Working with Virtual Rooms (SAP Library - COL - Collaboration

Working with Virtual Rooms

Use

You can use rooms as virtual working environments, in which the member of teams or project groups can collaborate across time zones and between geographical locations.

Room Types

Depending on the purpose and confidentiality of the content, you can create and use rooms of the following room types:

Room Type	Purpose
Private	Confidential collaboration between portal users who are specifically invited
Restricted	Company-wide collaboration between team or project group members – providing the opportunity for every portal user to request membership
Public	Company-wide forum that every portal user has access to

Templates for Rooms and Room Parts

To minimize the efforts required to create rooms, SAP provides templates for rooms. Your system administrator can tailor these templates to suit the specific usage requirements of your company.

When creating a room, you specify the room template required, for example, the one for project rooms. The system adopts the basic specification and settings from the room template in the new room.
You can insert room parts – reusable modules for rooms – in existing rooms. There are also templates for these.

Roles and Permissions

Your system administrator gives you permission to enter rooms and create rooms by assigning the corresponding portal role to your user.

Room members have access to shared services, applications, and information. The access permissions to the pages in a room are determined by the room role that is assigned to an individual room member. Individual room members’ access to maintenance functions in the room (changing room attributes and member assignments) is also determined by room roles.

Overview

The graphic below illustrates the significance of the template and the room roles within a restricted project room (as an example). Using the template, the room was created as a project room. The room type restricted determines that interested portal users can request membership of this room. On the internal pages, services and functions for collaboration are available for members. Non-members can visit only the public pages of the room. If required, the room owner (or another member with maintenance permissions) can add predefined room parts to this room.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

Features

Function	Description
Creating rooms	If your system administrator has assigned you the appropriate portal role, you can create rooms. Depending on the purpose of the room, you decide which template the new room should be based on (for example, project room, meeting room). A wizard leads you through the individual creation steps. You define the general properties for the room, assign the template and the room type to it, and specify the members and their access permissions in the room.
Maintaining rooms	As a room member, you may have access permission for the following maintenance pages in the room, depending on your room role: · Room maintenance (For example, room attributes, member list, adding room parts). · Room relationship maintenance (Assigning related rooms to a room. Users can click a link to visit the related rooms from the respective room.) · Usage analyses (Analysis of access to the current room for each registered member) · Search for content in the current room (in CM folders) In the room template, permission for maintenance functions is assigned to a room role, for example, the admin role (or more than one room role). Each member that this role is assigned to has access to the respective room maintenance page.
Entering rooms	To enter a room, you must be registered as a member of the room. (Exception: You do not have to register to enter public rooms and pages.) Member registration takes place when creating the room, however, the room owner (or another member with maintenance permissions) can also register members afterwards. The registration comprises entering the portal user in the member list and assigning the access permissions for pages in the room. The central point of entry to rooms is the room directory. In the room directory, you can display rooms according to the following criteria: · My Rooms – all private and restricted rooms that you can enter as a member · Restricted Rooms – all restricted rooms irrespective of whether you are a member of them · Public Rooms – all public rooms irrespective of whether you are a member of them You can also enter rooms outside of the room directory, for example using links. Links contain the Internet address of the room. For example, the invitation to a private room contains a link for direct access to the room. In a room, you can use the links provided to enter rooms related to the respective room. To do this, you must be a member of the respective related room. (Exception: You do not have to register as a member to enter the public pages of a related room.)
Collaboration in rooms	Depending on the room structure, which is specified in the room template, all necessary services and functions necessary for a particular purpose (for example, to allow a project group to collaborate) are provided on the pages of the room. Depending on the room structure and their room roles, the room members can use the following services and functions to collaborate: · Non-simultaneous communication through shared access to documents, tasks, discussion, meeting recording, and so on. · Synchronous communication through shared participation in online sessions, for example, application sharing and WebEx · Calendar integration and e-mail functions through the integration of the groupware used in your company (Microsoft Outlook or Lotus iNotes)