Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is SwitchPort?
SwitchPort from Limu brings effective anywhere/anytime e-Collaboration, e-Learning and e-Knowledge to your organisation, delivering a dramatic increase in productivity and immediate cost savings.
At the heart of Switchport lies the industry's most advanced thin client based live e-Collaboration technology, allowing for live web browser based web conferencing, e-Learning and e-Knowledge applications. This is complemented by SwitchPort's unique Knowledge Object Architecture (KOA), a persistent object technology creating a blended solution, combining synchronous and asynchronous user interaction and information flows.
As a scaleable and 100% web-based hosted application, SwitchPort requires no software installation and no maintenance for you to worry about. All the hard work is done by us: you simply use it as a hosted service through the Internet.
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Who can use SwitchPort?
All businesses, universities and academic institutions, training
providers, associations and professional service providers can benefit from SwitchPort.
Our products have been designed to meet your organisation's e-Collaboration, e-Learning and e-Knowledge requirements.
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How does it all work?
With our live web-based platform, moderators and participants do not have to
meet face-to-face any longer. Collaboration and training is delivered directly to the desktop of the user
whenever and wherever required.
Because of SwitchPort's easy to use administration system, all that is required of you is to set up the content and
the structure of the Knowledge Asset, then schedule date and time of live sessions. Moderators and participants, and
will then meet online at the pre-agreed dates and times, each from behind their PC.
SwitchPort is a fully flexible platform allowing Knowledge Assets to include live sessions
as well as self-paced materials. You can involve as many participants as may be required.
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Can my organisation use SwitchPort for business collaboration purposes?
In addition to being a comprehensive e-Learning solution,
SwitchPort also offers businesses and organisations a powerful web-based live e-Collaboration platform.
This allows members of one organisation to be more closely integrated. This is all due to internal
conferences, moral boosting news events or important announcements that are all scheduled, held and
received instantly.
SwitchPort will also help companies improve their customer care through enhanced
and regular media-rich communications or allow Customer support to be provided over the Internet.
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Is it possible to set up web events with SwitchPort?
SwitchPort allows any of your platform users to set up and organise live
web-conferences within minutes. You can automatically invite attendees (including any external non-platform
users) to the live web-conference by email.
Because SwitchPort is an open web-based platform that is
firewall friendly, almost anyone can attend the event from almost anywhere in the world by simply clicking
on a single web-link. It's really that easy!
All the live interactive features available on the online learning platform are also available for web-conferencing:
live voice and text chat, live virtual drawing board, application sharing, file sharing and web co-browsing. Plus, you can also gain access to
all live transcripts of the meetings.
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Is SwitchPort web-based? What do the different users need to install to start using SwitchPort?
SwitchPort is a fully interactive, live and 100% web-based platform. Everything is hosted on Limu's servers and can be accessed from virtually anywhere in the world.
This means that there is no costly or complicated application, installation and maintenance.
SwitchPort's platform deploys the industry's most advanced thin client technology and users only need a PC and Internet access to be able
to use SwitchPort.
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Can our users access SwitchPort through the Internet? Our organisation's Intranet? Our organisations Extranet?
The SwitchPort platform is 100% web-based and thus accessible through the
Internet using a specific URL, user ID and password. The platform can also be seamlessly integrated with
your Intranet, simplifying access for your employees and creating your organisation's training and
e-Learning portal.
Also, your employees, internal resources, external learners and even outside
participants can access authorised parts of your training/learning/knowledge content from anywhere in
the world through your organisation's Extranet.
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Can I brand SwitchPort?
Yes. You can customise the platform with your own logo and banners. This will allow
you to transmit a consistent brand message to your employees, customers and users in general.
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How many users can use SwitchPort?
SwitchPort is an open web-based platform that is hosted on Limu's
infrastructure. The application is highly scaleable and can be swiftly distributed over your organisation's
network, whatever its size and geographical location.
As your needs grow, you can expand the maximum number of simultaneous users who access your online learning platform.
You can also host as many Knowledge Assets or simultaneous events as are necessary. Your only limitation is the number of
simultaneous users for which you have licensed SwitchPort.
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What are the advantages of SwitchPort's Internet voice system?
SwitchPort's platform enhances the users learning experience with a fully
integrated live voice telephony over IP. This allows users to talk to each other over the web as if
it were a conference call, but without incurring the additional costs related to overseas or long-distance
classical telephony.
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What collaboration features does SwitchPort offer?
SwitchPort puts an incredibly powerful and vast array of collaboration
features at your disposal. From interactive voice and text chat, document and application sharing to the fully
interactive white board, you can be assured that virtually all usage scenarios are covered.
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How does SwitchPort's application sharing work?
SwitchPort's application sharing feature allows for any participant of
a live session to demonstrate a software running on his/her PC or share his/her entire desktop.
This feature is ideal for customer support, demonstrating a new software or to display anything
running on a desktop.
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What options do SwitchPort's text chat offer?
SwitchPort also offers its users an interactive live text chat. It can be
used in short, quick communication such as comments, remarks or interruptions in conjunction
with the live Internet voice chat.
Alternatively if one or more users are not audio-enabled it may also be used
as the core communication tool. Transcripts of all text chats are kept and are available
for future reference.
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What options does the SwitchPort live drawing board offer?
The drawing board allows users to draw shapes and diagrams and to write
related comments. The drawing board is live and interactive, and can be viewed and used by all participants.
It provides a range of shapes and diagrams, as well as formatting and colouring options.
Snapshots of the drawing board can be made and recorded. They can be accessed, viewed and re-used at a
later date.
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What options do the forums offer?
The central administrator or the instructors can create as many online
discussion forums as they wish, enabling continuous communication between the participants outside
live sessions.
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What options does SwitchPort's library offer?
Every Knowledge Asset created includes a library that contains all
relevant resources and materials uploaded by the central administrator or the moderator(s). These include
uploaded files (which can be of any format: e.g. Powerpoint, Word, spreadsheets, pictures etc.) and web
links to relevant resources as well as references (books, articles, etc.).
The central administrator, the instructor and the participants can add and upload new public (accessible by all the
participants) and private files (accessible only by the uploader and the instructors) at any time. The transcripts of the
past sessions are also stored in the library and participants can access them at any time.
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Is document sharing possible with SwitchPort?
The session instructor can choose a file that has been uploaded to the library
and broadcast it during a live session. All users will be able to view this file. Broadcasted files
can be of any type. This function allows, e.g. the instructor to walk the participants
through a presentation previously uploaded to the library.
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Is using SwitchPort secure?
Yes, access to SwitchPort through your organisation's Intranet or Extranet is safe.
This is due to various security features such as a password, URL, IP and subnet mask authentication.
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Is it possible to connect SwitchPort through my corporate firewall?
Yes, absolutely. SwitchPort is 100% firewall and proxy compatible. This is
because all our technology has been engineered to use the same channel that is used when accessing standard Internet web pages.
Even the use of Internet voice will work in almost all circumstances and is automatically configured to use an organisation's firewall and proxy settings.
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What are the system and technical requirements for using SwitchPort?
Using SwitchPort requires a standard web-browser (Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher - Netscape
version 4.7 or higher). You will also have to have Javascript and Java enabled in your browser.
Using the Internet voice feature requires a sound card and a microphone attached to the PC.
SwitchPort is currently not available for Macintosh systems, but we are working to bring you a
Macintosh version soon.
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