The Polycom WebOffice™

Frequently Asked Questions And Answers

Your
Web Meeting
Place
Q What is WebOffice? Q Can I hold secure meetings over the
LAN, WAN or the Web with WebOffice?
A WebOffice uses the far reach of the WorldWide Web to
extend your office beyond its physical location. Each office A Yes. WebOffice provides a number of features for secure
owner has a unique URL where scheduled guests and ad-hoc meetings such as.
visitors can communicate with you from any location – Password protection
worldwide in real-time; no matter where you are. – Meeting threshold for attendees
– Lock a meeting at any time
Using presence detection, passing visitors will know your
– Document encryption
current availability and can use Instant Messaging (IM) to
request a meeting. As an office owner, you are also notified
when visitors enter your WebOffice. This virtual knock on your Q Can I use WebOffice behind a firewall?
door allows you to control your time and decide if you are A Yes. WebOffice is firewall and proxy friendly because
available for an unscheduled interruption. it is HTTP traffic, the same as your other internet traffic.
It uses port 80 (used for Internet access). No additional
Q How does WebOffice work? security measures are required to your existing set-up as
unknown ports are not opened making installation of
A The WebOffice architecture allows enterprises to integrate
WebOffice simple and painless. It is also required that your
WebOffice into their existing network infrastructure on the
browser support ActiveX technology and this be enabled.
LAN, WAN or VPN. Service providers can provide a managed
service, however the functionality of WebOffice remains the same.
Q Can I use WebOffice if I am using NAT or proxy?
Using technology such as application streaming and peer
switching, all attendees receive fast updated meeting A Yes. So long as you are using an Internet IP address
content - streamed to each attendee direct from the meeting that can be reached from outside the DMZ.
organiser and the WebOffice server. This unique delivery
mechanism is particularly suited to low bandwidths of 56K Q How many participants can attend a WebOffice meeting?
or less as only screen data is sent. Large documents are A WebOffice dynamically scales from 2 to 25 participants
streamed to the desktop page by page, allowing pages to be for each scheduled or ad-hoc meeting.
presented immediately without having to wait for the
complete document.
Q Is there a limit to the number of simultaneous meetings?

Q Do I need to update all my browsers to the A No. Provided the active office license is not exceeded
latest versions to run the WebOffice? there is no limit to the number of simultaneous meetings
held on one server.
A No. All you need is a Java-enabled browser, such as
Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 4.0 or greater, or
Netscape Navigator/Communicator 4.5. Q Can WebOffice scale in line with demand?
A Absolutely. The WebOffice server can host an infinite number
Q How does the licensing work? of offices and serve up to 1000 simultaneous attendees
(dependent on the server specification).
A WebOffice is licensed on a sliding scale of simultaneous
access to suit your requirements. Each active participant
occupies a license, whether they are a guest or someone with
a registered office. Once you have exceeded your licenses,
you simply upgrade your active office license to the next
level (dependent on hardware specification of server) with
no fuss or down time.
The Polycom WebOffice™
Frequently Asked Questions And Answers
Your
Web Meeting
Place
Q How can I tell who is attending my meeting Q What are the benefits of WebOffice?
and if they are paying attention?
A WebOffice is your permanent place on the web for
A When attendees enter your office or meeting they identify real-time interaction with your customers and co-workers.
themselves. Once in the meeting, each attendee displays their Using your own private WebOffice URL (such as
real-time viewing status. You will be able to see what johndoe.acme.WebOffice.com) you and your guests may meet
document they are viewing and that they are in time with you. anytime from any location. From WebOffice you can securely
Should an attendee leave the meeting or work on other access your files, documents, presentations, and pictures
applications during meeting, you will be notified. — whatever content you want to share with your customers
or associates. These documents can be shared instantly.
Q Do I have to install client software from If you are not in your WebOffice when guests come to
a CD to use WebOffice? meet with you, they can leave you a note or a business card.
If you are in a meeting, guests may request to join the
A No. Unlike other solutions, WebOffice does not require
meeting while in progress.
complicated CD installations. A one-time browser plug in is
installed automatically with no user intervention the first time
a WebOffice is visited. Q Do I need to purchase any special hardware or software?
A No. So long as your PC and server meet the recommended
Q Does WebOffice allow private conversations to a participant requirements, as detailed in the datasheet, you will not have to
using IM (instant messaging) during a WebOffice meeting? purchase additional software or hardware.
A Yes. Each user has the ability the hold private text sessions
with another attendee parallel to the WebOffice meeting. Q Does an upgrade mean upgrading each WebOffice client?
A No. Whether WebOffice in an enterprise or hosted by a
Q I have limited network/Internet access. How does WebOffice service provider, upgrades are performed once on the server.
perform with low bandwidth connections? This approach eliminates support and lowers the total cost of
A Extremely well. Content is streamed to each attendee ownership.
direct from the meeting organiser via the WebOffice server.
This unique delivery mechanism is particularly suited to low Q What server platforms does WebOffice support?
bandwidths of 56K or less as only screen and keyboard data is A WebOffice supports the Microsoft NT 4.0 and 2000
sent. Large documents are streamed to the desktop page by advanced server platforms.
page. This allows pages to be presented immediately without
having to wait for the complete document.