Adobe Connect Blog

The use of videoconferencing in business has been on the rise over the last few years, but it wasn’t until recently that the Department of Defense (DOD) started heavily pushing for its use in its day-to-day operations. In the past, the DOD’s enterprise collaboration tool, Defense Connect Online (DCO), which is powered by Adobe Connect, had been used primarily to supplement physical conferences.

Recently, Federal Computer Week magazine sat down with our Mike Murtha, who manages the DCO program here at Adobe to discuss the DCO program. Mike reiterated the increased demand by the DOD to use videoconferencing to replace physical meetings and conferences. “Over the past three months, we have gotten a lot of inquiries [saying]: ‘We want to run an entire conference virtually,’” Murtha said.

FCW also discussed barriers that were in place that discouraged the use of videoconferencing such as costs, security concerns, and infrastructure requirements. The article noted that an advantage that Adobe Connect offers is that its services also provide videoconferencing capabilities for both desktops and mobile devices. Mike mentioned that the DCO system wasn’t initially built for videoconferencing, but that the customers are pushing it in that direction.

To read more about how federal agencies are promoting the use of videoconferencing, click here.

In October, we announced a major update to our DCO Connect Mobile app for Android devices, enabling anywhere, anytime mobile collaboration leveraging Adobe Connect web conferencing  across over 700,000 users at the U.S. Department of Defense.  Today, we’re very excited to announce that the DCO Connect Mobile app is now available for iOS, delivering complete hosting, presenting, and sharing controls to fully drive collaboration and fulfill the many different use cases DoD personnel have for collaboration while operating in a mobile environment.

The capabilities map to those of the standard Adobe Connect Mobile 2.0 app, and include:

• Start and end meetings (B)
• Start, stop, and manage meeting audio and teleconferencing bridge
• Invite others to the meeting
• Manage participants (B)
• Start and stop recordings
• Enable web camera rights for all participants at once
• Control all active pods (B)
• Switch between layouts in the meeting room
• Present content (e.g. advancing slides and animations) (B)
• Share content from share history
• Share content from Adobe Connect content library
• Share content from local device photo library
• Video conferencing with front and back-facing camera support (B)
• Use drawing tools (pencil, highlighter, shapes) on whiteboard and on top of shared files/video
• Use emoticons: Raise Hand (B), Agree / Disagree (B), Speak Louder / Speak Softer, Speed Up / Slow Down, Laughter, Applause
• Stepped away indication appears when multi-tasking away from app
• Device phone number detected and populated when joining audio
• Participate in breakout rooms

(Some features apply to tablets only; “B” indicates both smartphone and tablet)

DCO Connect Mobile (version 2.0) is now available for free download on iTunes Preview here.

(Note that this app pertains to those with a DCO account only; users who will not use this app in relation to DCO can download our Adobe Connect Mobile app here).

The app supports the following devices and operating systems on iOS:

- Devices: iPad, iPad2, iPad3; iPhone 4 and 4 S, iPod touch (3rd generation minimum recommended)
- Supported OS versions: iOS 4.3.x, 5.x, or 6.x (5.x or higher recommended)

For more information, please see these resources below:
Adobe Connect Mobile webpage
Getting Started Guide – Hosts and Presenters (Tablets)
Getting Started Guide – Hosts and Presenters (Smartphones)
Getting Started Guide – Participants (Tablets)
Getting Started Guide – Participants (Smartphones)

The Adobe Connect team is excited to announce that a newly updated version of the DCO Connect Mobile app is now available for Android devices! The latest update brings enhanced hosting controls for complete mobile-to-mobile collaboration and training, especially from tablet devices.

Originally launched in 2007, DCO (Defense Connect Online) leverages Adobe Connect web conferencing and instant messaging/presence via an XMPP client, to enable anywhere, anytime collaboration across over 700,000 users at the U.S. Department of Defense. Given the globally dispersed user base, and necessity to collaborate, train, and coordinate time critical efforts, it is not practical to expect users to be at a desk to initiate or drive virtual meetings or training. With this in mind, the updated DCO Connect Mobile app delivers even greater hosting, presenting, and sharing controls to completely drive collaboration and fulfill the many different use cases DoD personnel have for collaboration while operating in a mobile environment.

In addition to the existing features for tablets and smartphones (including hosting/attending meetings, participant management, 2-way video, VoIP, chat, and other interactive features), the updated capabilities include:

• Start, stop, and manage meeting audio and teleconferencing bridge
• Invite others to the meeting
• Start and stop recordings
• Enable web camera rights for all participants at once
• Switch between layouts in the meeting room
• Share content from share history
• Share content from Adobe Connect content library
• Share content from local device photo library or file storage (SD Card)
• Use drawing tools (pencil, highlighter, shapes) on whiteboard and on top of shared files/video
• Use emoticons: Raise Hand (B), Agree / Disagree (B), Speak Louder / Speak Softer, Speed Up / Slow Down, Laughter, Applause
• Stepped away indication appears when multi-tasking away from app
• Device phone number detected and populated when joining audio
• Participate in breakout rooms
(Most new features apply to tablets only; “B” indicates both smartphone and tablet)

Hosts can now whiteboard and annotate with the tip of a finger, change layouts, and foster interaction with a range of emoticons.

In addition to existing hosting controls (begin/end meetings, manage attendance, manage attendee roles – Host, Presenter, or Participant, etc.), hosts can now fully control meeting recordings, audio conferencing, and video.

Share presentations, videos, images and other content stored in your library in the cloud; in the image library; or on the device drive itself.

DCO Connect Mobile (version 2.0) is now available for free download on the Google Play Store.

The app supports the following devices and operating systems on Android:
- Devices: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1), Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Tab (10.1), ASUS Transformer, Samsung Galaxy Tab (7”) , Motorola Xoom, Motorola Xoom 2
- Supported OS versions: 2.2 and higher
- AIR Runtime required: 3.2 or higher

For more information, please see these resources below:
Adobe Connect Mobile webpage
Getting Started Guide – Hosts and Presenters (Tablets)
Getting Started Guide – Hosts and Presenters (Smartphones)
Getting Started Guide – Participants (Tablets)
Getting Started Guide – Participants (Smartphones)

A terrific case study on Adobe Connect’s widespread use across the U.S. Department of Defense was recently published by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), a nonprofit organization working to address challenges in energy and climate change. The U.S. government has come under pressure in recent years to achieve substantial cost savings and productivity improvements, due to severe budget constraints, as well as mandates to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases. Jason Ye and Stephen Seidel from C2ES have published a full report on how the U.S. federal government is using information and communications technologies to address these challenges. The report includes a series of eight case studies around topics including shifting to cloud computing and redesigning workspaces, but most interesting to me was how the U.S. Department of Defense is leveraging Defense Connect Online (DCO), a service delivering web conferencing powered by Adobe Connect and instant messaging/presence via an XMPP client, enabling anywhere, anytime collaboration across over 700,000 users.

Leveraging DCO, the Department of Defense has been able to achieve benefits including a stronger system supporting continuity of operations (COOP), increases in telework, progress toward environmental and sustainability goals/mandates, and substantial cost savings with reductions in travel.

The report describes examples of some of the key use cases that DCO enables, such as command-and-control for military personnel to coordinate tactical battle planning, sharing information in real-time across ground, satellite, and air; and disaster relief scenarios, namely coordination of efforts during the 2010 Haiti earthquake across military units, non-profit organizations and multilateral organizations, to save lives and maximize relief an rescue efforts.

The complete report can be viewed here, with the case study of DCO available in pdf format here.

It is exciting to see such a powerful example of how Adobe Connect is helping to enable these types of achievements across the world. We look forward to working hard and enabling our customers to achieve greater and greater success.

Last year, we had a very successful Adobe Connect User group for Government Customers in Wahsington DC.  To view a recap of the event, click here.  We are holding our second edition of this meeting next week, on September 19th in Washington DC.

If you are working in a Government agencies and are using Adobe Connect for telework or emergency response, continuity of operations, training or collaboration, you should plan on attending the event. We will be covering a lot of topics around the recent launch of Adobe Connect 9, how mobility is reshaping collaboration and e-learning:

• Discover the latest technical enhancements in Adobe Connect 9 and how it introduces innovations in comprehensive webinars, mobile collaboration, and mobile learning.
• Learn how to leverage your current video teleconferencing solutions to collaborate in the conference room and on your mobile device.
• Hear from and network with fellow colleagues about how they use Adobe Connect.
• Learn how to report, manage, and track to provide comprehensive results.
• Learn best practices for webcasts to enhance user experience.

But most importantly, you will be able to network with your peers using Adobe Connect and interact with the Adobe Connect Government Product Management team to give feed-back and provide input on what you would like to see in the future releases of the product.

As we know everyone is extremely busy, we kept the meeting to half a day from 8am to noon.  To learn more or register, follow this link: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e681kv3if3ec3d83&llr=y9xzrxdab

See you next week in DC !

Last week, more than 69,000 people pledged to telework as a part of “Telework Week 2012”. The result: More than $5.5 million saved and 3,358 tons of pollutants removed from the air. It’s no argument the positive impact that teleworking has on the environment, but what about the impact on individuals and companies?

Studies show that employees who work remotely feel a better sense of personal freedom, flexibility and work-life balance. The option to work from home is also a big draw for job seekers. For companies, telecommuting expands the talent pool, reduces the spread of illness, reduces costs, and increases productivity.

With the right tools and technologies, the benefits of teleworking seem limitless. Advancements in Web conferencing solutions like Adobe Connect have made it easier for globally dispersed teams to communicate effectively. Trainings, workshops and classes can easily be given and taken online, and organizations can effortlessly deliver presentations to employees, customers and partners – no matter where they are in the world. In addition to Web conferencing; social networking, IM and traditional e-mail continue to be the preferred forms of communication for teleworkers.

Bottom line: remote employees can just as easily, if not better, collaborate, complete work faster, and drive better results.

Next week, we’ll be examining specific tips and tricks on how to make the most out of working remotely. Are you a teleworker? If so, what benefits and drawbacks do you experience? If you do not work remotely, would you consider participating in Telework Week next year?