Symposium is designed for collaborative, hands-on training via application sharing, while Conference is for presenting information with limited interaction. A new auditorium option lets Symposium administrators create larger presentations with less interaction. The primitive Conference client lacks integrated audio and the capability to send questions to the audience, both of which are in the companion client, Symposium. Conference participants can only view applications shared by a Conference leader, whereas Symposium provides control for both session leaders and participants. Microsoft Corp. PowerPoint presentations to the server for display and annotate slides with drawings and highlights.
Participants can send questions to the presenter using text chat.
Netopia Inc. Rather than sending a continuous stream, Conference's screen broadcasting tool refreshes a participant's screen at a user-selectable interval. On the other hand, the Symposium client adds flexibility to Centra's already strong framework for live training. Symposium combines embedded PowerPoint presentations, integrated audio, electronic whiteboards, application sharing and collaborative Web surfing, all controlled by instructors who determine which students can present to the rest of the class. Content for Symposium or Conference can be built ahead using Centra's Agenda Builder, which supports multimedia files. Instructors also can add material, such as a quick survey, on the fly.