Essentials: Providing Basic Meeting Information

You must provide basic information about the meeting on the Essentials tab in the New Meeting dialog box. Optionally, you can complete the settings on the People, Slides, and Options tabs to invite people, add content, and set options for the meeting.

Note While you are not required to log in to IBM(R) Lotus(R) Sametime(R) before you schedule a meeting, you may still want to do so. Once logged in, more functionality will be available to you. Click "Log in to IBM Lotus Sametime" in the upper right corner of the Meeting Center. When the dialog box or page appears, enter your user name and password and click Log in.

Naming the Meeting

Enter a name for the meeting. You can use any characters in the meeting name, including letters, numbers, spaces, and symbols. Try to choose a name that other participants will recognize. (When participants attend an unlisted meeting, they must enter the meeting name exactly as it is entered on the Essentials tab.)

Describing the meeting

Provide a description of the meeting or other relevant information. If this meeting is not using any computer audio or telephone conference service, you must enter the conference telephone call number here for the number to display on the Welcome page.

Scheduling the Meeting

Do one of the following:
- Click Start Now to begin your meeting immediately. Go to step 4.
- To schedule a meeting at a future date and time, go to step 2.
  Note You system administrator may limit how far in advance meetings can be scheduled.
If you chose to schedule a meeting, use the following controls to choose a date for the meeting to start:
- Double arrows: Change the month of the meeting.
- Single arrows: Change the day of the meeting.
  Tip You can choose any present or future date for your meeting. You can also enter the date directly in the Date field.
If you chose to schedule the meeting, choose a time for your meeting to start. You might see any of the following controls:
- Double arrows: Change the time of the meeting in increments of one hour.
- Single arrows: Change the time of the meeting in increments of 15 minutes.
- A calendar icon Choose any month and day for the meeting. The date you choose appears in the Date field on the New Meeting page.
  Tip You can choose any present or future time for your meeting. You can also enter the time for your meeting directly in the Time field.
Choose a duration for the meeting. You might see any of the following controls:
- A Duration field with double and single arrows on either side. Use the double arrows to change the length of the meeting in increments of an hour. Use the single arrows to change the length of the meeting in increments of 15 minutes. You can also enter the duration directly in the Duration field.
- Separate fields for hours and minutes. Use the arrows next to the "hours" field to change the length of the meeting in increments of one hour. Use the arrows next to the "minutes" field to change the length of the meeting in increments of fifteen minutes. You can also enter the duration directly in the "hours" and "minutes" fields.

Tip You can also enter the duration directly in the Duration field. If you use am and pm, you can type 3p to jump to 3 pm. If you use 24-hour time, you can enter the time without the zeros. For example, enter 15 to schedule for 15:00.

Repeating the Meeting

You can repeat a meeting that you are scheduling. For example, you can repeat the meeting every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. for two months. When you repeat a meeting, the chair for the first meeting is the chair for every meeting in the series.

Number of Connections

(For EMS only) Enter the number of computers you expect to connect to this meeting. For example, if ten people will be attending the meeting, five from an office conference room and five others from home, enter 6 here for six connections.

Computer Audio and Video Support

If your IBM(R) Lotus(R) Sametime(R) environment supports it, specify whether the meeting will have computer audio or computer video. See Communicating with Computer Audio and Video for more information.

Phone services

If your Lotus Sametime environment includes telephone service provider support, choose whether to use the telephone number provided by the telephone service for this meeting and, if so, complete all other fields that display here. Your telephone service provider should provide you with the information you need to complete these fields, such as Client ID and conference call passcode. See Communicating with Telephone Conference Calls for more information

Securing the Meeting with a Password

When choosing a password for your meeting, enter letters and numbers to ensure the highest level of security. Remember that the meeting password is separate from your Lotus Sametime password. The meeting password is also separate from the telephone conference call password. See "Passwords" for more information.

Tip You might want to use a short password (10 to 12 characters) so that you can remember it; you will not see the password again after you save the meeting. You must distribute the password to all meeting participants so that they can enter it to attend the meeting and view the meeting details. You must also enter the password before you can make any changes to the scheduled meeting.