iVisit for Dummies: a guide to getting Chat Hubs up

iVisit for Dummies:
a Basic Guide for the Chat Hubs
General Information on iVisit
- iVisit is designed for both Windows –based computers
and Apple computers. You can download either
version and join the Chat Hubs network.
- The Chat Hubs has a contract with iVisit that gives our
users access to “iVisit Plus.” Please download “iVisit
Lite” http://www.ivisit.com/download/select.html .
When you log in using the Chat Hubs Username and
Password, the extra features will be enabled.
- If we each have a strong Internet connection, we should
all be able to meet online using iVisit.
Information on routers and firewalls:
A common problem that Hubs have had using iVisit is with network
firewalls.
iVisit will work with many routers and firewalls without any special
configuration, as long as the router/firewall is configured to allow all
"outbound services" (this is the usual default security setting). However,
with some types of routers, you will also need to establish iVisit as an
"inbound service". This means that inbound traffic from the Internet that
is directed to the iVisit port, will be accepted by the router and forwarded
to a pre-specified host which you choose.
More information can be found here:
http://www.ivisit.com/help/reference/routers.html
If you are still having problems connecting, please connect the staff at
Chat the Planet or local technical assistance to configure your computer.
1. After you have installed iVisit, double click on iVisit icon:
3. Log in message:
2. First Log in Screen:
- Please note the “Last logon” feature that tells you how long
ago you last using iVisit.
4. Possible “Alert” message (you may or may not see this):
•
•
•
Please note the Domain name is SCHOOLS
(with an ‘s’)
If you don’t know your Username and/or Password,
please contact the Chat Hubs team:
[email protected]
Also note that all three “Remember” boxes are
checked – this will help you in the future so you don’t
have to remember this information again.
- Please keep this “Alert” message in mind, but it shouldn’t affect
your iVisit experience.
5. After iVisit detects your network and your webcam, 3 main
windows should pop up on your screen. First, you will see a
window that includes a picture from your webcam. Also, you
will see a Chat window. And, third, you will see an “Address
Book” that you use to navigate through the iVisit server.
7. If you can’t see your picture, there could be 2 problems.
7a. If your screen looks like this:
In this case, you probably have another program (like Yahoo
Messenger) that is using your webcam. Only one program can
use the webcam.
7b. If you can’t see the window, please click on Windows and
then Local AV:
6. The “Local AV” is the
window with a picture from
your webcam. Please note
that your Username is in
the blue title bar. Your
screen should look
something like this:
8. Now, we need to record the conversations between the
youth around the world. So, at the bottom of your Local AV,
click on the arrows on the left side and expand the “Audio” and
“Record” settings:
9. Please make sure that the “Others may record me” box is
checked. This is very important. We will use the recordings
for research for Chat the Planet, the television series. We
would also appreciate it if you also record the conversations
and send the files to us. Please us [email protected].
10. OK. Now that you have the iVisit setting properly
configured, you need to find others to chat with! In iVisit, you
use the “Address Book” to find other people.
Tip:
* When you talk, you must click on the “talk” button or press the
Ctrl key. Please don’t have the “talk” button down all the time –
it makes it difficult for others to talk.
* Also, you can adjust the microphone settings and the volume
settings so you don’t see the red bars by clicking on “-“ and “+.”
11. To begin with, we are meeting in:
/schools.ivist.net/Welcome/Chat room
So, first click ONCE on “schools.ivisit.net” in the screen
above. You should then see this screen:
12. Then click ONCE on “Chat room.” The (0) indicates that
no one is in the room. When we start meeting regularly,
hopefully we will see (8) or (20)!! You should now see this
screen:
13. Ideally, it will look something like this:
12. Then click ONCE on “Join this room.” You will then see
all the other Hubs that are online.
You can see under the blue title bar the speed of the
connection, both your sending and receiving speeds. “9.9
kbps” means that I am receiving 9.9 kilobits per second from
Tarek. And that translates to 2.4 frames per second (“fps”).
14. You can adjust the “Image Size” by clicking on the arrow
on the side and selecting one of three options.
Hopefully when you arrive, the other windows will pop up and
you will see everyone else in the room. If not, you can click on
the individual webcams (for example, you could click on
“GYAN_Alastair” above) and the window will open.
15. Also, you may click on the red box to record the
conversations:
17. If we have network problems, you may see this screen:
16. After the recording, you can save the file anywhere on
your computer.
Please be patient with the software. If you have problems,
double check the settings on your computer and then spend a
minute and check your Internet connection:
As a rule of thumb, each minute is about 0.5 MB.
We would greatly appreciate it if you could send all recordings
to us. Please attach the *.ivf files to an email and send the
email to:
[email protected]
There are many sites that offer free bandwidth speed tests.
This one may be good for everyone internationally:
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Bandwidth_meter/70047254_16-0.html
18. If your webcam is out of focus like this:
In Conclusion
Like any chain, the Internet is only as strong as its
weakest link. Between New York and, for example,
Uganda, there might be 20 to 100 links. Our video and
audio streams must pass through each of these links for
iVisit to perform. Likely, there will be problems with
each Chat Hub location that is different from the
problems of the other Hubs. Please be patient and we
will try our best to help you through the problems.
You can turn the white ring
around the lens to adjust the
focus of the camera until the
picture comes into focus.
First, we would appreciate it if you went to iVisit’s help
page and try to fix the problems yourself:
http://www.ivisit.com/help/index.html
They also have a Top Ten of Problems with their
solutions:
http://www.ivisit.com/help/reference/top-ten.html
We look forward to having many fruitful conversations
with you and each of the youth in your organization. I
think all the groups, from the Israelis to the Iranians,
want to share ideas and learn. We will do that with the
help of iVisit.
Peace,
The Chat Hubs Team