Day 13: How to Dial with a LifeSize Remote

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Janine Lim

This post continues our 20 Day Challenge to understand the technical aspects of videoconferencing, particularly the section on dialing.

The LifeSize remote has menu-driven functionality that neither the Polycom nor TANDBERG remotes do. The buttons on the remote are not static. The blue, green, yellow, and orange buttons each have multiple functions.

How to Dial

From the home screen, there are three ways to dial.

  1. Left arrow to the Video Call icon and press OK.
  2. Down arrow to a recent call which shows in the middle, select one, press OK.
  3. Press the yellow button to access the unit’s directory of address and select the one you are looking for there.

Watch the screen as you enter the IP address. The LifeSize unit emits beeps when a number is entered. This is different from the Polycom units that speak the number when it is entered.

Also, on the LifeSize, the dot button also includes the * – : , which can be accessed by repeatedly pressing the “*.” (dot/asterisk) button on the lower left.

How to Dial an Alias

LifeSize units can dial the IP##alias format. Enter the IP address and then ## and the alias. If someone gives you the alias@IP format, switch it around and dial it as IP##alias and the call will connect.

Other LifeSize Information

The original LifeSize remote was the silver edition. It was completely menu-driven. There is no Home Button or Display button, so you will have to be very attentive to the menus as you navigate this unit.

The black remote seems to be a great mix of single use buttons and menu-driven ones.

If you are using a LifeSize Express or above product to record, the blue button becomes the record button. Currently, the Passport is the only unit that you cannot record from.

Resources

Team-written by Janine Lim, Shane Howard, and Roxanne Glaser. The opinions expressed in these posts are based on our collective video conference experience connecting classes across multiple networks to connect them to zoos, museums, experts and other classes during the past 10 years. This series of posts reflects our usage and understanding, not that of any vendor or manufacturer. No one is paying us to write these. We are just sharing what we have learned.

About Janine Lim

Janine Lim, PhD, currently serves as associate dean for online higher education in the School of Distance Education at Andrews University, in Berrien Springs, MI. She and her team support over 200 online courses, provide training for faculty teaching online, and work with the campus infrastructure support of online learning. Her department also provides educational technology and Moodle support for faculty and students. In addition, Janine is responsible for the faculty and courses of the Consortium of Adventist Colleges and Universities. Janine has taught over 15 unique graduate educational technology classes online numerous times over the past 15 years, with some classes attracting participants from all over the world. Her undergraduate teaching includes social media courses for communication and digital media majors. Janine has served on the board of the United States Distance Learning Association since April 2015. Prior to her work at Andrews University, Janine coordinated distance education for 22 K12 school districts in southwest Michigan for 14 years. In that position, as one of the co-founders of TWICE, Michigan’s K12 Videoconferencing Organization, Janine has spearheaded popular international K12 videoconference projects such as Read Around the Planet and MysteryQuest. While still serving on the board of TWICE, she was instrumental in designing and implementing the CAPspace website for collaborative videoconference projects. Janine also served on a team of Michigan educational technology trainers providing a workshop called ATA Technology Academy. Her current online learning research interests include successful teacher behaviors, quality online discussions, and student activity patterns in self-paced courses.
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1 Response to Day 13: How to Dial with a LifeSize Remote

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