go to Session Details
- Select the tab ‘Host’
- Add the name of the host (he/she will receive an email)
The host should be registered in our system.
If you have any question about this topic or you need any other type of support, please contact our Support Team.
Video files too big
Helen
Video files too big
When students are waiting for a long time for your video file to start, this is usually due to the file size of your video file. From experience we know this is often the case.
Therefore, it is good practice to minimise your file size and to upload it in the right video resolution. Then your students do not have to wait so long for downloading.
Video convertor Handbake
We prefer to use the popular and free application Handbrake (link).
With this application we reduce the file sizes considerably, whilst keeping the quality at a good level.
The settings that always work good for us are:
- Select from Presets the option “Very Fast 576p25”
- Tab option “Web Optimised”
Optimise your network / firewall
Helen
Optimise your network / firewall
It’s important that your network is ready for our application. Firewall settings may prevent connecting to our server and/or some elements working properly. Please implement the following.
IP addresses used by our application
Companies who have managed firewalls in place, please make sure to open your firewall for the following IP address(es):
- 95.217.193.105
- 95.217.193.69
In the future we will extend this list. We will inform our customers four weeks in advance, so any changes can be implemented on time by their online security managers.
TCP / UDP ports used
Our Virtual Classroom has the ability to handle webRTC traffic over both UDP and TCP. The following ports are used and should be open / whitelisted in the firewall for the IP(s) mentioned above:
- Port 443 for TCP HTTP/BOSH/Websocket to our webRTC server (via 95.217.193.105)
- Port 10000 for UDP from our Videobridge (via 95.217.193.69)
- (in case client has additional firewall restrictions and/or NAT) Port 443 TCP to our videobridge (via 95.217.193.105)
- Port 5275 and 5347 for TCP (XMPP client to server connections)
Note:
If your web traffic routes via a HTTP Proxy, then please create an exception to allow network traffic to route “.vr-spaces.com”.
Testing connection
If there are any issues or if you want to test your connection, please contact our Support Team to schedule a test appointment.
Trainer microphone not working
Trainer microphone not working
Your computer might have various audio input options, including an external microphone that you connected yourself. In most cases, the computer selects the right one itself. Sometimes a little help is needed.
Settings panel
For each training session, the trainer is asked to confirm the video and audio source. You can find this panel in the Virtual Classroom, please click the Settings button.
To select another Audio Source, click the pulldown menu and select one of the audio channels.
Note:
We recommend the trainer to use a headset with microphone. This gives the best audio quality.
This also prevents ‘audio feedback’ (the annoying sound effect which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and audio output).
If this doesn’t solve your problem, please contact our Support Team:
Excessive noise
Helen
Excessive noise
Even though we have taken some important precautions to automatically limit the amount of noise for the duration of the sessions, there are a number of actions that can be taken from the user side to limit any unwanted excessive noise:
- Use earphones
It is good practise to use the system with earphones. When no earphones are used, the audio of your speakers passes through to your microphone creating an echo and reverb effect, leading to an excessive noise situation. - Distance to the microphone
Please remain close to the microphone. The bigger the distance, the bigger the interference is from surrounding noise. - Mute participants’ audio
Many participants keeping their audio on is often the major reason for excessive noise for the duration of the session. The mixing of all these individual sounds leads to a poor session experience.
Therefore, we advice participants to mute their audio whilst not speaking. Also we advice trainers, at the beginning of the session, to ask everybody to mute their audio.
If you have any question about this topic or you need any other type of support, please contact our Support Team.
Brio camera not working
Helen
Logitech Brio camera not working
We have very good experience with the Logitech Brio and how the webcam works with a Windows machine. However, like with all computer stuff, in some cases something goes wrong.
We have identified the following reasons why the Logitech Brio is sometimes not working.
1. Brio camera not selected
Before the trainer enters the Classroom, he/she needs to select the video and audio channels for the application using the pulldown menu’s. Please select the Logitech Brio here.
If the Brio is not visible in the pulldown menu, please continue to #2
2. Drivers not up-to-date
When the Logitech Brio is connected to the computer via the USB port, the device will be listed in the Device Manager.
Please go to the Device Manager, the Brio is listed under ‘Cameras’ and select the Properties (by double-clicking).
Under the tab ‘Drivers’, please look at the following two things:
- Enable / Disable Device
If the Brio is disabled, please enable it. - Update Driver
Click on the button and the computer will check online if you have the latest Driver installed. If not, please update.
3. Internal webcam can't be overruled
Theoretically, it should always be possible to select an external webcam like the Logitech Brio (according to the official Windows 10 rules:-).
However, we have heard of laptop computers where this wasn’t possible or it didn’t work 100%.
In that case, please go to the Device Manager and disable the webcam’s internal webcam. This is very easy to do:
- Select the webcam under ‘Cameras’
- Go to Properties and then to the tab Drivers
- Disable the webcam
Important: please don’t forget to enable to webcam later again.
4. Close other video conference software
Video conferencing software like Zoom, Skype and Teams are widely used nowadays.
Some of these applications, when still open, limit or block access to the webcam camera.
If you experience a webcam selection problem, please close these applications before you go to your Virtual Classroom session.
If you have any questions about this topic or feedback about your specific setup/problems, please share this with us via our Support Team.
