Networked PowerPoint display system/software?

[Paul]

Hello all,
I would like to set up an announcement type system with a central PC running
PowerPoint where the user can do updates to the presentation on the fly and
it would be pushed out to 2 or 3 remote PC's playing the presentation
continuously. This would be in an office building, could be 500 - 1000 ft
distance between the units. It is possible each unit could be hardwired to
the internet or a LAN, but wireless would be a nice option. Does anyone
know if such a thing exists?

I was looking at the Linksys Wireless Presentation Player, but it gets
generally bad reviews on Amazon and I'm not sure more than one of those
could be wirelessly connected to the host at the same time.

Thanks,
-- Paul

 

[TAJ Simmons]

Paul,

Have you thought about using some kind of "virtual software"...e.g. the
remote PCs just show what is on the main PC?

Have a search for something called VNC Viewer

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com

 

[John Langhans [MSFT]]

[CRITICAL UPDATE - Anyone using Office 2003 should install the critical
update as soon as possible. From PowerPoint, choose "Help -> Check for
Updates".]

Hello Paul,

PowerPoint doesn't provide this functionality built-in but might be
accomplished with VBA and/or add-ins. However, if your presentation
doesn't involve multimedia (no sounds, no movies) and the time you spend
updating the presentation is relatively short, have you considered using
NetMeeting to simply share a running slide show with the other computers
(of course the satellite systems would also see when you are making changes
to the presentation).

If you (or anyone else reading this message) think that it's important that
PowerPoint provide this kind invisible updating of presentation during
'casting of slide show(?) functionality (without having to resort to VBA or
add-ins), don't forget to send your feedback (in YOUR OWN WORDS, please) to
Microsoft at:

http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp

As with all product suggestions, it's important that you not just state
your wish but also WHY it is important to you that your product suggestion
be implemented by Microsoft. Microsoft receives thousands of product
suggestions every day and we read each one but, in any given product
development cycle, there are only sufficient resources to address the ones
that are most important to our customers so take the extra time to state
your case as clearly and completely as possible.

IMPORTANT: Each submission should be a single suggestion (not a list of
suggestions)

John Langhans
Microsoft Corporation
Supportability Program Manager
Microsoft Office PowerPoint for Windows
Microsoft Office Picture Manager for Windows

For FAQ's, highlights and top issues, visit the Microsoft PowerPoint
support center at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=ppt
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base at:
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[Austin Myers]

Paul,

Last question first. Wireless (WiFI) has a maximum range (with standard
hardware) of around 300'. But that is only on a good day, going downhill,
and with a wind at your back. 500- to 1000 feet inside a building is almost
certain to be a no-go situation. A hardwired LAN is the way to go.

As to the first part, yes it can be done without VBA or add-ins, but it does
require some work to get it sorted using the native tools in PowerPoint.
You can contact me via email for detailed directions to doing this. NOTE:
The solution requires PowerPoint to be installed on all client machines.

Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

If you can produce a looping show in HTML that suits your needs, then a
central PC could edit the source PPT file, output HTML and as many PCs as
are practical could be playing the show in a browser.

500-1000 feet's a bit long for wireless, but if there were several access
points at intermediate distances each hardwired to a central hub/switch, it
would probably fly. Or as you mention, they could all be reading the HTML
from a web server anywhere on the net.

I'm not sure whether PPT will make a looping HTML presentation on its own.
Our PPT2HTML converter will - see the PPTools link below. There's a free,
fully functional demo available.


--
Posted to news://msnews.microsoft.com
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PowerPoint FAQ - www.pptfaq.com
PPTools - www.pptools.com
===============================

 

[Mike M.]

TAJ, I have tried using VNC to view a presentation on another PC. The
refresh of the graphics is so slow you can't really see the show. I have
tried this on a 10 MB LAN so I don't know if higher bandwidth would help
(but I doubt it).

 

[Mike M.]

If you don't mind doing some batch files you could:
1. Write a batch file that used psexec to remotely stop the current
presentation on each PC. I would use pskill to kill the PowerPoint or Viewer
process.
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/psexec.shtml
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/pskill.shtml
2. Copy the new presentation to each PC.
3. Start the presentation on each PC.

 

[glenna]

Hi Mike,

You might try PC Anywhere or another Host/Remote
software. But I have to agree with John, I'd use
NetMeeting. To avoid changes being seen, I'd probably
make the changes and then copy the presentation to the
host PC (shorter downtime on the show). NetMeeting works
well across a 10Mb LAN, we do it here all the time.

HTH,
Glenna

 

[Kurt]

Mike, I don't know what kind of announcements you are going to publish, but
if you can put your announcements in a database or excel sheet, you could
use www.take-off.as/datapoint to link a presentation to it. Then you don't
have to stop and copy presentations.
Kurt.