SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

 

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• Webex is the main supported video conferencing platform at SUNY New Paltz and it is strongly recommended that you use your college issued account. It will allow for more thorough technical support, and provide more security features than unsupported platforms.

• There are 3 areas of concern when maintaining secure practices for online events: Event Promotion, Scheduling, and In-Meeting Actions. 

• Basic principles of secure meetings include requiring registration, using a passcode, using a waiting room, and knowing how to remove unwanted attendees. Please read through the sections below to learn how to operate a safer and more secure virtual event.

• The following practices are shown using Webex. They can be applied to other meeting platforms where comparable features exist.

INDEX

1. Event Promotion
2. Scheduling
   1. Unique Meeting Number
   2. Audio Connection Options
      1. Mute Attendees As They Join The Meeting
   3. Scheduling Options
      1. Who Can Become A Cohost
      2. Who Can Join An Unlocked Meeting
      3. Turning On The Lobby
      4. Registration
      5. Turning Off Chat
      6. Attendee Privileges
3. In-Meeting
   1. Managing Attendees
      1. Locking The Meeting & Turning On The Lobby
      2. Removing Attendees From The Meeting
      3. Muting Attendees
      4. Turning Off An Attendee Camera
   2. Managing Settings
      1. Prevent Attendees From Sharing Content
      2. Limiting Chat & Control Privileges

EVENT PROMOTION

It is important to be aware of what meeting information is promoted, and how it is being distributed.

*IMPORTANT - Do not share your Host Key with anybody. If someone has access to your Host Key, they will be able to take over control of the meeting.

Making a meeting link, number, passcode, etc. available on public channels such as social media can have a higher risk of unwelcome guests. For public events, it is better to require registration. This will then send the meeting information only to the people who have registered, and will have a much lower risk of unwelcome guests.

If you have a select group of people that you'd like to attend your meeting or event, it is better to add them directly when scheduling. Copy-pasting meeting info and then distributing over email may lead to unwanted forwarding of that information. 

SCHEDULING

Unique Meeting Number

It is better to use a scheduled meeting, rather than your personal room link. Scheduled meetings have a unique number that will expire once the meeting is over, but your personal room link remains.

*NOTE - When scheduling a meeting via newpaltz.webex.com, these options can be found under Advanced Options.

AUDIO CONNECTION OPTIONS

Mute Attendees As They Join The Meeting

Setting audio options this way will force attendees to be muted at all times, until requested to unmute by the host/cohosts.

SCHEDULING OPTIONS

Who Can Become A Cohost

Choosing the first option will prevent attendees from inadvertently becoming a cohost if they meet the criteria of the second and third options. All faculty, staff, and students have host accounts on this site. 

Who Can Join An Unlocked Meeting

Guests are anybody that does not have a SUNY New Paltz Webex account, or somebody who is not logged into their SUNY New Paltz Webex account. This option will allow authenticated New Paltz attendees to join immediately, but force unrecognized attendees to wait in the lobby. You can then decide who to let into the meeting.

Turning On The Lobby

By turning on automatic lock at 0 minutes, this will enable the lobby as soon your meeting starts.

Registration

This is a great way to filter who receives the information that will allow them to join a meeting. By setting up approval rules, only people who meet your defined criteria can register. Examples include needing an "@newpaltz.edu" email address. By selecting "Automatically accept all requests", anybody who registers will be given the information to join the meeting. For either option, you will have a list of everybody that registers. You will be able to manually approve people who do not meet the criteria if you wish.

Turning Off Chat

After selecting the Meeting Options link, you can deselect the Chat feature. This will turn off chat for your meeting.

Attendee Privileges

After selecting the Attendee Privileges link, you can deselect Share Content as well as Control Application, Web Browser, or Desktop Remotely. This will prevent attendees from being able to share content until the host specifically allow them to. It will also prevent them from being able to request control of the content being shared.

IN-MEETING ACTIONS

These are actions you can take as host once a meeting is in progress.

MANAGING ATTENDEES

Locking The Meeting & Turning On The Lobby

Under the Meeting heading in the top menu, select lock meeting. This will prevent attendees from entering the meeting, and will allow you to choose who can join.

You can admit them to the meeting from the top of your Participants window.

Removing Attendees From The Meeting

You have two options when removing an attendee from the meeting. First, you can put them into the Lobby, where they will still be connected to the meeting but not able to see or hear any other attendees or content. Second, you can expel them and they will be completely removed from the meeting. Both options can be accessed by right clicking on the attendee's name in the Participants window.

Muting Attendees

You can mute an individual attendee two ways through the Participants window. The first is to hover over their name and select the green microphone/mute icon. The second is to right click on their name and select Mute from the menu.

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You can mute everyone in the meeting by pressing the Mute All button at the bottom of the Participants window.

*IMPORTANT - You can prevent attendees from unmuting themselves by accessing the 3-dot menu next to the Mute/Unmute all buttons, and deselecting that option. By selecting Mute On Entry, this will automatically mute attendee microphones as soon as they join the meeting.

Turning Off An Attendee Camera

If something unwanted is appearing on an attendee's camera, right click on their camera image or on their name in the Participants window. Then select Stop Video from the menu.

MANAGING SETTINGS

Prevent Attendees From Sharing Content

To ensure that only the Presenter (designated by the Host) can share content, access the Participant heading in the top menu, and deselect Anyone Can Share.

Limiting Chat & Control Privileges

Access the Participant heading in the top menu, then select Assign Privileges. Here you can limit who attendees can chat with under the Communication tab, and how they can interact under the Controls tab.