Getting Started

1. How to Sign Up

Palbee is a free online service which allows you to set up easy video meetings with your friends and colleagues. To be able to use Palbee service, you must be a registered member. Please click the (1) Sign Up button on the start page to create an account.

To register, enter a (2) User ID and Password. Then retype the password and enter a valid email address. It is important to note that the account’s email address cannot be changed after signing up, so choose the right one for the job. Optionally, enter your name and your country. Then, check to agree on our (3) “Terms & Conditions” and “Privacy Policy” and press Submit. We will then send an activation mail from us. Click the link in that email to validate your email address, or copy and paste the link into your web browser. Once you finish the activation process you can sign in with your Username and Password on the top right corner of the web site.

2. How to Start a Free Video Conference

Once you have signed in you will see your own personal Meetings page. You can start a meeting by entering a (4) Title and the Palbee Usernames of the people you want to invite to your meeting, and then clicking the Start button. If you have already added your friends to your contacts list you can invite them by clicking (5) Choose from contacts. A list of your current contacts will be displayed.

If you check the (6) Record meeting option, your meeting will be recorded and saved online. It is important to note that only the Host will be recorded using this option. There is not yet any support for recording meeting attendees.

If you want to start your meeting later, click (7) Schedule for later. Then, enter a date and time using the interface provided, and hit Submit. Your meeting will be scheduled for a later date.

3. How to tell your friends

Once your meeting is scheduled you can send a link to your profile page to your friends, who can visit and Join the listed meeting. Also, once the meeting has begun, you can find the meeting URL along the bottom of the conference interface. You can press the Copy to Clipboard button and then paste the link into an email or instant messaging application to pass it around to anyone.

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Using Palbee

1. Meetings Tab

The Meetings page is the first page you will see once you sign in. You can create and start meetings under the (1) Start Meeting section, easily see an overview of scheduled meetings in the (2) Meeting List section, and play recordings listed under (3) My Recordings and (4) My Favorites.

To create a meeting, enter a 1(1) Title for your meeting. Also, you can invite other Palbee users by entering their names into the 1(2) Invitation box, separated by a comma. Alternatively, you can choose contacts from your contact list using the 1(3) Choose from contacts option. You can also check on 1(4) Record meeting if you want to record the meeting. You can start your meeting immediately by clicking on the 1(5) Start button or you can schedule your meeting for another time by clicking on Schedule for later. Just enter the date and time and press the 1(6) Submit button to schedule a meeting. Scheduled meetings will be shown to the invited users on their meeting lists, and on your own profile page.

The meeting list shows meetings you have scheduled 2(1) (My Meetings) as well as the meetings you have been invited to 2(2) (Invited Meetings). You can start scheduled meetings by clicking the 2(3) Start button or delete it from your list by pressing the 2(4) X.

Meetings to which you have been invited will show up in your meeting list, but cannot be accessed until the host has started the meeting. After the person who invited you has started the meeting, a 2(5) Join button will appear. Press the 2(5) Join button to join the meeting.

Your recorded presentations are listed under (3) My Recordings. You can view your recorded meetings by clicking the 3(1) Play button next to each recording.

Recorded videos by others can be added to (4) My Favorites so that you can find them more easily whenever you want to play them again.

2. Contacts Tab

Under Contacts you will see the list of Palbee users you have added as your contacts. Click on a 2(1) contact’s username to see his or her profile page. You can also send a message by clicking on the 2(2) Send mail link. You can add contacts by clicking 2(3) Add [contact username] as a contact on any other user’s profile page.

The 2(4) Search feature, the primary way you can find other users and other recordings on Palbee.com, will be implemented very soon.

3. My Account Tab

On the My Account tab you can view and edit your personal information and privacy settings. Upload a Buddy Icon by clicking 3(1) Browse and locate a 50x50 pixel sized image on your computer, then click 3(2) Upload to continue. All user information is voluntary and you can limit the information that is shown to other users with the privacy settings.

Click the 3(3) Save button to save your changes or Discard if you don’t want the changes to be saved.

4. Messages Tab

The Messages tab is your message center. In the 4(1) Inbox your received messages will be shown. View a message by clicking on the title. When a message is displayed you can easily reply by clicking the Reply link. To delete a message, select it using the check box and click the delete button. Click 4(2) Sent Mail to view your sent messages. Click the title to view the message and delete messages by checking the checkbox and clicking the delete button.

To compose a message simply click on 4(3) Compose Mail, enter the user ID for the recipient, enter a subject, write your message, and click the Send button. If you want to send a message to more than one person, enter all the user IDs separated by a comma. If you change your mind about sending the message, simply click Discard.

5. Sign Out

To sign out from Palbee, click Sign Out on the top right corner.

Hosting a Conference

The conference interface for Palbee.com has a number of tools for users to create professional presentations.

1. White Board

The white board is the central presentation area on the Palbee conference interface. In this area you can display slides, draw, write text, highlight, and erase using all the tools below the White Board. On the top right hand corner of the white board area is an 1(1) arrow that points down and to the left. You can use it to minimize the white board and maximize the video window if you do not have a use for the white board area.

2. Library List

This is the library of slides available to a conference host. First, click on the words Library List to open up the list. This will reveal the Upload button. Click on this button to get an Open File dialog box. Select any compatible file to upload it. You can upload PowerPoint presentations with the extension .PPT. You can also upload three types of graphics files ? Jpeg files with the extension .JPG, Portable Network Graphics files with the extension .PNG, and Graphics Interchange Format files with the extension .GIF.

After you select the file to upload it will be processed and added to the list of available slides in the Library List. You can select the appropriate slide by simply clicking on its graphical icon. You can delete a slide by clicking on the blue X next to its name. And finally, you can delete all the slides in the Library List by clicking on the Delete All button.

3. Tools

There are many tools that you can use inside the white board area, arranged in a row below the white board. From left to right, they are the 3(1) Color Selector, 3(2) Size Selector, 3(3) Hand, 3(4) Horizontal Fit, 3(5) Vertical Fit, 3(6) Erase, 3(7) Textbox, 3(8) Highlighter, 3(9) Freehand Drawing, 3(10) Straight Line Drawing, and 3(11) Undo.

Click on the Color Selector tool to change the color of another tool that you are using. This will change the color of the text that the Textbox cool makes, the color of the Highlighter tool, and the lines that the Freehand Drawing and Straight Line Drawing tools make. First select the tool whose color you want to change, and then select the color using the Color Selector.

Click on the Size Selector tool to change the size of another tool you are using. This will change the size of the text that the Textbox cool makes, the size of the line of the Highlighter tool, and the size of the lines that the Freehand Drawing and Straight Line Drawing tools make. First select the tool whose size you want to change, and then select the size using the Size Selector.

The Hand tool is used for moving and resizing slides. First, click on the Hand tool, and then move to the current slide. You can move the slide by dragging it. Also, each slide has a small gray box on the bottom right hand corner. Using the Hand tool, you can drag the gray box around to resize the slide.

Clicking on the Horizontal Fit tool will expand the current slide so that the left and right edges of the slide touch the left and right edges of the whiteboard. If the slide is taller than it is wide, the top and bottom edges of the slide will be cut off by the top and bottom of the white board.

Clicking on the Vertical Fit tool will expand the current slide so that the top and bottom edges of the slide touch the top and bottom edges of the whiteboard. If the slide is wider than it is tall, the left and right edges of the slide will be cut off by the left and right edges of the white board.

The Erase tool requires two clicks to function, because it has two abilities. First click on the Erase tool to reveal another button below the first. The top button shows an eraser and a line, while the bottom button shows only an eraser. If you click on the top button, only the text and lines drawn on the current slide will be erased. If you click on the bottom button, everything in the white board will be erased.

Use the Textbox tool to write text on the current slide. First, click on the Textbox tool. Then, if you want to, you can use the Color Selector and the Size Selector tools to change the kind of text you will write. Finally, click anywhere on the White Board to place a text box. After that, type whatever you need to type.

Use the Highlighter tool to create lines of transparent color on the current slide. First, click on the Highlighter tool. Then, click anywhere on the white board to begin drawing. Hold the mouse button down and drag the mouse to draw a straight line. When you are finished, release the mouse button. The Highlighter tool has default size and color settings of Large and Yellow. You can change them using the Color Selector and Size Selector tools.

Click on the Freehand Drawing tool to draw freehand on the white board. First, click on the tool, then click anywhere on the white board to draw. Move the mouse to make any kind of line you want. Release the mouse button to stop drawing. You can change the color and size of the freehand lines using the Color Selector and Size Selector tools.

Click on the Straight Line Drawing tool to draw a perfectly straight line between two points on the white board. First, click on the Straight Line Drawing tool. Then, click anywhere on the white board to begin drawing. Hold the mouse button down and drag the mouse to draw a straight line. When you are finished, release the mouse button. You can change the color and size of the freehand lines using the Color Selector and Size Selector tools.

Clicking on the Undo tool undoes the last action by any of the other tools. Clicking on the Undo tool again undoes the action before that. However, you must move the mouse at least once between each click, or the next click will not register. This is due to the nature of Flash. If you click on the Undo tool enough you can undo every action you have made with most of the other tools, eventually going back to an empty white board area. The Undo tool cannot undo placing a slide or resizing a slide.

4. Text Chat

The text chat area is useful if there are any technical problems with the audio or video in the conference. It is also a useful record of who joined the conference, and at what time.

5. Meeting Menu

The Meeting Menu can be accessed at the top left corner of the conference interface. It includes several options ? Change Title, Change Meeting Type, Change Password, Time Extension, and End Meeting.

5(1) Change Title ? this option allows you to change the Title of the meeting. You can also access this function by pressing the Edit button next to the meeting title.

Change Meeting Type ? This option is not implemented yet, but will eventually allow you to change between Seminar Mode and Conference Mode. These two modes will have different permissions for who can speak and use the drawing tools during a live conference.

5(2) Change Password ? This option allows you to set and change a password for the conference. If you set a password, users will be asked for a password after they hit the Join button and before they can see anything in the conference. If they input the wrong password, they cannot join the conference. You can also access this function by clicking on the Lock icon next to the conference title.

5(3) Time Extension ? This option allows you to extend the time of the meeting in 30 minute increments. When the meeting is out of time, it will end. The default meeting time is 1 hour.

5(4) End Meeting - this option allows you to end the meeting as the host. You can also access this function by pressing the green exit button.

6. File Menu

The file menu replicates the functionality of the two buttons under the Library List. If you would prefer, you can upload a file using the 6(1) File Upload menu item in this menu. Also you can delete all the uploaded files so far using the 6(2) Delete All Files menu item.

About Palbee

1. Free Online Video Conferences

Palbee is a totally free browser based video conferencing and collaboration tool. Palbee is still under development and new features are constantly added. For Palbee to work you will need a web browser with Flash Player, and to make use of all features you need a webcam, a microphone and headphones/speakers. In excess of the video/audio and text chat Palbee features a whiteboard with a number of tools for drawing and writing. You can also upload images or PowerPoint files and use them on the whiteboard. All participants of a meeting can contribute to the content on the whiteboard.

2. Totally Free

Palbee is totally free for all users. All you need to do to start conferencing, video chatting or collaborating with your friends, coworkers or customers is to sign up. Signing up is of course free, fast, and easy. Additionally, the user information stored in our database is intended for you and other users, no one else. We plan to make money in the future by offering a private, corporate intranet version of our software, but the services of this web site will remain free. Don’t worry.

3. Palbee Beta Note

Palbee is still in beta. New features are added all the time and sometimes we experience (or cause) server problems while updating. Palbee is an awesome product and we hope you will tolerate some disturbances while we are trying to make it even better.