Understanding Broadcast Slide Show (Office Web Apps)

Broadcast Slide Show Overview

Broadcast Slide Show provides a low-infrastructure remote slide show capability through PowerPoint 2010.

Common broadcast scenarios include:

• Provide an impromptu, one-on-one broadcast

• Invite multiple viewers at remote locations to view a presentation at any time

• Present a slide show to both on-site and remote attendees at the same time in the context of a training session, meeting, or conference call

Understanding the presenter experience

Broadcast Slide Show gives presenters a streamlined user experience that works through PowerPoint 2010 without any additional client software.

Within PowerPoint 2010, the presenter clicks the Slide Show tab, and selects Broadcast Slide Show. The presenter is then provided a list of broadcast services to choose from. This list may include internal and external providers, and can be centrally controlled by administrators. The presenter then clicks Start Broadcast and is provided with a URL that attendees can use to connect to the slide show through the Web.

The presenter can then send this URL to attendees in a number of ways, including an automatically generated e-mail message, or through instant messaging (IM). During the broadcast, the presenter can pause the slide show at any time, resend the Broadcast URL to any attendees, or switch to another application without interrupting the broadcast or showing their computer's desktop to attendees.

Understanding the attendee experience

Broadcast Slide Show enables attendees to quickly connect to a slide show broadcast through the Web without requiring any additional client software installation.

Supported browsers include:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and 8

• Firefox 3.5

• Safari 4 on the Macintosh

An attendee receives the slide show URL or link from the presenter through e-mail, IM, or other channel. The attendee then clicks the link and connects to the slide show URL in a Web browser. Until the presenter begins, attendees will see a message telling them that the slide show has not yet started.

When the presenter begins, attendees will then see the slide show presentation in their local browser in real-time, as it is presented. When the presenter ends the broadcast, all attendees will see a message telling them that the broadcast is over.

Broadcast Slide Show features

Attendees can see a near full-fidelity slide show synchronized with the presenter, including animations that play at the same time. While a Broadcast Slide Show can provide a near full-fidelity experience, the following limitations do apply:

• Audio   Slide show audio will not be heard by attendees through PowerPoint. For remote presentations, users may elect to supplement slide show broadcasts with audio through a personal phone call or conference call.

• Video   Attendees will only see the static poster frame of any video clips.

• Transitions   Attendees will only see a fade-in transition between slides.

• Ink drawings and markup   Presenters will not be able to add ink annotations or markup during the broadcast.

• ActiveX controls   Attendees will see only a static image of the control and will not be able to interact with it.

• Hyperlinks to other presentations   If the presenter clicks a hyperlink to another presentation, attendees will continue to see the most recent slide the presenter showed in the original presentation.

Managing Broadcast Slide Show

Broadcast Slide Show is designed to provide administrators a simple management experience without requiring extensive additional infrastructure. Broadcast Slide Show provides the following:

• Available Services   Administrators can choose a locally hosted broadcast service. A public PowerPoint Broadcast Service is available with PowerPoint 2013 and above. Up to 10 broadcast services can be used.

• Service List   A presenter who initiates a broadcast is given a list of broadcast services to choose from. This can be managed through Group Policy. For example, administrators can decide whether to include the public PowerPoint Broadcast Service in this list, a local server, or both.

• Permissions    Administrators can determine which users or groups have permission to broadcast slide shows or attend slide show broadcasts.

• Group Policy   Broadcast Slide Show can be managed using Group Policy and includes the ability to enable or disable the service, manage the service list, and customize the user experience.

For more information about managing Broadcast Slide Show using Group Policy, see Configure Group Policy settings (Broadcast Slide Show).

Broadcast Slide Show and Microsoft Live Meeting

Broadcast Slide Show and Microsoft Live Meeting are complementary technologies, each providing a different level of functionality and end-user experience. Microsoft Live Meeting provides a hosted solution for broad communication and collaboration, including sharing applications, interactive collaboration, chat, and other collaboration features.

Broadcast Slide Show and Microsoft Live Meeting

Summary

Broadcast Slide Show gives organizations options to provide broadcast slideshow services to users either as an internally-hosted service or as a service accessed over the Internet. This flexibility helps organizations to provide a low-infrastructure slide show option that fits their business scenarios and requirements.

The next step in implementing Broadcast Slide Show in your organization is to plan how both presenters and attendees will use Broadcast Slide Show and how administrators can configure Broadcast Slide Show. For more information, see Planning Broadcast Slide Show (Office Web Apps).