The video conferencing systems in rooms Le R11 and Le R213a/b can be used to hold hybrid seminars, which are a mixture of on-site teaching and online seminars via the bbb video conferencing system. Further instructions for BBB can be found here.

The video conferencing systems consist of

a control panel (here the image source for the TV can be switched and the playback volume can be changed)

a built-in computer with Windows 10 and Office installation

a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse to operate the built-in computer

several network microphones (UFO-shaped, with a luminous ring on the top)

There is also a projector in both rooms (R11 Le, R213a/b LE), which is mounted on the ceiling.

Don't forget: The remote control for the projector and technical equipment for conference technology can be borrowed in a bag (labelled for the room), which can be obtained on request from the porter together with the room key. The built-in computer cannot be used without this bag!

Solution for seminars with tutor support.

The most elegant solution for seminars with tutor support is to create a division of labour as follows:

Tutor operates the built-in computer and camera

Lecturers connect their laptop directly via the projector

Tutors thus take on the role of link between the BBB and the room (operating the camera, making sure that everything is clearly visible, reading out questions from the chat, etc.), while lecturers can concentrate mainly on their presentation and their slides. The advantages of these solutions are as follows:

those physically present can follow the slides on the projector

Online attendees can dynamically decide whether they prefer to view the camera image (with or without beamer projection, depending on how the camera is panned/zoomed) or whether they want to view the razor-sharp slides (e.g. when it comes to colours and/or readability)

Presenters do not have to worry about the operation of BBB

The slides of the presentation do not have to be copied to the built-in computer first

Tutors

   1. switch on the video conferencing system via the control panel (touch the touchscreen → ⏻⏻⏻⏻Power symbol⏻)

   2. switch on keyboard and mouse (slide button for mouse down to green, slide button for keyboard right to green, switch keyboard to channel 1 with white button)

   3. start Firefox and log in to BBB with the tutor's account (or the lecturer's account)

   4. select the correct room and click on ‘Start’ (or join the room of the lecturer)

   5. enter the BBB room with microphone (the microphone and the loudspeaker are for the whole room, please switch off all other loudspeakers, e.g. from students or lecturers)

   6. make sure that the network microphones can be heard in the BBB echo test. Only click Yes if you have heard yourself (the No option allows you to select a different audio device)

       If you cannot hear anything: → First test whether you can hear anything at all, e.g. with a YouTube video and adjust the volume on the touch panel accordingly

       ◦ If you can hear the video but not the mic → Restart the system (switch off on the touch panel, unplug)

       ◦ If nothing still works: Get help

   7. activate webcam (round blue button with camera icon at the bottom)

   8. webcam can be panned and zoomed via touch panel (◀ ▲ ▼ ▶), presets can also be used here

   9. make sure that the other side can be heard loud enough. Otherwise readjust on the control panel on the right

  10. start recording if necessary (must of course be agreed with all parties beforehand)

Don't forget at the end of the conference

End the conference (via the ⋮ button at the top right of the BBB window)

Log out with the logged in BBB account!

Switch the video conferencing system to idle mode on the control panel by pressing the ⏻ button

Presenter

Switch on your own laptop and start Firefox/browser

   1. connect the HDMI cable brought by the porter to the wall outlet and switch on the room projector

   2. log in to bbb.hfbk.net (please test beforehand!)

   3. either:

       1. start the room and pass the link to the tutor

       2. enter the room started by the tutor

   4. but: Never switch on your own microphone/speakers! (risk of feedback). The network microphones work well and you can rely on them

   5. upload slides as a PDF or Office file by clicking on the blue (✚) button at the bottom left of the BBB window and go to ‘Upload presentation’. You can also activate the download of your slides at the same time, if this is desired) If the button is not available, it could be because you are not a presenter. Then, for example, the tutor has to make you a presenter. More details on the use of BBB can be found here, among others

   6. once the slides have been uploaded, click on the full screen button at the bottom right of the slides.

   7. you can now use the arrow keys on the computer to advance the slides (if not, click once in the centre of the slide) and exit full screen mode again using the Esc key

Troubleshooting

Modern video conferencing systems are complex technology consisting of many different components, not all of which are within the control of an institution (or even a person). This means that there are many points at which errors can occur. The most important thing for successful problem solving is to systematically ask questions and reduce the area of ignorance and rich speculation. The aim of this sequential restriction is to divide the large and complex problem into smaller manageable problems according to the principle of divide and conquer, which can be worked through one after the other. This means that it may be sufficient to answer the questions in order to find a solution yourself.

Problem	Solution
The television of the video conferencing system does not switch on	Is there a power failure at the moment? Is the device's power cable connected? Has the correct image source been selected via the control panel? Are the network microphones lit?
The other side doesn't hear a sound	Do all network microphones light up green? If not: switch on, if yes, mute each network microphone in turn (tap on the mute symbol so that it lights up red) and see if you can now hear anything. If so, unplug the network cable at the bottom of the ‘culprit’ and plug it back in. Ensure that BBB has been entered with microphone
The other side only hears bad sound	Try to speak as close as possible to the microphones. If the problem is due to the other party's network speed, the other party must improve their connection (e.g. ask flatmates not to use video streaming, etc.)
We do not hear any sound via the built-in computer	Is the volume in Windows (status bar bottom right) set appropriately? Is an independent sound source (e.g. a YouTube video) working? If so, the problem is probably on the other side. In principle, if you have heard yourself in the BBB echo test, the other side should also hear you (unless you have changed something)
We do not hear any sound from a computer connected directly to the TV via HDMI	Has the volume been set appropriately on the control panel? Has the correct audio output (HDMI) been selected in the laptop's system settings? Is the system volume >0? Is the system muted?
The other side is difficult to understand	Did the other party understand themselves well in the BBB echo test? If not, then the problem is with the other party's sound setup. Is the far end not using headphones, is it far away from the microphone or computer or is it in a noisy environment? Does the other party have sufficient download and upload bandwidth available? With whom is this bandwidth shared - flat share, house, café, family, etc.? Is the other party's computer connected via WLAN (bad!) or via Ethernet cable (better)? Does the other party's household use services/applications that require a lot of bandwidth (Netflix, YouTube, streaming services such as Spotify, web radio, downloads, online games, etc.), is there construction work taking place in the area between us and the other party that is affecting the network?
Slides cannot be uploaded	There is a limit of 2MB per page. To comply with this limit, it is worth saving the PDFs/Office documents to be uploaded in compressed form. How to do this depends on the respective programme/workflow, please ask - we will find a way
The projector does not switch on	Is the battery of the remote control empty (recognisable by the LED that lights up when a button is pressed)? Has the HDMI cable been plugged into the correct socket (wall outlet)? The projector takes a little while to start up - is the green LED on the projector lit?
Whistling noise is generated in the room	Does more than one device have a microphone and loudspeaker on? Then you have built an oscillator using acoustic feedback. Switch off one of the devices. In principle, you should never take part in video conferences without headphones without special video conferencing technology as in R11 and R213a/b, as some of the sound played will always find its way back into your microphone, which will reduce your speech intelligibility
The keyboard does not work	Has the standby switch (right front of the keypad) been flipped (visible in green)? Is the correct channel selected (white channel 1 button)?
The mouse does not work	Has the standby switch (underside of the mouse) been flipped (visible in green)?