APAN is working to support our users during the COVID-19 crisis. We have seen a significant increase in APAN usage. We understand that some of our members want to use our services to continue operations virtually; specifically, services like Adobe Connect and Chat used by teams to maintain and continue operations.
To accommodate all APAN users, we ask that everyone using Adobe Connect adhere to the following guidelines and best practices:
1) If you are the host of the meeting room use the “End Meeting” function.
a) Go to the top menu, click Meeting
b) Click End Meeting
i) By doing this you are releasing licenses that another organization can use to conduct their meetings.
ii) Do not just click on the “X” to close the window.
2) Persistent rooms remaining open 24/7 are not allowed.
a) Exceptions are for those organizations that are running 24/7 operations and gave prior notice to their APAN representatives.
b) If your organization has not provided notification of 24/7 operations, please submit your request via ticket here https://community.apan.org/support/p/contact
3) If you experience video or audio delays, try one of the following settings adjustments:
a) In the top menu, select Audio/Audio Conference Settings.
i) Video – Hosts can change the video quality. Set to Low to decrease the bandwidth usage.
ii) Screen Share – Hosts can change the screen share quality. Set to Low to decrease bandwidth usage.
4) If you are not speaking, mute your microphone/phone. This avoids unnecessary echo that can interrupt the meeting.
5) For mobile devices, download the Adobe Connect app from the iOS, Android or Google Play stores.
6) Best practices always include a backup, for example, a separate conference call line for phone lines.
By adhering to these guidelines and best practices, we can continue to support the APAN community’s needs. If we cannot meet the demand for Adobe Connect usage, based on our current licenses, we will have to implement a priority schema. Priority will be given to COVID-19 operations.
For more details on Adobe Connect, visit the APAN Knowledge Base at https://community.apan.org/support/w/kb/19062/adobe-connect/
APAN offers group and peer-to-peer chat. Consult with your community owners to locate your chat rooms. You can also go to https://chat.apan.org to see the list of the group chats that you belong to.
For more details on Chat, visit the APAN Knowledge Base at https://community.apan.org/support/w/kb/19071/chat/
Other services available for our DOD users, DISA provides the Defense Collaboration Services (DCS) which is a secure web conferencing and instant messaging services on the NIPRNet. DISA DCS - https://conference.apps.mil
Timothy C Mehlhorn, APAN Technical Director