5 Ways to Save Time During Conference Calls
NetMeeting tips to keep your calls fast, productive, and maybe even fun
Published: February 28, 2006
If you have ever tried to explain a written document to someone who can't see the document, then you know the meaning of the word frustration. And if you have ever tried to give a presentation while others on a conference call are still dawdling around opening up your slides, I'm sure you felt like I did: There has got to be a better way!
Valuable time is wasted during conference calls when people aren't working together. Fortunately, there is a simple fix that anyone with Microsoft Windows
can use to get things back on track: Windows NetMeeting. I use this product several times a week for everything from presentations to group chats to collaborative editing of documents. Working with people literally around the world, we can quickly pool resources to make our conference calls fast, productive, and even a tiny bit fun.
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NetMeeting at a glance
NetMeeting is a complete Internet conferencing solution for all Windows users. Using a simple IP address, it offers data conferencing, text chat, whiteboard, file transfer, and even audio and video capabilities.
These capabilities allow you to collaborate and share information between two or more meeting participants in real-time. The information can come directly from applications and files on your computer as other participants watch your movements, or you can send files to them using the binary file transfer capability. The features I have found most useful in business settings are the data conferencing and whiteboard capabilities, which are explained in more detail below.
The best part about NetMeeting is that it's free and available to Windows users anywhere. NetMeeting 3 is included in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. You can also download NetMeeting. Once you complete the simple registration process (which can be done in just minutes), you're ready to use it.
To start using NetMeeting
1. | On the Start menu, click Run. |
2. | In the Run dialog box, type conf. NetMeeting will then open. |
3. | Locate your computer's IP address. On the Help menu, click About NetMeeting. Your IP address will be at the bottom of the About NetMeeting dialog box. |
4. | On the Call menu, click Host Meeting. |
5. | Give your IP address to the participants in your meeting. They will enter the IP address in the text box next to the telephone icon. Clicking the telephone icon will allow their computer to call yours.  Entering an IP address and clicking the Telephone icon allows participants to join a call. |
6. | Accept the call when notified on your screen. A word of caution: Ask all participants to use NetMeeting 3.0 or higher in order to avoid any sharing incompatibilities with earlier versions. At the bottom of the NetMeeting window, there are four buttons. To select a program on your desktop to share with others during a NetMeeting, you can use one of two methods: either use the main NetMeeting toolbar, or use the buttons at the bottom of the window. The following tips will provide instructions using the Tools menu, but you can always use one of these buttons instead. From left to right, the buttons are Share Program, Chat, Whiteboard, and Transfer Files.  The buttons at the bottom of the NetMeeting window provide a quick way to access NetMeeting functionality. |
1. Collaborate with shared files
NetMeeting calls are most often launched because multiple participants need to see a file at the same time and review it. If you mail the file, you spend precious time waiting for others to receive it, open it, review it, and then—by the time one person makes a change—you have to resend the whole thing again for group review.
Sharing files online so everyone can see changes as they are being made is a huge timesaver. This is probably the most common use of NetMeeting today. Once a file is shared on a participant's desktop, anyone on the call can see it as well as see in real-time the changes being made to the file. You can either display individual programs or share your entire desktop so you can easily jump from one program to another.
In NetMeeting, you can share specific programs or your entire desktop with the click of a button.
When you select the Sharing feature, a new window pops open for others on the call. This allows them to distinguish between your shared programs and programs on their own desktop.
Multiple users can share programs at the same time, although only one person can work within a shared program at a time. For example, when I am working remotely on a presentation with several people, more than one may have source documents to share. Multiple users sharing programs at the same time gives each person in the conference the opportunity to flip quickly between windows to see various documents and then decide what should be included in the presentation.
A shared window will clearly name the owner at the top of the window.
To share a program
1. | On the Tools menu, click Sharing. |
2. | When the Sharing-Programs window opens, make your sharing selection by clicking the program you wish to share. Remember, choosing Desktop will allow all other participants to see everything on your entire desktop! |
3. | Click Share. |
4. | Click Close. |
When you are ready to stop sharing your program(s), simply open the Sharing-Programs window and select Unshare or Unshare All. Click Close.
2. Allow others to control your files
Giving up control isn't always easy in life, but in NetMeeting it's pretty simple. If someone else on the call needs to make adjustments to your shared file during the call, it's a quick process.
To allow another person control of your program
1. | On the Tools menu, click Sharing. |
2. | In the Sharing-Programs window, under Control, click Allow Control.  You can allow others to control your shared program. This option allows the other person to physically make changes to a shared file on your desktop in real time, as if the file were on that user's desktop, You can only give control to one person at a time, which helps provide security and peace of mind. If others need control, you simply change control over to the next person when the first is finished. Note: You will not be able to use your desktop during this action. Once you have selected this option, the Allow Control button changes to Prevent Control. Click the button now and no one can touch the files you have shared (except you).  When sharing a program, you can stay in control with the touch of a button. |
To request control of another person's program
1. | In the shared program window, on the Control menu, click Request Control. |
2. | If the owner of the shared program has selected Allow Control in NetMeeting, you can begin working in his or her program. |
3. | To stop controlling someone else's program, on the Control menu, click Release Control.  Releasing control back to the program owner is quick and easy. |
3. Chat behind the scenes
Want to gossip, er, chat with others during the conference call? To help move a meeting along, it's sometimes necessary to chat with others while a presenter is speaking. It's not always feasible, however, to interrupt during the presentation. Or perhaps you don't want everyone on the call to hear your comment. That's where NetMeeting's Chat feature can come in handy.
Using the chat mode in NetMeeting, you have several options. You can:
| • | Send text messages to another individual during the conference call. |
| • | Start a group chat during the call. This option is useful, for example, when the conference leader wants to consolidate questions for a presenter. Participants can send questions into the chat and the conference leader can decide which ones to ask the presenter. |
| • | Send a private message to another person during a group chat session. |
To open a chat
| • | On the Tools menu, click Chat. |
| • | When the Chat opens, in Message, type the message you want to send. |
| • | In the Send To box, make your selection. Note: Everyone in Chat is the default; if you want to send a message to a specific individual, then highlight the name in the main NetMeeting window and it will appear in the Send To list in the Chat window. |
| • | Click Send Message.  You can chat privately or to a group within the same chat window. |
You can use all the chat modes at the same time, by the way. For example, if you are in a group chat, highlighting a single person's name and sending a message to that person only will appear as a private message and no one else will be the wiser. Careful, though! Private chatting can be dangerous if you forget to highlight that name.
4. Get on the same page using the Whiteboard
Have you ever been in a meeting where people were arguing over something, only to realize after several wasted minutes that they actually all agreed from the beginning? Often, communication can be improved in any meeting by drawing a few visuals to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Most meeting rooms have a large whiteboard or easel just for that purpose.
The Whiteboard feature in NetMeeting gives you a mini drawing program that allows you to create visual concepts with everyone on the phone watching. In this way, you can collaborate in real-time using graphics. A text box feature lets you add participant comments wherever you want on the whiteboard, and a variety of basic drawing elements allow you to create simple drawings in seconds. You can also cut, copy, and paste information from any Windows-based application into the Whiteboard. Plus, you can save Whiteboard contents for reuse or reference.
The Whiteboard allows you to visually explain a concept during a conference call.
To open the Whiteboard
| • | On the Tools menu, click Whiteboard. |
| • | When the Whiteboard opens, use the drawing tools on the left as desired. |
5. Transfer files with ease
If at some point during your conference call you decide to transfer a particular file to other conference participants, you don't have to send an e-mail message. Instead, you can send it using NetMeeting. The benefit to transferring files this way is that you don't run into any mailbox limits or delays, and you don't need e-mail addresses.
To transfer files using NetMeeting
| • | On the Tools menu, click File Transfer. |
| • | In the File Transfer window, a list of meeting participant names will appear. Click Add File and select the files you want to send. |
| • | Click the name(s) of the people you want to receive the file. You can click All to send it to everyone in the meeting. |
| • | Click Send All. |
Don't have time to wait for e-mail? Just transfer files through NetMeeting. Easily send files to individuals or everyone, as well as view files others send to you.
NetMeeting has additional features that are worth checking out, but the ones highlighted here are the ones I use most often in day-to-day business. Try it out during your next conference call.
