Using Netopia Virtual Office

All of the procedures in this chapter assume you have already established a TCP/IP connection (either over an intranet or over a dial-up link).

• Starting Virtual Office
• Using online Help
• Understanding Netopia Virtual Office
• Protecting your Office
• Monitoring and disconnecting visitors
• Exiting Virtual Office

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Starting Virtual Office

To start Virtual Office, select the Netopia Virtual Office program from Windows 95's Start button menu or double-click the Netopia Virtual Office icon in the Netopia Virtual Office program group.

Note: Netopia Virtual Office will start automatically whenever you start Windows. If you decide that you'd rather not have Windows start Virtual Office automatically, open the Options dialog box and clear the Launch Netopia Virtual Office at startup check box.

 Starting Virtual Office before making a dial-in or network connection.

Whenever Virtual Office is running, you can see its icon next to the clock in your Windows 95 taskbar:

In Windows 3.1, you'll see the minimized Netopia Virtual Office icon.

To display the Netopia Virtual Office Console, double-click the Virtual Office icon. The Console is where you can configure your Virtual Office Web site.

If you want to open your Virtual Office to visitors, make sure a check mark is visible in the Open Office check box.

Note: If you want to close your Office to visitors, clear the Open Office check box. You will still be able to visit other Virtual Offices when your Virtual Office is not open.

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Arranging Your Office

The Netopia Virtual Office Console provides you with the means to change your Office configuration.

• The Design button lets you pick the Office features that you would like to offer your visitors. In other words, you can use Design to rearrange your Office.
• The Preview button opens your Web browser using your own Internet name. This is a handy way to check out your Office configuration and get a visitor's-eye view.
• The Options button sets up your Virtual Office to respond to Look, In Basket, and Knock requests in specific ways.
• The Security button lets you specify who may visit your Office and what your visitors can be allowed to do. This is where you create and distribute the keys to your Office.
• The Out Baskets button allows you to create and fill the Out Baskets that you assign to specific users.

For more information on how to customize your Office layout, see Decorating Your Virtual Office.

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Using Online Help

Virtual Office's online help contains step-by-step instructions for all common procedures, as well as troubleshooting hints, keyboard shortcuts, and a glossary.

To display the online help for a particular window or menu command, press the F1 key. For example, to read the online help associated with the Design command, press the F1 key while the Design command is selected.

+ F1

Virtual Office will provide context-sensitive help for many of the dialog boxes when you press F1.

Selecting the Contents command in the Console's Help menu displays the table of contents for Virtual Office's comprehensive online help.

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Understanding Netopia Virtual Office

Netopia Virtual Office places your computer on the World Wide Web. Internet visitors with the proper credentials can send you messages, chat, talk, view your screen, or control your computer through the Internet connection. This section describes what a visitor will see when he or she visits your Virtual Office using a Web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Decorating Your Virtual Office describes how you can configure your Virtual Office Web site.

To visit another Virtual Office, enter the Internet name of the user you wish to visit in the URL box of your browser.

An Office can have up to five main areas-Office Door, Conference Room, In/Out Basket, Links, and Help. A visitor who enters a Netopia Virtual Office Internet Name in the Location box of a Web browser will arrive at the Virtual Office Door. He or she can then view any of the other areas by clicking the appropriate button on the left of the page. No matter where you go in Virtual Office, these control buttons are always available.

Note: Depending on how a Virtual Office has been set up, some of the services and service areas illustrated below may not be available.

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Office Door

When a visitor connects to another Netopia Virtual Office, the first thing he or she sees is the Office Door. Like a real office door, the Office Door displays the office owner's name, including any "whereabouts" information that Office owner wishes to provide. The Office Door also provides a way for visitors to leave messages for the Office owner and and "knock" to see if the Office owner is at his or her computer.

There are four options--Welcome, Get In Touch, Business Card, and Message--available on the Office Door.

• Clicking the Welcome button displays general information about Virtual Office.
• Clicking the Get In Touch button provides the visitor with the ability to "knock" on the Office Door to see if the Office owner is currently at his or her computer.
• Clicking the Business Card button displays any additional contact information the Office owner has provided.
• Clicking the Message button gives the visitor the opportunity to leave a message for the Office owner.

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Conference Room

The Conference Room allows visitors to collaborate with the Office owner in a number of different ways. Depending upon how an Office is set up, a visitor to a Virtual Office Conference Room can

• Look at the screen of the Office owner's computer.
• Control the Office owner's computer.
• Exchange files with the Office owner's computer.
• Use the Intercom service to speak to the Office owner.
• Chat with the Office owner.
• Join a Microsoft NetMeeting conference.

For instructions on how to use Virtual Office's services, please consult Virtual Office's online help.

Note: There are three versions of Virtual Office: the (free) client, the (free) evaluation version, and the full version. If an Office visitor is not equipped with any of those versions of Virtual Office, Virtual Office will automatically download and install the Virtual Office client software on the visitor's computer.

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In/Out Basket

The Virtual Office In/Out Basket area provides locations for visitors and Office owners to leave messages and files for one another.

The In Basket allows a visitor to send a message and, if desired, a file to an Office owner.

The Out Baskets allow an Office owner to post files that his or her visitors can download at any time. The Public Out Basket is available to any visitor. Private Out Baskets are password protected and are usually set up for specific visitors or groups of visitors.

Note: There are three versions of Virtual Office: the (free) client, the (free) evaluation version, and the full version. If an Office visitor is not equipped with any of those versions of Virtual Office, Virtual Office will automatically download and install the Virtual Office client software on the visitor's computer.

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Links

The Links page allows an Office owner to easily post the URLs to his or her favorite Virtual Offices and Web pages.

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Protecting Your Office

Just as you can refuse to admit a visitor who appears at a real office door, you can refuse to admit a visitor to your Virtual Office. There are four levels of security.

• Public visitor--the lowest level of security. A Public visitor can access your computer any time your Virtual Office is open. A Public visitor can use the services you choose without having to enter a password. Any service that is granted to Public visitors is automatically granted to all other classes of visitors as well. Services frequently granted to Public visitors are In Basket, Chat, and Knock.
• Trusted visitor--the next level of security. A Trusted visitor can log on to your Virtual Office with a name and password. Services frequently granted to Trusted visitors are Control and Exchange.
• Ask for Permission visitor--the highest level of security. Unlike Public and Trusted visitors, you must be present at your computer when an Ask for Permission visitor makes a request to connect. This feature allows you to accommodate one-time visitors without having to create new Trusted visitor accounts. Ask for Permission also permits you bring the visit to an immediate end if the visitor does something unexpected.
• No visitor--If you want to go out and visit other Virtual Offices without permitting anyone to visit you, you can clear the Open Office check box in the Netopia Virtual Office Console.

All visits (except for Out Basket and Message) are recorded in the Activity Log.

For more security details, select the Contents command in the Netopia Virtual Office Console's Help menu to display the online help.

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Monitoring and Disconnecting Visitors

Virtual Office provides several ways for you to keep track of visitors' activities on your computer. If need be, you can also disconnect an unruly visitor.

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Monitoring Your Visitors

When visitors are connected to your computer, one or more notification icons flash in your taskbar. In the illustration, a Look icon indicates the presence of a visitor who is looking at your screen:

If more than one visitor is connected to your PC and each visitor is using a different service, the icons of the active services will flash in alternation. In Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups, the Virtual Office icon itself will flash with the service that is in use.

Note: Once a visitor has completed his or her task and is no longer connected to your PC, a dimmed icon representing the service will remain in the Visitor list.

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Disconnecting Your Visitors

If you want to disconnect one of your current visitors, follow the procedure below.

1. Using the right mouse button, click the Virtual Office icon.
2. Select the name of the visitor you want to disconnect from the list. If you want to disconnect everybody, select Disconnect All Visitors.

As soon as you make your selection, the visitor(s) will be disconnected.

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Exiting Virtual Office

Netopia Virtual Office provides two "exit" options.

Exit

Exit closes any of the open Virtual Office windows but leaves Virtual Office running in the background. If you exit without shutting down in Windows 95 you will see the Virtual Office icon in the taskbar.

If you exit without shutting down in Windows 3.1 you will see a minimized Netopia Virtual Office icon on the desktop.

After you Exit Virtual Office, visitors will still be able to make Virtual Office and Timbuktu connections to your computer.

To exit Virtual Office:

1. If necessary, maximize Virtual Office by double-clicking its icon in the taskbar.
2. Choose Exit from the File menu.

Exit and Shut Down

Exit and Shut Down stops all Virtual Office activities.

After you Exit and Shut Down Virtual Office, visitors will not be able to make Virtual Office or Timbuktu connections to your computer.

To exit and shut down Virtual Office:

1. If necessary, maximize Virtual Office by double-clicking its icon in the taskbar.
2. If there are any active Virtual Office sessions in progress, display the session windows and cancel each session.
   Note: If a visitor is using one of your Virtual Office services, you will be told that a connection is active. You can then decide whether or not you still want to shut down your Virtual Office.
3. Choose Exit and Shut Down Virtual Office from the File menu.