Student Videoconferencing at DUSON

Connecting with your fellow students, faculty and family is easy with videoconferencing.  As a Duke University student, you have access to WebEx at no charge, which is a secure platform for all of your videoconferencing needs.

But first, here’s our Tech Tip of the Week …

Using a laptop or other mobile device while surfing? 

Scrolling is easy with a mouse – a little harder when using a laptop or other mobile device where you may not have a convenient way to use a pointing device.  Here’s a handy scrolling tip so you don’t have to grab the mouse:

Pull up your favorite website.  Press the Space Bar to scroll down on a webpage.  

Want to go back up?  Press Shift+Space. 

It’s that easy and provides quick scrolling without having to remove your hands from the keyboard.

Why WebEx?

There are many choices for web conferencing – Duke University and Health System have selected WebEx as the corporate standard because WebEx is secure.  In fact, it is the only videoconferencing tool approved to be used on the Duke Health network for sensitive data.  Other tools, such as Skype, have security holes that may pose a risk to users and our network.  When you use WebEx, you can be confident that your computer and the Duke Health network are safe.   

Getting Started with WebEx

As a student, you can use WebEx at no charge for computer-to-computer web conferencing – this is also known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol – which simply means that you are using your computer microphone and speakers over the internet for your call instead of using the telephone). This provides Skype-like convenience on a fully secure and protected environment. 

Step 1 – Register your account

You’ll need an account to use WebEx.  Click here and select Request New Account under Manage Access – scroll down to find this option.

Step 2 – Test your account

We recommend that you do a practice run to help you see how WebEx works.  Click here for a link to set up your first test meeting.

Step 3 – Make a real call

Try it out in real time!  Use one of your classmates, a friend – even your Mom – as a guinea pig and play around with it.  Make several successive calls to get familiar with testing your audio and video.  We also recommend that you try it out on your computer as well as any of your other mobile devices, such as your phone or tablet.  WebEx should work well on any device.

Videoconferencing Best Practices

• Make it a habit to do this each time you use any videoconferencing software:
  • Connect to the meeting.  Once you are connected:
  • Test your audio – make sure your microphone works and your speakers work:
    • WebEx has a menu option that allows you to test this before and during a meeting.
  • Test your video – make sure your camera is on.
    • WebEx has an easy-to-use interface to help you with this.

• Make sure you are well-lit so the other participants can see you.  Also, it’s best not to sit with your back to a window or other brightly lit wall – this will make you appear back-lit and it may be difficult for others to see you.
• If you have connection problems, it’s probably not a WebEx issue.  WebEx is like every other video conferencing system.  If you don’t have a strong internet connection, your video/audio will appear to skip or look “jumpy”.  Using a video conferencing system at a restaurant or hotel WiFi, or using your mobile hotspot, is going to be a bad experience compared to when you are on campus with a high-quality network. 
• For best results with videoconferencing, use your laptop while plugged directly into the network or your home router.  Want to go wireless?  You can also expect good results from our clubs wireless network on campus.  If you have a high-speed connection at your home or office with a strong wireless router, you should be fine, depending on other concurrent online activity.

Going Deeper

Visit the Duke WebEx FAQ site for additional information using WebEx.

Have any questions about this or other tech used at DUSON?

As always, if you have any technical questions or problems, please contact your IT Service Desk at 919-684-9200, or email to citdl@mc.duke.edu.