A PC running a Windows variant, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. You should have Internet Explorer 4.0 or better installed as well. Note that Windows XP and 2000 come with Netmeeting already installed.
The PC should a reasonably current machine, such as a Pentium II 233 MHZ or better. A slower machine may work, but audio and video performance will suffer. It should have a decent amount of Ram (64 MB or better). A sound card is not mandantory, but for audio conferencing, some sort of audio interface is necessary.
Netmeeting uses the Videoconferencing standard .h323. There are other products that use this standard as well, including a solution for Macintosh users. See the section "For Mac Users" at the end.
A Microphone and Headphones
If you want to participate in an audio conference, you need a microphone. You need not spend a lot of money. A inexpensive SoundBlaster compatable (this is important) microphone (less than $10.00) and a inexpensive pair of headphones (like the kind that can be used with a Walkman) is all you need. You can also opt for a headset that has the microphone built in; this is all a matter of preference.
Using headphones instead of a pair of speakers is preferred, since the microphone will pick up what is coming over the speakers, and will lead to a strange, and disconcerting "echo" effect.
A Network connection
While it is possible to use some functions in NetMeeting with a 56k modem, a faster network connection is preferable. For Video or screen sharing, use at least a Dual ISDN connection (112 kbs). A Cable Modem or DSL connection is perfectly adequate for any of the features in NetMeeting when at home. Most campuses have at least 10 mb/s connections, which is good enough to do decent low frame rate video and good audio, as well as all the other features in NetMeeting.
There are some additional issues concerning use of NetMeeting iin special situations, such as with a firewall, or through a home networking router. A brief outline on the issues is being written, and will appear shortly.
The Software
You will need the Netmeeting software itself. If you are currently running Windows 2000 or XP, you do not need to install it; it comes with the standard install. Under Windows XP, you may need to "unhide Netmeeting to launch it directly:
Go to your Start menu and select "run". Type in "conf.exe" (no quotes). The Netmeeing setup wizard will then start, and ask you whether you would like shortcuts created (yes you do).
For Windows 2000, look in your Start menu under Accessories/Communication to launch it. You should also confirm that you have at least version 4.0 of Internet Explorer installed. You can get the latest version of Internet Explorer at:
Otherwise, you will need to download it. Microsoft's main NetMeeting page is at:
http://www.microsoft.com/netmeeting
and the link to download it is at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/download/default.asp
It's also recommended (but not necessary) that you install MSN messenger. Messenger is an "instant messaging" application, similar to AOL instant messenger, which allows people to chat online. MSN Messenger is particularly useful as it makes it very easy for two people to "find" each other online, and set up a NetMeeting Conference. You will need to set up a "Passport" (better known as User ID) for yourself via MSN's site, but it costs nothing, and you get an additional email account as a bonus. You can get MSN Messenger at:
It will ask you to set up an account for yourself, but if you already have a HotMail account, you can use that as your "Passport".
Source Article: http://www.ncsu.edu/it/multimedia/netmeeting/netmeeting.html
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