Add, Edit, or View Policy

Use this dialog box to define or modify a new custom meeting policy for users in this forest. Meeting policies can apply to Live Meetings, Communicator conferences, and public switched telephone network (PSTN) dial-in conferences.

Policy name

This is the name of the policy. The name cannot exceed 256 Unicode characters.

Maximum meeting size

This specifies the maximum number of participants that can participate in a single meeting at one time. The maximum number is 1,000.

Enable Web conferencing

This option controls whether users in your organization can use Web conferencing.

Use native format for PowerPoint files

This option controls whether Microsoft Office PowerPoint files are converted to an Office Communications Server meeting format when they are uploaded to meetings that the user organizes.

Note: This option is generally not selected if there are concerns about the bandwidth required to download slides in native mode, or if original files should not be shared with participants. If this option is not selected, PowerPoint slides are downloaded as *.png images, which are equivalent to screen shots.

Enable program and desktop sharing

This option controls whether users can share programs and desktops. When this setting is selected, the three options in the Select settings for non-Active Directory users list are available.

Color depth

This specifies the range of colors that will be used to display slides and other content in meetings. There are five possible settings for color depth:

• Gray scale (16 shades)

• Gray scale (256 shades)

• 256 colors

• High color (16 bit)

• True color (24 bit)

The default color depth for displaying slides and other meeting content in the Default Policy and Policy 5 (Low) meeting policies is High color (16 bit). The recommended color depth for the best meeting experience is True color (24 bit).

Note: Original documents are not affected by the color definition settings when viewed outside of a meeting.

Select settings for non-Active Directory users

These options specify whether participants that do not have an Active Directory domain identity in your organization can share programs or desktops. When you enable program and desktop sharing, the appropriate level of access that non-Active Directory meeting participants have when using the shared program or desktop must also be configured.

The following options are available only when Enable program and desktop sharing is selected, at which point Allow control of shared programs is selected by default:

Never allow control of shared programs or desktop

Specifies that users without an Active Directory domain account in your organization cannot take control of a shared program or desktop during meetings organized by users who have been assigned this meeting policy.

Allow control of shared programs

Specifies that users without an Active Directory domain account in your organization can take control of a shared program, but not a shared desktop, during meetings organized by users who have been assigned this meeting policy.

Allow control of shared programs and desktop

Specifies that users without an Active Directory domain account in your organization can take control of a shared program or shared desktop during meetings organized by users who have been assigned this meeting policy.

Allow presenter to record meetings

This option controls whether the presenter may record meetings.

Presenter can allow attendees to record meetings

This option controls whether a presenter may allow attendees to record meetings.

Enable IP audio

This option controls whether streaming of audio over the Internet connection is allowed in meetings organized by users in this forest who have been assigned this meeting policy. This option is generally not selected if there are concerns about the bandwidth required for IP audio.

Note: Enabling IP audio for meetings requires deployment of the appropriate audio hardware, including head sets, microphones, or speakers.

Enable IP video

This option controls whether streaming of video over the Internet connection is allowed in meetings organized by users who have been assigned this meeting policy. This option is generally not selected if there are concerns about the bandwidth required for video.

Note: Enabling IP video for meetings requires deployment of the appropriate video hardware, including webcams or Microsoft Office RoundTable.

Enable PSTN conference dial-in

This option controls whether meetings organized by users in this forest who have been assigned this meeting policy can include dial-in conferencing from the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Note: Enabling PSTN conference dial-in for meetings requires deployment of the appropriate hardware and server roles, which can include a media gateway and a Mediation Server or a Mediation Server configured to perform SIP Trunking.

PSTN conference dial-in requires passcode

This option controls whether users can organize meetings in which anonymous users can join dial-in conferencing audio without entering a conference pass code. Conference pass codes, if required by the meeting policy, are used only by anonymous users. In this context, anonymous users do not have Active Directory credentials or an Office Communications Server account with your organization.

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Meeting features, except anonymous participation, are grouped and managed using meeting policies. You control which meeting features a meeting organizer can use during a meeting by configuring and applying specific policies. The meeting organizer's meeting policy, not the meeting policy of the participant, controls the meeting and applies to all meeting participants. For example, Bob is configured with a meeting policy that has IP audio enabled and Sue is configured with a default meeting policy that has IP audio disabled. As an attendee of Bob's meeting, Sue can use IP audio because the meeting uses Bob's meeting policy. However, when Sue organizes a meeting, all attendees of her meeting use her meeting policy, so no IP audio is available for the meeting.

Limiting the range of color depth in a meeting makes it possible for meeting content to appear more quickly on all participant computers.

Users restrict control of shared programs and desktops generally to address concerns about who might have access to the shared programs or desktops.

Enabling IP video, IP audio, or PSTN audio, or allowing PowerPoint files to be uploaded in their native format can impact performance and the Office Communications Server infrastructure.

For details, see the Operations section of the Office Communications Server Technical Library.