TechNet Webcast Weblog : Office System

IT Manager Live Webcasts for August

technetwebcasts — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:40:00 GMT

The IT Manager Webcast series provides a high level look at how Microsoft technologies can impact your infrastructure. Topics for August include SharePoint Server 2007, Windows Server 2008, SQL Analysis Services in Visio and Project Portfolio Server.

1. Visualizing SQL and SQL Server Analysis Services Data in Visio 2007 (Level 200)

Tuesday, August 7, 2007, 11:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Pacific Time

2. Windows Server 2008 Security Enhancements (Level 200)

Thursday, August 9, 2007, 11:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Pacific Time

3. Creating a Global Human Resources System Foundation with SharePoint Server 2007 (Level 100)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007, 11:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Pacific Time

4. How Microsoft IT Improved Project Portfolio Selection to Drive Business Value (Level 100)

Tuesday, August 28, 2007, 11:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Pacific Time

If you miss the live Webcast you can view these and other on-demand IT Manager Webcasts at: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/itmanagerconnections.aspx?tab=webcasts

Scott Lum

How Microsoft Does IT

technetwebcasts — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:47:00 GMT

Ever wonder how Microsoft manages its network or deploys its client and server infrastructure? Get an inside view of how the Microsoft IT guys do IT on the IT Showcase Webcast Series - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itshowcase/webcasts.mspx. Watch the Webcast or download the Webcast Audio Podcast. Products covered include: SharePoint, Exchange, Windows Server 2008, SQL 2005, Security, Vista deployment, Office System deployment and many more.

Sample of some of the IT Showcase Webcasts:

How Microsoft IT Manages Network Access Protection - Windows Server 2008
How Microsoft IT Designs and Architects its Exchange 2007 Based Messaging Environment

How Microsoft IT Deploys Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging

How Microsoft IT Does Information Security

How Microsoft IT Deployed and Architected SharePoint Server 2007

How Microsoft IT Manages the World's Largest Windows SharePoint Services Deployment

How Microsoft IT Implemented and Manages Enterprise Search at Microsoft with Office SharePoint Server 2007

How Microsoft IT Implemented Information Protection with Windows Rights Management Services

How Microsoft IT Deployed Windows Vista

How Microsoft IT Deployed the 2007 Office System

How Microsoft IT Implements System Center Operations Manager 2007

How Microsoft IT Defends Against Spam, Viruses, and E-Mail Attacks

Microsoft IT Showcase Webcasts and Podcasts: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itshowcase/webcasts.mspx

Scott Lum

New Short-Format Audio Podcasts for Office System Productivity

technetwebcasts — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:05:00 GMT

The Online Media Team, who creates the Microsoft Webcasts and Virtual Labs, just released a newer format of audio Podcasts. Up until now, if you went to www.microsoft.com/podcasts, all of the content on the site has been audio stripped out of our Webcasts. Not an ideal learning environment because you don’t get to see the presenter’s demos but for many, it was still a good way to learn about our products during your commute or while working out. So finally, we’re coming out with a new series of content that is created directly for audio and in a shorter format (10-20 mins) so that it may be easier to consume in a single session.

Tomato-Tomaaato/Potato-Potaaato/Podcast-Webcast Audio. So, if you’re scanning our Podcast site looking for some helpful audio content, how can you tell which is which? The short format, direct to audio content will be labeled “Podcasts” and the audio that we stripped out from the Webcasts will be labeled “Webcast Audio”. Also, the short format Podcasts will generally be at the top of each section and the Webcast Audio will follow.

Check out the new Office Podcasts: http://www.microsoft.com/events/podcasts/default.mspx#busMicrosoftOfficeSystem

· Enhancing the Effectiveness of Your Team and Community with Groove 2007 Workspaces

· Improving Data Analysis with Excel 2007 PivotTables and PivotCharts

· Process-Driven Collaboration with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Outlook 2007

· Sharing PowerPoint 2007 Slide Content

Scott Lum

New Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Virtual Labs

technetwebcasts — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:50:00 GMT

Try out the latest features of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 in a free, online virtual environment. TechNet Virtual Labs are simple to use —no complex setup or installation is required. Check out the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Virtual Labs at: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/unifiedcommunications.aspx?tab=virtuallabs

Office Communication Server 2007 Virtual Labs:

· Exchange Server 2007: Configuring the Unified Messaging Server

· Deploying and Configuring Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

· Enabling Users and Installing Office Communicator 2007

· Configuring and Using Conferencing in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

· Using the Management and Troubleshooting Tools in Office Communications Server 2007

· Compliance and Archiving in Office Communications Server 2007

Scott Lum

SharePoint & Office Open XML Short Format Webcast Express Pilot

technetwebcasts — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 02:01:00 GMT

We're trying out slightly new form factor - a shorter duration Webcast we're calling Webcast Express. Most of you are familiar with our standard 60-min Webcast. These shorter format Webcasts are recorded straight to on-demand and generally run 10-20 minutes in length. For the pilot, we're running them in a Web console and we're making it easy to consume (ie. no registration).

With the feedback I've been getting from our evaluations and speaking with people at TechEd, I would think Webcast Express would be a no brainer. Shorter time committments and focused content will make it easier to consume in a single sitting. The no registration part means that the video will launch in just two clicks and you're in. So I'm sure this will be a popular format - we'll just need to make a few tweeks in the upcoming months to make it more cost effective to create and even easier to find content. Try them out and let me know what you think. Since this is a pilot, your feedback is important. Is it too short, just right, good way to learn, etc.?

We have seven SharePoint 2007 Webcast Express on topics like new features, installation & confirguration, customizing search, report center, etc. There are also two Webcast Express for Office Open XML Format - one on Excel and the other Word. They're presented by a couple of the speakers you may know well - Matt Hester and Kevin Remde.

· Introducing New Features in SharePoint Server 2007 Duration: 15.29 min

· Installing and Configuring SharePoint Server 2007 (Part 1 of 2) Duration: 22.09 min

· Installing and Configuring SharePoint Server 2007 (Part 2 of 2) Duration: 23.26 min

· Viewing User SharePoint Server 2007 Search Improvements Duration: 11.36 min

· Using Search Query and Results Reporting in Office SharePoint Server 2007 Duration: 13.47 min

· Customizing Search in Office SharePoint Server 2007 Duration: 21.3 min

· Exploring the Report Center in SharePoint Server 2007 Duration: 14.18 min

· Working with Office Open XML File Format: Microsoft Office Excel Duration: 18.46 min

· Working with Office Open XML File Format: Microsoft Office Word Duration: 12.25 min

View all the Webcast Express along with the abstracts and presentation details: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/SearchResults.aspx?culture=en-US&evtTyp=0&kwdExact=technet%20webcast%20express&lng=en&advFlag=1

Office Live Meeting 2007 at TechEd

technetwebcasts — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:51:00 GMT

One of the favorite things I saw at this year’s TechEd was the new version of Office Live Meeting 2007. It might not have been the most earthshaking technology at the show but it could have a big impact on the Webcasts you see on TechNet and MSDN. As you may know (or not), our team uses Live Meeting to record most of our Webcasts and we strip out the audio to create the Webcast Audio Podcasts. While Live Meeting was not created for this purpose, it works well for our use - it's simple and provides most of the functionality we need. The new version of Live Meeting has some new features which will help make our Webcasts even richer in the future. A few of the features I liked:

1. Video support– The current version of Live Meeting does not support video. A Webcast presenter can’t show off a video that they may otherwise use in a live PowerPoint presentation. With the new version they can – so the potential for a richer Webcast experience is there.

2. Support for slide builds – I don’t know this for a fact but if LM supports video I’m assuming that it will support PPT slide builds. This is big since the replay of the Webcasts would often have overlapping text which made no sense since the original PPT deck had slide builds one on top of the other. To get around that problem we encouraged presenters to create separate slides for each build. This should make the on-demand viewing of our Webcasts much more pleasant.

3. Talking head video – The new version also supports Webcams so you could potentially see the Webcast presenter in a small window as they talk. I’m not sure how many of our presenters are willing to set up a Webcam for all to see, but I think it will add one more element of interest. They also showed off support for the new Microsoft RoundTable ringcam which is an awesome new camera which gives you a panoramic 360 degree view of a conference room and directional mikes which detects were the sound is coming from and focuses on the face of the person talking. It’s not something we’d use for Webcasts but very cool for businesses looking to collaborate in meetings using the Web.

4. VoIP Support – Most of the live Webcasts are broadcast over IAB. LM2007 will support VoIP which should provide higher quality and more reliable audio during our live Webcasts.

Office Live Meeting 2007 is scheduled to be released in the Fall so it will be awhile before we see new Webcasts in this format. Something to look forward to…

Scott Lum