Microsoft® Live Meeting Overview

On This Page

Overview

Features

Technology

Pricing and Licensing

29¢ per minute / per person Includes Toll- Free Audio

Please call us to set up your account. 1.800.977.4607

Find answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Live Meeting. For more information, see the Live Meeting Overview

Overview
Q. What is Microsoft Office Live Meeting?

A. Live Meeting is a hosted Web conferencing service that enables you to communicate and collaborate with anyone, anywhere using just a PC and an Internet connection. From small collaborative meetings to large-scale presentations, Live Meeting is the perfect solution for all of your online presentation and meeting needs.

Q. What are the key benefits of Live Meeting?

A. Live Meeting provides unique interactive tools, integrates with your existing systems and productivity applications, and incorporates a familiar and easy-to-use interface that improves remote collaboration and enables effective meetings for companies of all sizes. And with the real-time collaboration capabilities available in Live Meeting—99.99 percent uptime availability and always-on Secure Sockets Layer encryption—you can conduct every meeting with confidence.

Q. What is the privacy policy?

A. Microsoft takes your privacy seriously. We invite you to read the full privacy policy to find out more.

Q. Does Live Meeting support localized versions of Windows?

A. Native language support is available in the Meeting Console, Invitations, Chat, the Question Manager, and customer support. Languages supported include English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese. With Live Meeting, users can even have multiple language consoles in a meeting based on individual participants' language preferences.

Q. How do I learn more about Live Meeting?

A. Live Meeting is easy to learn. Getting started in a meeting requires only a Web browser and an Internet connection. You can also attend free live online sessions—dozens each month—or view free recorded tutorials at your convenience.

Top of page

Features
Q. What recording and playback options does Live Meeting offer?

A. Live Meeting Replay captures everything in the meeting including the live demonstrations, annotations, notes, and visuals—even live Web Slides. Recordings are automatically hosted from the Live Meeting Web conferencing service, making them instantly available with a click of the mouse. On-demand viewing of the Live Meeting Replay is done with industry-standard Microsoft Windows Media Player.

Q. What options does Live Meeting provide for the audio portion of my meeting?

A. Audio conference call controls in Live Meeting enable British Telecom (BT), InterCall, and MCI audio customers to simply and effectively control an audio conference call directly from the Meeting Console and provide the capability to perform a variety of integrated, in-meeting functions. Additionally, as an alternative to traditional audio conferencing, Internet Audio Broadcast enables presenters to stream audio to other participants in the meeting using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Q. With Live Meeting, what options do I have for joining and initiating a meeting?

A. Users can leverage the Schedule Meeting page to easily schedule new meetings with one or more participants, set up the meeting date and time, define access options, and invite people to the meeting. The Meet Now command in Live Meeting provides the fastest and easiest way to launch an immediate, spontaneous meeting. Additionally, the Meeting Lobby helps organizers conduct meetings without having to send out invitations to attendees by providing a static and user-friendly URL for the lobby.

Q. How does Live Meeting integrate with my existing systems and applications?

A. As part of the Microsoft Office System, Live Meeting enables users to initiate and join meetings from Microsoft Office programs such as Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, and Microsoft Office Visio, or from Microsoft Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger. Meeting organizers are able to schedule meetings using Microsoft Office Outlook or Lotus Notes (even when offline). Integration with Microsoft Active Directory provides automated account creation, password management, and account entry for employees on the corporate network. Additionally, Live Meeting's XML-based application programming interfaces enable developers to integrate Live Meeting with other business systems and third-party applications.

Q. Once in a meeting, what options do I have to interact with my audience?

A. Live Meeting delivers a host of interactive tools that enable presenters to convey their message in a small collaborative environment or large event setting. These tools not only provide an interactive atmosphere for meeting presenters, but create a comfortable, engaging environment for all meeting attendees to communicate their thoughts and feedback, and include:

• PowerPoint Viewer
• Application and Desktop Sharing
• Remote Control and Assistance
• Whiteboards
• Text Slides
• Web Slides
• Real-Time Polls
• Annotations
• Chat
• Question Manager
• Seating Chart and Mood Indicator

Top of page

Technology
Q. What are the Live Meeting system requirements?

A. As a hosted Web conferencing service, Live Meeting has no server software to install or deploy. Anyone can participate in a Live Meeting using just a PC, an Internet connection, and a telephone. A Windows-based meeting client is available for users of the Microsoft Windows operating system, and a browser-based meeting client is available for users of the Macintosh and Solaris operating systems. For information about client system requirements, see the Live Meeting System Requirements.

Q. Does Live Meeting work through firewalls?

A. Yes. Live Meeting enables you to communicate and collaborate with remote participants even if they are joining the online meeting from behind a firewall.

Q. Can you conduct live meetings directly from Microsoft Office programs?

A. Yes. The Live Meeting Add-In Pack enables you to schedule and conduct meetings directly from Microsoft Office programs (such as Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Visio, and Project) as well as Microsoft Windows Messenger.

Q. How do I deploy Live Meeting across a very large organization?

A. The Live Meeting Intranet Portal enables organizations to easily deploy the Live Meeting service by integrating with Active Directory to authenticate users on the corporate network.

Q. Does Live Meeting have an application programming interface (API)?

A. Yes. Live Meeting has XML-based APIs that enable developers to create programs that integrate with the Live Meeting service. Learn more about Live Meeting APIs.

Top of page

Pricing and Licensing
Q. How much does Live Meeting cost?

A. Live Meeting has a very flexible pricing and licensing plan, with several licensing models to choose from depending on the number of online meetings your organization expects to conduct and the number of participants to be accommodated. For more information, see the How to Buy page.

Q. Is Live Meeting available through Microsoft Volume Licensing?

A. Yes. Live Meeting is available as part of Select and Enterprise license agreements through Volume Licensing. For more information, see the How to Buy page.

Q. Can I sign up for a free trial of Live Meeting?

A. Yes. A 14-day free trial of Live Meeting is available (in English). Register for a free Live Meeting trial today.

Q. How much does the IC Promo cost?

A. The cost depends on whether you are acquiring Live Communications Server, Live Meeting, or both technologies. Visit the IC Promo Web page for more information.

Q. Are all Live Meeting licenses discounted in the IC Promo?

A. No. Only the User Subscription Licenses (USL) are eligible for discounted pricing. Additional Room Licenses and other licensing models are outside the scope of this offer.

Top of page