Using Metro, service owners and administrators can provide desktop (PC and Mac) or mobile access to the basic features required by their end users to successfully book and manage their personal or teams’ Spaces and join calls when unable to access collaboration rooms and devices.
With Metro, we make life a little easier for everyone who needs to make calls. New concepts such as “Service Calls” for Translation or Sign-language-interpreter build on this by enabling additional services that help the user have successful and productive calls. And because Metro supports multiple languages, users don’t always need to read the UI in English. The ‘low/no touch’ nature of the Metro application enables its deployment quickly and seamlessly without additional infrastructure or often complex application ‘packaging’.
Coming next…
Metro for Outlook Add-in: Integrate VQ Conference Manager with Outlook for Microsoft 365 using the Outlook Add-in.
Metro for Outlook Plug-in: For those using on-premise Exchange and needing rich call functionality.
Metro for Teams: Brings CMS capabilities to Teams users. From Teams, users are able to cross launch a call from Teams to CMS. No requirement to leave one call and then join another. Add Cisco levels of call predictability to your Microsoft Teams environment.
With VQ Conference Manager 3.12/4.2 (plug-in versions 120 and above), we’ve introduced an extensive functionality upgrade to the Outlook Plug-in:
‘Meet me’; inject details of a user’s Space into the Outlook Meeting invite
The user can select the Space they want to use for the ‘Meet Me’ call and can inject details for the Space into the Outlook calendar entry
If the Space has multiple Roles, the Role can be selected
The Space details are static; the PIN/passcode are those of the underlaying Space
Scheduled Meetings; meeting instances available for specific periods of time
Scheduled meetings exist for specific periods of time. They are created on CMS by VQ for the date and time defined by the Outlook Meeting
They can exist on existing Spaces or Spaces created to host a meeting
The PIN/passcode for scheduled meetings can be One-Time with each meeting having its own PIN/passcode. Alternatively, the Meeting can use the PIN/passcode of the underlying Space
Recurring Meeting sequences hosted on Spaces dynamically created to host the meeting will be locked between meeting instances
Meetings (and Recurring Meetings) hosted on an existing, known, Space take precedence over the ‘self-service’ use of a Space
The user can select from the available set of Space Templates (multi-role or single role) available at the User’s UX (User Experience) Level
If Setup and Tear down times are required, these can be configured on the Tenant the user belongs to
Re-label Call (‘Meet me’) and Scheduled Meeting menu items
Provide your own icons for Call (‘Meet me’) and Scheduled Meetings
Works with VQ One-Button-To-Push (OBTP)
Associate Microsoft Exchange Room System Resources with Endpoints in VQ
Works with Outlook Scheduling Assistant and Room Finder
Users can use Room Finder to see when a meeting room is available
The enhanced functionality is available from VQCM 3.12/4.2 and Outlook plug-in version 3.1.120. The previous, Legacy functionality version of the plug-in, 3.1.34 version of the plug-in can still be used with VQCM 3.12/4.2.
The Outlook plug-in requires the Self-Service Application Pack option to have been licensed.
VQ Conference Manager integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook, enabling your employees to manage their calls and meeting Spaces using the tools they already use to plan their days.
Compatible with Outlook 2016/2019 and Office 365 on Windows and macOS, VQ Conference Manager’s user control panel puts conferencing at the heart of workplace productivity – and removes the need for employees to log into a separate web portal. (If you’re using an older version of Outlook, scroll down to discover our Plug-in). Add Space details to meeting invitations
When users create an Outlook meeting invitation, the VQ Conference Manager control panel enables them to add their Space details in a single click. This injects all the details recipients need to join the call. Meeting Space management
The VQ Conference Manager Outlook Add-in enables users to manage their virtual meeting Spaces and passcodes from within Outlook. This includes:
• Update existing Space settings
• Create new Spaces
• Remove Spaces
• Change PINs/passcodes Self-service call control
As well as managing meeting Spaces, users can control calls, directly within Microsoft Outlook.
For any in-flight call, the meeting Space owner can:
• See who is on the call
• Mute or unmute participants’ audio
• Change the video layout
• Set participant importance
• Remove participants
• End the call
The VQ Conference Manager web portal gives users Webex-style access to your conferencing service.
Using the portal, users can:
Schedule one-off and recurring calls (optionally with their own PIN/passcode)
Share meeting information, such as joining links
Join calls
Control in-flight conferences
Manage their meeting Spaces
Scheduling one-off and recurring calls
Users can schedule calls using the VQ Conference Manager web portal. This can either be in one of their static, always-available meeting Spaces, or in a one-off Space with its own PIN, which will exist only at the specified call time, for added security.
The web portal enables any conferencing user to share joining details for:
Their static, always-available meeting Space(s)
Any future one-off calls they’ve scheduled
Join calls
From the web portal, users can join calls or meeting Spaces in a few clicks, including:
Their static, always-available Space(s)
Any one-off calls they’ve scheduled
Your administrators can configure the web portal to determine which joining options users are offered. This could include Cisco Meeting Server web app, Microsoft Teams, Skype or telephone.
Control in-flight conferences
When a call is in progress in a user’s Space, that user can:
• See who is on the call
• Mute or unmute participants’ audio
• Change video layout
• Set participant importance
• Remove participants
• End the call
Your administrators can control which of the above options are available to users, via VQ Conference Manager’s user interface profiles.
Self-service Space management
From the VQ Conference Manager web portal, conferencing users can:
• Update existing Space settings
• Create new Spaces
• Remove Spaces
• Change PINs/passcodes
For organizations using Cisco Jabber as their unified communications client, VQ Conference Manager plugs seamlessly into this interface.
From the VQ tab in Jabber, conferencing users can:
• Update existing Space settings
• Create new Spaces
• Remove Spaces
• Change PINs/passcodes
• Launch a call in one of their Spaces, using the Jabber client
And when a call is in progress in a user’s Space, Jabber shows the Space is active and how many participants are in it. Users can then:
• See who is on the call
• Mute or unmute participants’ audio
• Change video layout
• Set participant importance
• Remove participants
• End the call
Your administrators can control which of the above options are available to users, via VQ Conference Manager’s user interface profiles.
One Button to Push (OBTP) – one click to join a call using a physical in-room Cisco conferencing endpoint.
Meetings scheduled via VQ’s Meeting Scheduler, Outlook Plug-in or VQCM API can be scheduled to include OBTP capable Cisco devices.
Once scheduled in VQCM, the device’s OBTP meeting schedule is updated and just before meeting start time, the device will present a “Join” button on screen or via its Touch Panel display, enabling a quick and straightforward way of joining the meeting.
