iVisit for Mac: Getting Started

Installing iVisit for Mac OSX

Note: This version will NOT run on OSX 10.7 (Lion), a new client is in development and will be released as soon as possible.

Download

• Click here to go to our download page and then click "Download Free" to download the installer package to your desktop. It will automatically unzip and show as an OSX .pkg (package) file.

Install

• Double-click on the iVisit Package file to begin the install
• Read through the license agreement and click "Continue"
• Click "Install" (the default folder of /Applications is ideal)
• Click "Quit" to leave the Installer
• Open the /Applications/iVisit folder
• Drag the iVisit Application Icon to the Dock for easy access
• Click the iVisit Dock icon to start the program

Note: If using OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard you may be asked if you wish to install the Rosetta Emulation software. Click "Install" and follow the instructions.

Configure the OSX Firewall (if active)

• If you have the OSX Firewall active, open System Preferences/Security and add iVisit as an allowed application as shown below.
  
  
• Click "OK" and close System Preferences/Security when complete.
• If using a router with you may need to configure this or map UDP Port 9940 for iVisit to work correctly. For router configuration information click here. If you experience any problems connecting to the ivisit.net server (e.g. Can't connect to ivisit.net error message) click here for troubleshooting hints and tips.
  
  

Create an Account

• If you do not already have an account, you will need to create one. If you already have an account, skip to the "Logon" step below.
• The first time you run iVisit a Create Username Window will pop open

• Enter a valid email address (this must not have been used to Register with iVisit before) and choose a username. Check "I agree to terms and conditions" and the 'Create' button will light up. When you click Create iVisit will check to see if the username you want is available, if not try adding _ or - before or after the name and if that fails use a number after it. Space are not allowed in names and they must be 15 characters or less in length.
• If the username is available you will see a message that an email has been sent to you with a 6 digit temporary password. Check your mailbox for an email from accounts@ivisit.com, sometimes this can be marked as Spam so check your filtered folder too. If nothing has arrived within 5 minutes email help@ivisit.com and we will send the password again.
  

Logon to iVisit

• Once you have registered and created your account, you can logon to begin using iVisit.

Logon

• Launch iVisit. At the logon window, enter the domain "ivisit.net" and your Username and Password, then click "Log On". Once you see the login message from the server (image below), click "Okay."
• If you wish to save your login details, check "Remember" next to each field.
  
  

Setting Personal Preferences

• From the iVisit top menu bar select Settings/Preferences
• In the window that opens you are able to set:
  - A comment (appears next to your name when in rooms)
  - The default options for Private chat, pausing video, closing disconnected windows, sound effects and tool tips.
  
  

Add Contacts and Call Them

• To start a 1-1 video conferencing session, you must add a username to the People section of your Address Book and call them.

Add Contact to People List

• The Address Book window is open at Places by default when you logon. Click the People tab to see your list of contacts. When running iVisit for the first time, all you will see there is your_username.4-digit code (e.g. mary.1234)

• Type the username.4-digit code of the person you wish to add in the + box at the bottom of the Address Book window and hit the Return key.

Call or Message a Contact

• Click a username in the People list and their remote AV window will open. If you have never connected before, the video image will look like TV "snow"; otherwise it will be a still image of the last frame of your last live connection.
  
  

• You have the option to Message (msg) or Call them - Messages work even when the other party is offline, but live calls require them to be logged in and to accept your call.

Invite Guests to call you or join your home chat room

• From the iVisit top menu bar select Tools/Create Invite, then this window will open:
  
• Set the Nickname for your Guest user (if more than one person uses this same invitation they will be guest1, guest2, guest3, etc.) The default is 'guest'.
• Check either "Call me" or "Join my room" (if you want to establish a multi-party conference select "Join my room". Note: you must have a Plus subscription to host multi-party meetings in this way).
• Click "Copy URL to clipboard", then Paste this into an email you can send to your family or friends.
• When they click the link it will generate an Invitation.IVB file for them that will either call you or join your home chat room (they must have installed iVisit and be running it for these to work).
• To prevent/stop guest logins from the iVisit top menu bar, select Settings/Change Guest Password. In the window that opens, confirm your login password and then change the guest password to something else.
  
  

In-Call Functions (when connected live)

• Push to Talk: To send audio during a call, simply press the "Talk" button with your mouse or hold down the <control> key and speak into the microphone.
• Hands free audio: To enable hands-free operation go to the Audio > sub menu in your own AV window and select "Hands free".
• Text Chat / Messages Window: Options menu from the > arrow top right.
  
  
  
  When you are connected to multiple people outside a home chat room, each of the users will have a button (next to public) in the menu bar. To switch messaging between users, click their button name then type below; the text/message will only be sent to that person.
  
• Drag and drop files: (live transfer) - Drag any file onto the other user's AV window and the file will be sent to them while you conference.
• Drag and drop movies: Drag and drop a .mov file on your own AV window for it to be sent as your video stream in a live conference (other formats work if both parties have QuickTime installed).
• Drag and drop music: - Drag and drop an .mp3 file onto your own AV window for it to be sent out as your audio stream in a live conference (great for sharing music; other formats will work if both parties have QuickTime installed).
• Start Recording: To record all streams (video, audio, text chat) of those you are connected to, expand the lower Recording section of your own AV window by clicking the blue triangle, click "Record all windows", then click the Red dot to begin recording. Others must allow this by checking "Others may record me" in their AV window.
  
  
• Stop Recording: To stop recording, click the red dot a second time then ...
  
• Save Recording: Save Recording.ivb (default) to your hard drive.
  
  This file can be replayed later by double-clicking on it or, if you have a Plus subscription, exported and saved as a QuickTime movie.
• Sharing Window: To activate Sharing, select Tools/Sharing window from the top menu bar.
  
  The buttons function as follows:
  Left arrow - Go back to the previous URL, image, file (if Send is down it will be set to connected users again)
  Right arrow - Go forward to the next item (if Send down it's sent again)
  X - cancels sending or receiving
  Two down arrows - Receive (click and hold until it darkens to keep on)
  Two up arrows - Send (click and hold until it darkens to always send when items are dragged into Sharing window)
  File icon - Open the OSX file selector window (to choose items)
  A - Set Applications for handling specific file types
  Pip/TV icon - Turn on Desktop Sharing and a selector box appears, drag the bottom right corner of this to re-size, drag the top edge to move it around. If Send is in the fixed position the selector will be red and the window will be updated live. If Send is not dark, then click it once to send the contents of the selector box to those you are connected to.
  ? - Opens the Sharing Help reference page in your browser

Join Room / Hold Multiparty Meeting

• Note that hosting a multiparty meeting requires a paid Plus account, but guests can join for free. Click here to upgrade your account.

Adding/Joining a Room through Places

• In your Address Book click the "Places" Tab and make sure you are at the top level by clicking the back arrow (top left) twice.
• In the + entry box at the bottom of the Places window type the person's room you would like to add in the format "home.<username>.####" and hit 'Return' on your keyboard. Note that you must know their 4 digit security code to add their home.
• Their home will appear in your Places list. Click to see the available options.
• Click on "Chat Room" and then click "Join this room" to join.
• Other participants will be listed. To open their live AV windows, click on their names.
• To leave the meeting, click "Leave Room" button at the top of the names list.

Sending Messages (when not connected)

Sending Messages (online or offline)

• If a user is not currently available, you can send them an audio/video message, an audio-only message, or a file and they will receive it when you are both next logged in. If they are currently logged in, the message will be sent right away.
• In your Address Book window click People then click on the contact's name you wish to message (msg is selected by default)
  
  
  
  
• Click and hold down the video camera icon to record your AV message; as soon as you release the mouse on the camera icon the AV message will end. If you want to send an audio-only message, click and hold down the microphone icon. If you wish to send a file, click the file icon and a selector box will open. If you want to send a text message, just type in the chat window.
• If the other person is online the message will be sent right away; otherwise it will be sent the next time you are both logged in. When you receive an AV message for the first time a permissions dialogue box like the one below will appear.
  
  
  
  
• If you are sent a file by another user you can find them quickly on your Mac by going to their AV window top right > arrow menu and selecting "View received files". This will open the local folder where the files have been placed.
  
  

Change Call-handling and Status Preferences

Change Global Call-handling Preferences

• 
•  To adjust your incoming call handling preferences, click the Yellow dot next to "Caller ID on incoming calls".  The choices are Yellow for "Caller ID on incoming calls" (Default), Red for "Send busy on incoming calls", and Green for "Accept all Incoming Calls".
• To adjust your incoming message handling preferences, click the Green dot next to "Show incoming messages". The choices are Green for "Show incoming messages" (Default), Yellow for "Hold incoming messages", and Red for "Block incoming messages".
• iVisit lets you share your status to other contacts to let them know if you are online. If both parties have their username in each other's Address Book then a green dot will show by their name when online. If you do not want others to know your online status go to the bottom left of the Address Book and click the green dot (Show online) and it will change to a white dot (Do not show online)

Call handling by Username

• Open the users AV window by clicking on their name in the People section of your Address Book and then from the small > arrow top right of their Av window select "User Settings" and the following menu will appear. Use the check boxes to set how you want to handle each type of call, message or file request from this user and click "Okay" when complete.
  
  

Change Compression and Network Preferences

• From the iVisit top menu bar select Settings/Compression Settings to open the menu. Quality is best in the 6-8 range but you can put this higher if using iVisit on a LAN or lower if your Internet speed is less than 256/256.
•  If your Audio is breaking up or stuttering, try lowering the Microphone Input to 8 kHz Mono at 5-6 Quality. The mp3 setting is for when you drag and drop a music file onto your window to be sent as your audio stream. Generally, higher quality delivers the best fidelity but is bandwidth dependent.
  
  
• From the iVisit top menu bar select Settings/Network Settings and the menu below will open. The default bandwidth is 400/400 and iVisit will automatically adapt to network conditions. If you want to lower the amount of bandwidth and data iVisit is using then you can lower these, but be advised that setting them too low will impact your video speed and audio quality.
  
  
  

 

Adjust Audio and Video Settings

Adjust Audio Settings

• iVisit uses the microphone and speakers as set in the OSX System Preferences/Sound Control Panel.
  
  
  

Adjust Video Settings

• On the iVisit top menu bar select Settings/Video Device Settings and a QuickTime menu will open (the exact appearance of this will vary according to your version of QuickTime and the type of Camera you have available)
• The "Source" selector will show you the available devices. If blank, nothing is currently available for iVisit to use. If you have a working camera connected or built in to your computer, close other video applications and restart iVisit.
• The "Compression" Tab will show you the options and iVisit will have pre-selected the best type for the selected source
• The "Adjustments" Tab shows the camera controls and is best set to 'Default'