What's New in Cornerstone Classroom 8.5.8

This release for Cornerstone Classroom contains the following new features, enhancements, and changes.

Attention: To view and use any new or enhanced client-side features, it is mandatory to upgrade your Cornerstone Classroom client.

Third-party support changes

Functional area: App Client, Server

Type: Enhancement

Applicable to audience: All

Enabled by default?: Yes

Configurable by admin?: No

Configurable by Saba?: Yes

Description

Starting with this release, the following third-party software is supported for Cornerstone Classroom App clients and servers:

Table 1. Third-party support changes
Type of Software	Previously supported version	New version
Operating System	CentOS Linux Version 7.2	CentOS Linux Version 7.4
Application Server	Apache Tomcat 8.5.27 (installed and configured by the Cornerstone Classroom installer)	Apache Tomcat 8.5.34 (installed and configured by the Cornerstone Classroom installer)
Web Server	NGINX 1.10.2	NGINX 1.12.2
Java (server)	JDK 1.8.0_162	JDK 1.8.0_191
Java (for App client)	JRE 1.8.0_181 (bundled with Cornerstone Classroom App)	JRE 1.8.0_191 (bundled with Cornerstone Classroom App)

Allow RTCP monitoring

Functional area: Server

Type: New feature

Applicable to audience: All

Enabled by default?: No

Configurable by admin?: Yes

Configurable by Saba?: N/A

Description

How did it work?

There was no support to control RTCP data traffic generated by the App client and its distribution by the CCS.

How does it work now?

This release introduces a new CMS domain property to control RTCP monitoring and adds a new check box to the App client to enable or disable RTCP in a session.

New Domain Property

The new domain property defaults to "No" and is hidden.

When this property is set to "Yes", RTCP packets generated by clients are sent to the CCS and distributed as appropriate to other clients. When the domain property is set to "No", clients do not generate any RTCP packets and the CCS does not distribute any. This change does not impact Express Client and so it will not show the check box

Note: This property has been optimized for typical usage and so it is recommended you do not need to request a change. Saba support may request to enable it, for a defined time, to gather better data. For more details, contact Saba support.

New check box for App client

The following new check box is added to the Session options dialog box:

Enable RTCP packet monitoring?
This check box allows RTCP monitoring to be disabled in a running event. However, this check box is available only when the domain property is enabled and allows RTCP monitoring. This check box is only available to presenters.
If the domain property is set to "Yes", then the check box reflects the current setting in the session. On client launch, if no other clients in the session have changed the setting within the session, then the check box is enabled and RTCP monitoring is turned on. If a presenter clears the check box and applies the change, then all presenters in the session will have the check box cleared.
Note: The check box value does not automatically update. You need to launch the settings dialog after every change.
If the domain property is set to "No", then the check box is not displayed because the client is not allowed to enable RTCP monitoring. When disabled, no RTCP traffic is generated by the App client and none is distributed by the CCS.

Figure 1. Session settings - Enable RTCP packet monitoring

Monitoring can be switched on and off for the event, but the state is not persistent once the event ends. When the state of the RTCP monitoring is changed for all clients, the CSS and the CCS are all notified of this change and they can enable or disable their respective RTCP monitoring functions accordingly.

Use Case

RTCP data helps identify issues that might occur during a session. However, as RTCP data adds a small amount of additional bandwidth usage, there could be a requirement to disable the sending of such data in high traffic events such as events with large attendance.

Track additional information in text chat logs

Functional area: Chat

Type: Enhancement

Applicable to audience: All

Enabled by default?: Yes

Configurable by admin?: N/A

Configurable by Saba?: N/A

Description

How did it work?

The text chat log files did not contain certain information that was considered critical for certain security and compliance requirements.

Sample of old text chat log:

Event name: Weekly Sales Meet (SMT850683)
Start date/Time: October 12, 2018 3:01:33 PM GMT

3:03:07 PM Jane Morris entered session with presenter role.
3:03:49 PM Robert Goodwin entered session with presenter role.
3:04:12 PM 1 from Deep Kumar to All in room -1: Jane, I have two customers
3:04:15 PM 2 from Deep Kumar to All in room -1: Hopeful
3:04:31 PM 3 from Deep Kumar to All in room -1: Prospects
3:39:50 PM 5 from Jane Morris to Deep Kumar in room -1: Go Deep!
3:40:10 PM 6 from Robert Goodwin to All in room -1: #deepndrumroll :)

End date/Time: October 12, 2018 4:06:56 PM GMT

The client count of this session is 0.

How does it work now?

This release enhances the text chat log file so that it now includes certain additional sections and details about the event and attendees as noted below:

A footer section, which includes:
- Details of all attendees
Unique identifier of users participating in the chat. These include the user's Display Name and Email ID.

A sample of an enhanced text chat log file is illustrated below:

Event name: Weekly Sales Meet (SMT850683)
Start date/Time: December 12, 2018 5:43:54 AM GMT

5:43:54 AM jmorris: Jane Morris (jmorris@saba.com) entered session with role: leader
6:01:43 AM rgoodwin: Robert Goodwin (rgoodwin@saba.com) entered session with role: presenter
6:04:07 AM 1 from jmorris (jmorris@saba.com) to All in room 0: Good morning everyone
6:04:19 AM 2 from jmorris (jmorris@saba.com) to All Presenters in room 0: Good morning!
6:04:37 AM 3 from jmorris (jmorris@saba.com) to rgoodwin (rgoodwin@saba.com) in room 0: Hi, how are you doing today?
6:04:44 AM 4 from jmorris (jmorris@saba.com) to dkumar (dkumar@saba.com) in room 0: Let's begin in a few minutes.
6:05:04 AM 5 from rgoodwin (rgoodwin@saba.com) to All in room 0: Congratulations folks!
6:05:14 AM 6 from rgoodwin (rgoodwin@saba.com) to All Presenters in room 0: Hip Hip Hurray!!!
6:05:34 AM 8 from rgoodwin (rgoodwin@saba.com) to dkumar (dkumar@saba.com) in room 0: This week's been super for the company.
6:05:54 AM 9 from dkumar (dkumar@saba.com) to All in room 0: Yeah, some big wins did the trick.

End date/Time: December 12, 2018 6:06:36 AM GMT

Attendees: 
    rgoodwin: Robert Goodwin (rgoodwin@saba.com) role: Presenter
    dkumar: Deep Kumar (dkumar@saba.com) role: Participant
    jmorris: Jane Morris (jmorris@saba.com) role: Leader

Use Case

The chat log can provide vital information of an event. So, it is necessary that it contains details of users and the event to help during security compliance.

Control display of links on Guest Attend and Playback Options pages

Functional area: CMS

Type: Enhancement

Applicable to audience: All

Enabled by default?: Yes

Configurable by admin?: N/A

Configurable by Saba?: Yes

Description

How did it work?

For domains with standalone Cornerstone Classroom setup, a domain property controlled the display of navigation links including the Log In link on the left pane of the Guest Attend and Playback Options page. However, in integrated environments with Cornerstone Saba, these links were always displayed.

Additionally, in both the cases, the More details link on the Guest Attend and Playback Options page was always displayed.

For integrated environments, these links were not required and lead to confusion.

How does it work now?

This release enhances the following domain property so that it now controls the display of the More details link for standalone Cornerstone Classroom environments:

Public navigation links on Guest Attend and Playback Options pages enabled?
If this property is set to "Yes", then the public navigation links and More details page are displayed on the Guest Attend and Playback Options pages.
If set to "No", then these links are not displayed.

For domains that have Cornerstone Saba integration enabled, the navigation links and the More details links are not displayed, irrespective of the value of the Public navigation links on Guest Attend and Playback Options pages enabled? property.

To configure this property, submit a request. For more details, contact Saba support.

Use Case

Some links need not be available to end users while attending an event or playing a recording. All such links must be removed from the Guest Attend and Playback Options pages.

Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler enhancements

Functional area: Outlook Scheduler

Type: Enhancement

Applicable to audience: All

Enabled by default?: Yes

Configurable by admin?: No

Configurable by Saba?: No

Description

How did it work?

While installation, the Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler was being flagged by anti-virus software. Also, the Outlook Scheduler did not support SAML authentication in integrated environments.

How does it work now?

This release provides the following enhancements to the Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler:

Refreshed user interface of Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler

The Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler user interface has been refreshed to make it more intuitive and enhance the end user experience.

The calendar view of MS Outlook now displays a refreshed Cornerstone Classroom ribbon with the following options:

Schedule a Meeting
Meet in My Room

Cornerstone Classroom ribbon in MS Outlook bar — Figure 4. Cornerstone Classroom ribbon in MS Outlook calendar bar

Clicking the New Appointment button also displays a refreshed Cornerstone Classroom ribbon with the following options:

Schedule a Meeting
Meet in My Room
Meeting Options

The Meeting Options menu works only after you click Schedule a Meeting menu. It is not available if you click the Meet in My Room menu.

Figure 5. Cornerstone Classroom ribbon in New Appointment

Clicking the Schedule a Meeting menu opens the window illustrated below. The meeting options panel opens by default.

Figure 6. Schedule a Cornerstone Classroom

The Meeting Options contains the following major changes from the previous release:

The Event Type drop-down now displays:
- Only "Meeting" and "Classroom" options for standalone Cornerstone Classroom clients.
- Only "Meeting" option for Cornerstone Classroom clients integrated with Cornerstone Saba.
- The "Webinar" option is no more available in both environments.
The gear icon is removed to simplify the user interface. To configure SMOS to connect to multiple servers, contact Saba support.
Adds a new "Save Options and Hide this Panel" check box at the bottom of the Meeting Options panel. If selected, then the configured values of all the fields are saved and are used as the new defaults for all future events, even if they are different from domain defaults and user profile. Additionally, the appointment pane will not display the Meeting Options panel for future events by default. It is displayed only if the user manually selects "Meeting Options" from the drop-down.
The "Concurrent Speaking" field is removed and all events are created using the domain default value of the Audio Property "Default number of concurrent speakers for meetings and events".

When the Meet in My Room menu is selected, it retrieves room information such as name, meeting ID, and attend URL from the server and displays it in the text area. If the My Room does not exist, then it creates one using the current start date and time.

Meetings are always created as per the user's pre-defined "Meeting Capacity". Whereas, Classrooms are created with an enrollment limit of up to 500.

Enhanced Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler installer

The Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler installer is enhanced so that it can now be downloaded without being flagged by an anti-virus software. This is achieved by creating a signed installer that extracts the encoded server information when executed.

The enhanced installer can be download and installed from the Downloads page by clicking the Cornerstone Classroom Addin for Microsoft Office link.

Figure 8. Outlook Scheduler installer download

SAML support for Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler in Cornerstone Saba integrated environments

This release also adds support to the Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler to handle SAML authentication when Cornerstone Classroom is integrated with a SAML protected Cornerstone Saba environment.

When a user clicks the Cornerstone Classroom ribbon options in MS Outlook, the Outlook Scheduler generates a call to retrieve a SAML token from Cornerstone Saba, which allows access to a CMS protected by SAML.

Use Case

There is a need to improve the usability experience of the Cornerstone Classroom Outlook Scheduler and enhance its security.