Conferencing Moderator Guide

Conferencing Moderator Guide - Proprietary -

©
2020 Nextera Communications
 Conferencing Moderator Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 3

2 ACTIVATING THE CONFERENCE CALL ................................................................................... 3

3 QUICK KEY REFERENCE FOR TELEPHONE ADMINISTRATION .................................... 3

4 WEB INTERFACE .............................................................................................. 4

4.1 Accessing the Web Interface .............................................................................................. 4

4.2 Moderator Web Interface Options .................................................................................... 4

5 MODERATOR CONTROLS .................................................................................. 5

5.1 Current Call............................................................................................................................. 5

5.2 Directory ................................................................................................................................. 6

5.3 Recordings .............................................................................................................................. 6

5.4 History ..................................................................................................................................... 6

5.5 Options……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….……. 6

6 PARTICIPANT INFORMATION .......................................................................... 7

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 Conferencing Moderator Guide

1 INTRODUCTION

Nextera Communication’s Conferencing allows you to hold a conference call whenever you need it, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. It's the ideal communications solution for any size business PLUS it’s reliable, easy
to use and cost effective. You can manage your calls from your Nextera phone by just following the steps
below. You also have the option to manage call options by using the web interface.

In order to start a conference call you will need a call-in number, moderator code, and participant code, as
follows:

Company Name: ________________________________ Call-In number: ____________________

Moderator Code: ___________________ Participant Code: ___________________

Note: All participants of a conference call must have the call-in number and participant code. See
“Conferencing Participant Guide”.

2 ACTIVATING THE CONFERENCE CALL

The person establishing and conducting the conference calls is the moderator. As the moderator, you can start a
conference call at any time by dialing the conferencing call-in number and identifying yourself by dialing your moderator
code. (*Please note that the moderator code is your unique identifier for the conferencing service. You should not disclose
this to anyone else to prevent unauthorized use of your service.) If you do not dial the moderator code correctly within 30
seconds, an error message plays and you are prompted to redial. If you do not provide a valid code by the third try, your
call is dropped and you will need to dial in again. As moderator, you can optionally access the web interface where there
are actions available only to you that affect individual participants, such as mute or volume control. These actions are
explained in more detail under the “Web Interface” section. Other users, known as participants, will need the call-in
number and the participant code above to enter the conference call.

To Activate the conference call from your Nextera phone:

1. Dial the conference call-in number.
2. You will hear prompts to enter:
• Your moderator code
• Your participant code
3. You will then be prompted to record your name followed by the # key.

At this point the conference call has been activated. Refer to the quick key guide below for functions that will assist you
throughout the conference call.

3 QUICK KEY REFERENCE FOR TELEPHONE ADMINISTRATION

You can manage a conference call from your telephone in a variety of ways by using these quick keys:
Out Dial Call – In general, you invite conference participants into a conference by providing them with the call-in
* number and the participant code. However, the moderator can also use the out dial feature to dial a participant’s
1 number and link them rather than having the participant call in. To do this, press *1, dial the participant’s
number then press #. You can listen to the instructions or press # to skip. Wait for the call to be connected then
press 1 to bring the participant into the call. Press * to abandon the out dial and return to the conference.
Mute or Unmute Moderator – You can mute your phone at any time during the conference call so that no
*2 sound will be heard during the conference. You may want to do this while you talk privately with someone in the
room. To mute your phone, press *2. Press *2 again to resume talking during the conference.
Lock or Unlock Conference - To lock the conference so that no further participants can join in, press
*3 *3. You may want to do this when all of the expected participants have joined so no unauthorized users
can log in. To unlock, press *3 again.

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 Conferencing Moderator Guide

*4 Roll Call of Participants - To hear the number of call attendees, press *4.

Count of Participants – At the beginning of the call, you may choose to hear a list of current call attendees; to
*5 do this, press *5.

Joining Announcement On or Off – Until the first participant joins, you will hear either on-hold music or silence,
*6
depending on how your conferencing is configured. When each subsequent participant joins the call you will hear a
series of beeps and the participant’s name. To have the participant’s name announced when joining or exiting a
call, press *6. Press *6 again to turn off the announcements.
Name of Last Participant to Join. You can press *7 at any time to hear the name of the last person that
*
joined the conference call.
Recording the call – On or Off – You have the option of recording a conference call. To turn recording on,
*8 press *8. All participants will be notified that recording is in progress. To stop recording, press *8 again. All
participants will be notified that recording has stopped.

*9 Mute or Unmute all Participants – To mute all participants, press *9. To unmute participants, press *9 again.

Soft Exit – To end the conference, simply hang up the phone. All participants will be notified with an
** announcement. As the moderator, you may want to exit by pressing the ** so that the remaining participants
can continue talking. You will then be prompted to confirm the soft exit by pressing 1.

4 WEB INTERFACE

As the moderator you have access to a web interface to further assist you with management capabilities for
the conference calls. Using the web interface is not critical for a conference call to take place.

4.1 Accessing the Web Interface

Start your web browser and enter [Link]. You should then see the interface log-
on window which will ask you to enter the moderator and participant codes. Type the two codes in
the appropriate boxes and then click the Log On button. The moderator code is treated as a
password so that the characters you type are replaced on the screen by dots. This is because it
gives you privileged access to moderator-only functions.

4.2 Moderator Web Interface Options

When you have logged on successfully, a list of options for managing the calls will
appear on the left hand side of the screen. When you first access the interface the
Current Call option is selected. These options are detailed further in the following
pages
.

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5 MODERATOR CONTROLS

5.1 Current Call

The current call window allows you to manage a conference. When participants join the conference, a window appears as
shown below. The panel at the right (A) provides information about the current call including date, time, participants and
length of conference call. To the left of this are two buttons (B) to control recording and locking the call. Panel (C)
represents conference participants. Each participant in the conference is represented by a panel with a telephone number
at the top.

The panel for each participant shows the following details:

• The participant’s calling telephone number
• The participant’s name, if the Conferencing server can determine it. This is taken from a directory entry matching
the calling number, if there is one, or from the caller name that the server received when this participant dialed
in. To change the displayed information, simply click on the name and change the details. When you move away
from the participant panel and click on another part of the Current Call window, the new name that you entered is
saved in a directory entry. This means that the updated information is available for future conferences that
include this participant.
• A Mute button. This allows you to mute this participant’s phone so that no sound from it is played into the
conference. Depending on the purpose of the conference, you may want to set it up so participants can talk at
any time or you may want to be the only speaker in all or part of the conference. To Mute a participant, click on
Mute. If he or she wants to speak, they can indicate a request using the telephone interface and you will see an !
over their icon. To allow them to speak click on the Mute button. To clear the alert, click on the person’s icon.
• A Drop button. This allows you to remove this participant from the conference. You may need to remove a
participant if he or she has obtained the participant code without permission and is not authorized to be in the
conference. To do this click the Drop button in the panel corresponding to the participant. You are then
prompted with a Yes/No confirmation button and if you choose Yes, the participant hears an announcement that
the moderator has removed them from the conference.
• Volume Levels. The gain control allows you to balance this participant’s sound level so that all participants can
be heard clearly. You can control the volume level for each participant individually so that the different speakers
are balanced in the conference. In the panel for each participant the gain control appears as a set of 7 vertical
bars with a number of these colored green to indicate the gain being applied to the incoming sound level. To
change the level for a participant, click on the bar representing the level that you want.
• Lock. To lock the conference so that no further participants can join it, click on the Lock button in the moderator
controls at the top of the window. You may want to do this if you want to restrict the number of participants on a
first come, first serve basis. To Unlock the conference at any point so that further participants can join, click on
the Lock button again.
• Record. To start a recording of the conference click on the Record button. An announcement will be played into
the conference each time you stop or start recording to inform the participants that the conference is being
recorded. To stop recording, hit the Record button again.

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5.2 Directory

The Directory window allows you to manage the names that are stored for participants. Click on the Directory button to
display this window.

When you edit the name of a conference participant in the Current Call window, the name
you specify is associated with the phone number in a Directory entry. To Update the
name or phone number in the directory, click on the data in the list; change the
information, then Save Entry. To add a new entry, click on New Entry to clear the edit
boxes, enter the name and phone number and then click Save Entry.

5.3 Recordings

The recordings window allows you to view and manage any conference recordings that you have made. Click on the
Recordings button to display this window. To listen to a recording and save to your computer, click on Download next
to the recording. You can retain a maximum of 5 recordings. Maximum recording time for all 5 recordings is 120 minutes.

5.4 History

The History window allows you to view a list of past conferences that you have managed. Click on the History button to
display this window. This will allow you to view the following information:
You may want to use this information to check for any unexpected entries that may
indicate unauthorized use of your moderator and participant codes. If you suspect
unauthorized usage, you can change the participant code.

5.5 Options

Joining Announcements – This feature allows you to choose whether you want an announcement to be played when a
participant joins or leaves the conference. If you select ON the name that the participant recorded when dialing in is
played after the tones indicating that participant has joined or left. If you select OFF the series of tones is still played, but
without the announcement.

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5.5 Options (Cont’d)

Use On-Hold Music – Specify whether you want music to be played to participants if they attempt to join the conference
before you and have to wait until you have dialed in. This music is also played if you are the first to dial in, while you are
waiting for the first participant to join you. If you select ON, music is played. This is the default music provided with the
conferencing service unless you provide your own on-hold music using the Upload wav file option. If you select OFF,
participants hear silence until the conference starts.
Upload wav File (optional) – If you want to provide your own on-hold music, click
the Browse button to locate a music file that you want to use. This must be stored
as a WAV or MP3 file on your computer or on a network accessible drive. If you know
the path to the folder where the file is stored, you may be able to locate the file more
quickly by typing this path in the edit box before clicking Browse. Only one file can
be in use at any time. If you upload a second file, it replaces the first one.
Download On-Hold Music – This field appears only if you have uploaded a music file
to the server for use as on-hold music. To download the file so that you can listen to
it or save it to your computer, click Download. To remove the file and stop using on-
hold music, click Remove. This automatically turns Use On-Hold Music to Off. If
you want to revert to the default music, click ON.

6 PARTICIPANT INFORMATION

You will receive a separate “User Guide for Participants” explaining these functions in greater detail for
distribution to your participants. Below are some of those features to help you answer any questions that
may arise.
Joining a Conference: To join a conference, dial the access telephone number for the Conferencing Service.
You are then prompted to enter the participant code. Enter this number then press #. You are then prompted to
record your name, which will be announced within the conference to indicate that you have joined or left. Speak
your name clearly, and then press #.

Talking During the Conference. Depending on the purpose of the call, the moderator may set it up so that
participants can talk at any time or he/she may mute participants’ phones. If participants are muted, you will hear
an announcement. If you are muted and want to speak, press *9 on your telephone keypad. This will alert the
moderator who can then unmute your phone. If your request is allowed you will hear an announcement to
indicate this action.

Muting your Phone – In addition to the moderator’s control of your phone, you can also mute your own phone.
To do this, press *2 on your telephone keypad. To unmute, press *2 again.

Announcements During the Conference – Depending on how the call is set up, any actions taken during the
call will be announced while the call is in progress. These would include, if the call is being recorded and as
participants join and/or leave the call. You will also be notified if the moderator has removed you from the
conference.

Leaving and Returning to the Conference – To leave the conference, simply hang up the phone. If the
conference is set up as such, an announcement will be played to the remaining participants that you have left the
call. You may return to the call at any time by dialing back in to the conference.

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©
2020 Nextera Communications