One of the exciting developments in the world of interactive multimedia presentations is the ability to present LIVE via the Internet. This type of communication can be informative, exciting, and very productive. It is often a good use of resources, and it can help address many communication needs. Consider the possibilities:

• You are an Investor Relations Manager for a public company. You need to deliver a presentation about some inventory issues to your Sales and Marketing managers around the world. You know the stock price will change based upon company announcements made the previous day. However, you aren't sure which way the stock will move. How impressive it would be to deliver your presentation and respond to the stock price action (either negative or positive) on the fly.



• You are a remote teacher who wants to deliver a "live" lecture on an election in progress. How exciting it would be for students to see the lesson incorporate late-breaking election polls — just as they are made public.

While live PowerPoint (2000) Internet presentations bring much promise, broadcasting these presentations is quite different than simply posting a PowerPoint presentation to the Internet to be viewed at a later time. Real time viewing is a somewhat complicated series of steps. Fortunately, once the process is done the first time, subsequent uses of the technology are much easier — and in fact, they may be quite flawless.

In general, there are three steps to broadcasting a PowerPoint presentation over the Internet in real time. These are as follows:

1. configuring the network server,



2. testing the Windows Media Server, and



3. configuring the online presentation broadcast service on the Windows Media Server.

Each of these steps is generally outlined here. This is not designed as a comprehensive tutorial — rather a general overview of the steps that need to be taken in order to post a PowerPoint presentation live. Further information about this process can be found on the Microsoft site at Using NetShow Services with Presentation Broadcasting.

Prerequisites

In order to broadcast a live PowerPoint 2000 presentation over the Internet, you must use a third-party Windows Media service provider. Specifically, you must use a service provider who has partnered with Microsoft on the PowerPoint 2000 online broadcasting feature. Additionally, if you want to broadcast a presentation over an intranet to more than 15 viewers, you must also use a Windows Media Server. (This means that Windows Media Services is installed on the server).

Windows Media Services distributes streaming audio and video content that can be displayed on client computers by using Windows Media Player. It does so by transforming the original file into a format that can be delivered by the Windows Media Server. Specifically, the Windows Media encoder (on the presenter computer or another computer) turns the PowerPoint presentation (with audio and video) into Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) content that can be delivered over the network by the Windows Media Server. The Windows Media Server then broadcasts the presentation to the Windows Media Player (on a participant computer) which displays the presentation for the audience.

Complicated — YES, Impossible — NO . . .

Step 1: Configure the Network Server(s)

To broadcast a presentation live over a network, it is recommended that you use two servers that reside on the same domain. One server must have Windows Media Services installed to broadcast the presentation, and one server can be used for file sharing (users will access the broadcast-formatted presentation on this server during the broadcast).

• Windows NT® Server
  If you are using a Microsoft Windows NT Server, you must have the following software installed on your server:



• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 with Service Pack 4 (or later)
• Windows Media Services (formerly NetShow Services)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 4.01 or later
• Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
• Online Presentation Broadcast service (included with Windows Media Server 4.0 for Windows NT 4)


• Windows® 2000 Server
  If you are using a Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, please check out the Microsoft site for specific information.

Step 2: Test the Windows Media Server

One of the most important tips for broadcasting live PowerPoint presentations is to test the Windows Media Server before you install and configure the Online Presentation Broadcast Service. If the Server is not functioning correctly, you need to correct the problems before worrying about the broadcast service. Specifically, you should make sure the Windows Media Server can stream media on demand from the ASFROOT directory.

Step 3: Configure the Online Presentation Broadcast on the Windows Media Server

The Online Presentation Broadcast Service must be configured properly as well. The broadcast service must run under a domain account with administrator privileges, and it must have read/write access to the network where the broadcast-formatted presentation is stored.

Learn More This is a complicated, but interesting option for presenters truly interested in real-time communication. For more information, see Using NetShow Services with Presentation Broadcasting.