Conference Manager - Basic Features Overview and Usage w/ Video

Overview

Conference Manager is a tool used to easily configure and customize conference access at a property. This guide will provide an overview of the Conference Manager User Interface (UI) and explain how to configure basic conferences. For Conference Manager Advanced Feature configuration and usage guides, please visit the hardware-specific integration guides Knowledge Base (KB) section.

Change Log

Requirements

• Access to Conference Manager
• Conference Manager enabled in ElevenOS

Video Overview

Notable Timestamps

00:45 - Dashboard Overview
02:52 - Configuring a Basic Conference
06:36 - Conferences Menu
07:18 - Conference Details Page
08:13 - Devices Menu
08:29 - Custom Portals Menu
08:46 - Creating a Custom Portal w/ Portal Manager
10:07 - Settings Menu
 

Conference Manager UI Overview

This section is to provide an overview of all of the Conference Manager UI components including the Dashboard, navigation menu and each of the items it contains. For a more detailed view of the Conference Manager UI, please watch the video tutorial above.

Dashboard

The Conference Manager dashboard provides a high-level view of active and upcoming conferences, active and scheduled users, bandwidth allocation and active conference bandwidth usage. Below is a brief overview of each of the dashboard sections:

1. Current Conferences - This is the number of active conferences. To view the full listing of active conferences, click the blue list icon or the "Conferences" menu item in the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Active Users - This is the number of devices that have actually connected through all of the ongoing conferences.
3. Scheduled Users - This is the maximum number of devices that can connect for all active and upcoming/scheduled conferences.
4. Upcoming Conferences - This is the number of upcoming/scheduled conferences. To view the full listing of upcoming conferences, click the purple list icon or the "Conferences" menu item in the left-hand navigation menu.
5. Bandwidth Allocation graph - This graph visualizes the total bandwidth allocation of all upcoming/scheduled conferences by day. This graph does not pull live data but instead uses two data points to compare the allocated bandwidth of all scheduled conferences to the property's overall internet circuit bandwidth. 
   1. Bandwidth Limit (horizontal line) - This line represents the property's overall internet circuit bandwidth. This limit is configured inside of ElevenOS. Please contact the property's ElevenOS administrator or Service Provider for configuration assistance or visit the Conference Manager - ElevenOS Configuration & Usage guide.
      
   2. Scheduled Conferences (vertical bars)- Each color in the vertical bars represent a single conference to visualize the allocated bandwidth. The larger the colored bar, the more bandwidth that was allocated to that conference.
      
6. Recent Usage graph - This graph measures the total data downloaded per active conference. Hovering over each colored section of the graph will show how much data has been downloaded.
   
7. Side Navigation menu - This is how to navigate through the different parts of Conference Manager. Each menu item is briefly explained below:
   1. Dashboard - This brings users back to the dashboard.
   2. Conferences - This is where all configured conferences (current, upcoming, past and archived) can be viewed.
   3. Devices - This is used for adding devices to a conference that cannot load a portal page.
      
   4. Custom Portals - This is where custom portals for conferences are created and stored.
   5. Settings - This is where general Conference Manager settings are configured.
   6. Logout - Logs users out of Conference Manager

Conferences Menu

The Conferences menu is where all conferences can be viewed, edited, deleted, and archived. Below is a brief overview of the different sections of the Conferences menu.

1. Conference Tabs - These tabs display all configured conferences of their type:
   • Current - Active or currently ongoing conferences.
   • Upcoming - Upcoming or scheduled conferences.
   • Past - Conferences that have expired naturally and that have not been deleted. Past conferences are not persistent and start to get removed once 250 past conferences have been reached.
   • Archived - Archived conferences act as a copy of another conference that can be re-used at another time. This is beneficial for complex conference configurations that happen on occasion.
     
2. Search - Use this field to search for conferences. Search criteria can include, Event Name, Login Code, Access start and end dates.
3. Actions - Click the gear icon to Edit, Copy, Archive and Delete a conference.
   
4. Additional Codes - When additional codes are created for a conference, a blue bubble icon appears indicating the number of additional codes. Mouse-hover over the icon to see the additional codes.
   
5. Pagination -  For busy conference spaces, pagination helps make viewing numerous conferences more convenient. Use the page buttons to navigate through multiple pages of conferences.
   
   Use the Rows Per Page drop-down menu to select the desired amount of conferences that are visible per page.
   
6. Conference Details - Clicking on an entry in the Event Name column will navigate to the Conference Summary page of that conference.
   
   
   The conference summary page also includes graphs visualizing conference bandwidth usage, internet browser types and device platform types used by individual conference attendees.
   

Devices Menu

The Devices menu is where devices can be added that are unable to load a portal. This allows those types of devices to bypass the portal for a conference so they can get online. Typically, printers, smart TVs, wireless routers, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and other internet-enabled devices are added to the Devices listing.

Custom Portals Menu

The Custom Portals menu is where custom portals are stored and can be created and edited. Custom portals are needed for conferences that require specific images, branding or wording.

To configure custom portals a conference only Portal Manager template is used. 

Settings Menu

The Settings menu has several options and settings that can be viewed or edited for property and conference contact information, ElevenOS site settings, time/date formatting and the message of the day. Below is a brief overview of the different sections of the Settings menu.

1. Site Settings - These settings are not editable from within Conference Manager. To change them, contact the property's ElevenOS administrator or service provider.
2. Hotel Sales Contact - This section is where the hotel sales contact information is stored and can be edited by clicking on the blue "Edit Contact" icon.
3. Conference Options - In this section the time/date formatting is viewable, the Primary and Secondary conference contact required fields, the amount of required additional property staff contacts, telephone number formatting and conference login code maximum length. The message of the day is used for an internal message to those signing in to the meeting planner dashboard (configured here).

Configuring a Basic Conference

Follow the steps below to create a basic conference. This guide will not cover using or configuring Conference Manager Advanced Features. For Conference Manager Advanced Feature configuration and usage guides, please visit the hardware-specific integration guides section.

1. Log into or navigate to Conference Manager
2. In the upper left-hand corner, click New Conference
   This brings up the New Conference popup window:
   
3. Basics Tab
   1. Event Name: Enter a desired unique event name
   2. Event Start: Select when the conference will start
   3. Event End: Select when the conference will end
      Click the field to bring up the date picker
      
      Click the clock icon to select the desired time
      
   4. Advanced Wireless: Not covered in this section
   5. Advanced Wired: Not covered in this section
   6. Advanced Connection: Select Standard, other connection types not covered in this section
   7. Login Code: Enter the desired Login Code or generate the code with the generate code icon
      
   8. Landing Page: Click on the field to bring up a dialogue box
      Enter the desired landing page or use the default landing page
      Click Update
      
   9. Click Next
4. Contacts Tab
   
   1. Primary Contact: Enter the primary contact's information for the conference
   2. Secondary Contact: Enter the secondary contact's information for the conference
   3. Hotel Staff Emails: Enter any property staff emails for the conference
   4. Meeting Planner Dashboard: Enable if desired
      • Enter a desired username and password for the meeting planner account
        
      • Please visit the Conference Manager - Meeting Planner Dashboard - Overview and Usage article for more information
   5. Click Next
5. Location Tab
   
   1. Access Locations: Select the areas of the property that will have access to the conference
      
   2. Click Next
6. Network Tab
   
   
   1. Upload/Download Speed: Use the slider to set the desired speeds
      
   2. Apply Bandwidth Limits to: Select one of the options below
      • Individual - Applies the connection speeds to each individual user
      • Group - Applies the connection speeds to the entire group
   3. Concurrent User Limit: Set the maximum number of users that can be online at the same time
   4. Email Addresses for Alerts: Enter any desired email addresses to received alerts about the conference
      
      1. After entering an email address, click the advanced configuration icon
         This brings up the Advanced Email Alerting popup window
         
      2. Set the thresholds for Bandwidth and User limits to the desired percentage of the configured maximums
      3. Set the time interval for which the threshold has been exceeded to start alerting
   5. Conference Traffic Priority: Select one of the following options
      • Standard - Shares priority with all Standard conferences
      • Premium - Gets priority over all Standard priority conferences and shares priority with other Premium priority conferences
        
   6. Idle User Timeout: <set the desired amount of time of inactivity before a user is logged out>
   7. Click Next
7. Codes Tab
   
   
   1. To create additional codes for the conference, click the blue Add Extra Login Code button
      This brings up the Add Extra Code popup window
      
   2. Login Code: Enter or generate a random code
   3. Users: Enter the maximum amount of users this code can be used
   4. Upload/Download Speed: Set the speeds with the slider or manually enter with Advanced View
   5. Priority: Check the box to enable Premium priority for this code
   6. Click Update to save the code
   7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 for any additional codes
   8. Click Next
8. Review Tab
   
   
   1. Review the conference configuration to ensure it is accurate
   2. If desired, enable the Recurring Conference slider to configure those options
      This brings up the Recurring Conference popup window
      
      
      1. Repeat: Enter the desired daily, weekly, monthly, annual repeat type
      2. Every: Enter the desired repeat frequency
      3. Starts: Enter the desired date to start repeating the conference
      4. End Conference By: Select one of the following
         • Number of Occurrences - Enter how many times the conference should recur until it ends
         • On a Specific Date - Enter a date for when the conference should stop recurring
      5. Click Update to save the recurring conference configuration
         
   3. Review the conference configuration again to ensure its accuracy
   4. Click Create to schedule the conference

Editing a Basic Conference

Once a basic conference has been created it can be edited using the steps below.

1. In Conference Manager, navigate to the Conferences Menu
2. Use either of the following methods to edit a conference: 
   • To edit a conference immediately, click the gear icon in the Actions column and select Edit
     
   • To review the conference configuration before editing, click on the desired Conference in the Event Name column to bring up the conference summary page
   • Click the edit icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Conference Details section
     
3. Either method used above brings up the Edit Conference popup window
   
4. Edit the desired settings on each tab in the Edit Conference window
5. Use Next to page through the configuration as necessary
6. On the Review tab, click Update to save any changes made
   

Related Links

• Conference Manager - ElevenOS Configuration & Usage Guide
• Conference Manager - Meeting Planner Dashboard - Overview and Usage
• Understanding Conference Manager Graphs
• ElevenOS Conference Manager Datasheet
• ElevenOS Conference Manager Webpage