This will outline the details and basic tips and tricks for operating the equipment in Payson-Smith, room 305.
Details
Room 305 in Payson-Smith is a zoom-enabled classroom located on the USM Portland Campus. You can operate most of the audiovisual (AV) equipment from the touch panel on the wall. Other pieces of in-room equipment include:
- Computer
- Computer Monitor
- Wall-Mounted Monitors
- Laptop Connection (HDMI & VGA)
- Speakers
- Ceiling Microphones
- Handheld Microphone
- LAV Microphone
- Wall-Mounted Cameras
Operating the Touch Panel
Most of the room's equipment is controlled by a touch panel located near one of the doors. This section describes how to use that panel, step by step.
Turning the System On
When you first arrive, the touch panel may appear as a black screen, but should turn on automatically once it senses movement in front of it. You should be presented with the following screen. Touch it and to begin the start-up process.
As part of this process, the touch panel display should change to a loading message like the one depicted below.
Choosing a Mode
Once the system has loaded, you should be presented with the following screen. It will ask you to select a room mode.
Each mode is a little different, but operates in much the same way.
- Web Conference Mode will power on all the technology in the classroom, including monitors, speakers, ceiling microphones, and the wall-mounted cameras at the front and back of the classroom. This mode is useful if you are planning to use Zoom or similar applications that require a web camera and microphone.
- Presentation Mode will only power on the monitors and speakers in the classroom and is ideal for most classes and presentations.
- Active Learning Mode will power on the speakers and monitors, and will also allow students to connect devices to the different monitors around the room to interact with them. This mode is useful for group projects or displaying multiple devices at once.
Tip: If you don't see the startup screen or this menu when you first interact with the touch panel, make sure you are in the correct mode.
Operating the System
Each mode operates largely the same way. Since Web Conference Mode has the most options, we will be using it as our example below. Regardless of the mode you have chosen, you will be presented with a screen that offers you a variety of options. Here, we will break down each menu to help you better understand these options.
General
Regardless of the menu you have chosen, you may notice a few options will always remain present on the screen:
- In the top right, you can select Room Mode to return to the previous room mode selection screen.
- The left side bar houses the different Controls menus, described more in detail further below. In descending order your options are:
- Display Control
- Routing Control
- Camera Control
- Monitor Feed
- Audio Control
- In the top left, the red Power Down button allows you to power down the system. When you select this, you will be prompted with a confirmation screen to make sure you really want to power down. It is best practice to always power down the system before you leave the classroom.
- The slider on the right allows you to control the Program Volume, which adjusts the volume of the room's speakers.
- You can select Program Mute in the bottom right to mute all the displays in the room.
Display Control
In this menu, you can decide which of the monitors will display content from the chosen device. You only have the option of turning a display On or Off.
Left, Center, Right, and Rear all refer to the wall-mounted monitors around the classroom, while Monitor controls the monitor located on the lectern.
Routing Control
This is the menu that will allow you to choose your audio and video sources that you want to display or play over the speakers.
- Inputs allow you to select which device will be your video source.
- PC Main will display content from the in-room PC.
- Laptop will display content from the device currently plugged in via an HDMI or VGA connection.
- Doc Cam will display video from the room's document camera.
- Outputs allow you to control which monitors will display content from your chosen input. By default, it will always show on the lectern monitor, but from this panel, you can choose which of the wall-mounted monitors will display the same content.
- Audio Source allows you to select an audio source to play over the room's speakers.
- PC Main: This will play audio from the in-room PC.
- Laptop will play audio from the device currently plugged into the system via an HDMI or VGA connection.
- Wireless will play audio from a device with a wireless connection to the system.
Podium Monitor Feed
This menu will allow you to change the device currently displaying on the monitor lectern.
- PC Main will display content from the in-room PC.
- Laptop will display content from the device currently connected to the system via an HDMI or VGA connection.
- Doc Cam will display video from the room's document camera.
- Wireless will display content from a device with a wireless connection to the system.
- Front Cam will display video from the camera positioned at the front of the classroom.
- Rear Cam will display video from the camera positioned at the back of the classroom.
Audio Control
This menu allows you to control the volume of the LAV microphone. This microphone can often be found in the side room, 305C, on top of the black box unit.
- Lav Mute will mute the Lav microphone, regardless of its current set volume level. Select this button again to unmute it.
- All Mic Mute will mute all microphones in the room, including the ceiling microphones.
Camera Control
By default, the rear camera is set to auto-tracking and cannot be adjusted. However, you can still use this menu to readjust the front camera to your preference.
- Use the arrow buttons to rotate the camera.
- Use the plus and minus buttons, below the arrow buttons, to zoom the camera in and out, respectively.
- When you are using applications like Zoom, both cameras share the same input, but only one can display at a time. You can use the Send Front Cam and Send Rear Cam buttons to determine which camera you want to display.
Powering Down the System
Best practice is to always power down the system once you are finished with the room's equipment.
- If you used the in-room PC, please shut that down first.
- On the touch panel, press the Power Down button. You will presented with a confirmation screen. If you are sure that you are done with the room's equipment, hit the green Power Down button to confirm your selection. You will be presented with another loading screen as the system takes its time to shut down.
- As part of the process, the cameras and ceiling microphones will be turned off, and the monitors will no longer display any input.
- If you used the room's LAV microphone, please return it to its charging station on top of the black box in room 305C.
Basic Troubleshooting
- Mouse and Keyboard
- Neither are working.
- Make sure both power switches are in the on position.
- If both are turned on and still not operating, the issue could be bad batteries. Give us a call and we'll come to you.
- Computer
- In-room computer isn't displaying.
- Confirm computer is turned on. The computer itself is located in a cabinet underneath the lectern.
- Computers power button will be illuminated.
- Make sure PC is selected on the touch panel.
- Monitors (TVs)
- Device isn't displaying.
- Has the display been turned on via the touch panel?
- Make sure proper input is selected. Try the other inputs as well.
- Try changing inputs, then switch back to the "proper" input.
- Some rooms have a projector mute button, make sure this isn't selected (if red, press the mute button again to turn off).
- Make sure device is powered on.
- Make sure device is awake by clicking the mouse, moving the mouse, and or pressing the space bar on the keyboard.
- Double check device connections.
- If using an adapter, try unplugging and re-plugging the connection.
- If using HDMI or VGA directly, try unplugging and re-plugging the connection.
- If above steps have been followed and your device is still not displaying, give us a call.
- Audio/Speakers
- Can't hear sound.
- Check the volume on the touch panel. The volume levels should be displayed on the right of the touch panel, including buttons that allow you to mute the speakers or adjust the levels to your preference.
- Check volume control of the device. Is it turned up all the way/muted?
- If connected VGA
- Is the headphone jack properly plugged in your computer?
- Make sure proper audio output is selected within your audio settings of your device.
- If connected HDMI
- Is the HDMI properly plugged in?
- Make sure proper audio output is selected within your audio settings of your device.
- Crackling sound.
- Make sure the connection is properly seated.
- Microphones
- Not picking up sound.
- Is the device turned on?
- If the device doesn't turn on, it could be a case of bad batteries. Give us a call and we'll come to you.
- Make sure the proper audio input is selected on your device.
- Make sure you are in the Web Conferencing room mode.
- Muffled / Crackling sound when using the LAV microphone.
- Make sure the microphone is pinned properly and is not brushing up against loose clothing.
- Does the audio crackle when the wire is moved around? It may have been damaged. Give us a call.
Environment