Remote Auditing - Setting Up
| Remote Auditing - Setting Up | |
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| Topic | Remote Auditing |
| Author | Hank Levin |
| Type of Article | Category:Property "Is type of article" (as page type) with input value "Category:" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process. |
| Website | http://clearingtech.net/ |
| hank@clearingtech.net | |
Delivery of Clearing Sessions, Personal Consultations and Other Therapies Via the Internet Using the Virtual Clarity Meter
by Hank Levin
For many of us, the greatest barrier to taking advantage of Clearing Technology is the cost and inconvenience of bringing the practitioner and client together to conduct sessions. Few would disagree that the optimal arrangement is the practitioner and client in the same room, sharing the same space, with a good biomonitor to help the practitioner to guide the session. However, the reality is that for most clients, this is an expensive proposition—over and beyond the cost of the practitioner’s fees.
Trained and talented practitioners are not widely available, and for most of us a series of sessions—or even just a couple of sessions—entails extended travel, plus the cost of lodging. Furthermore, it requires absence from work and other responsibilities (like child care). As a result, most of us only avail ourselves of the benefits of Clearing sessions when we are able to arrange for a major step in our personal development that justifies the great expense involved—or when we are really desperate!
From the professional’s point of view, there is yet another inconvenience to having a client come from a great distance. Knowing the substantial expense our client has incurred to work with us, we feel obliged to make their limited time with us “worth it,” and feel obliged to keep them “in session” for as long as possible. However, in our practice, people often achieve impressive results in a very short time, and a “fine touch” entails ending the session for the day when there is a major win, so that the client has time to reflect on his or her new awareness, and enjoy the win. This may mean occasionally ending a session after only twenty or thirty minutes. (Indeed, I’ve seen major life changes from sessions like this.) If our client is local, it’s not a big deal.
But if the person has come from a thousand miles away, it’s quite awkward to send him or her back to their hotel room after a twenty-minute session—or even an hour session! The danger in not doing so is the likelihood of over-running the person, or trying to push them through further Clearing work over a “floating needle.” At least, we may feel an obligation to socialize with them for an extended break between sessions, hoping to get them back into session at a later time that day, thus compromising our own productivity.
Enter the Internet Session[edit | edit source]
With the Virtual Clarity Meter the practitioner and client can meet over the Internet, and do their session(s) at mutual convenience, and have the effective use of the biomonitor. This technique requires some preparation, but its advantages make it well worth it. There are some requirements:
1. Both practitioner and client must have high-speed Internet connections. This is usually cable or DSL. Old-fashioned dial-up connections may be OK for checking email, but will not work for Clearing sessions. In remote areas people often have “satellite” connection, but it is often too slow for our purposes. A reasonably good criterion is, can you watch movies or YouTube clips streaming live, without choppiness or momentary delays? (Watching pre-downloaded movies does not test the speed of your Internet connection.) Go to http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/. If you can watch these movie trailers, you can participate in sessions over the internet.
2. The client must have the Virtual Clarity Meter software and installed on his or her computer. The practitioner does not need to have it installed on his computer, but should be familiar enough with the program to give instructions and to control the VCM remotely. (We’ll see how this is done below.)
3. Both client and practitioner will utilize some sort of screen-sharing/conferencing program. Some are free and rather easy to use (like Skype), but lack the resources and stability to support effective Clearing sessions (like Skype).
I’ll expand on these three points below.
Internet Connection[edit | edit source]
If you only use your computer to check email and as a word processor, you will likely need a new computer. The Virtual Clarity Meter will not work on a “dinosaur,” and the Internet performance will be abysmal. The “movie trailer test” above will let you know if your equipment is adequate. Also, even a new computer should have an “up-to-date” graphics driver. If you bought yours 4 or 5 years ago, you should update your drivers. Your computer expert can tell you how. (Clarity Meter customers can get help from Clarity’s Tech Support.)
2. Virtual Clarity Meter
You can get a bargain Windows computer for $250 at a number of discount houses. The VCM will also work on a newer Mac, but you will need to install a copy of Windows using either Apple’s native BootCamp, or VM Fusion or Parallels. (I prefer BootCamp, as it allows you to use the latest Windows drivers for your Mac’s graphics card, rather than a “generic” driver.)
Conferencing Platform[edit | edit source]
Most people have Skype these days, and a number of practitioners utilize it. If you (or your client) pay them extra money, your client can “share” his or her computer screen with you, so that you can see their meter and thus their reactions on the meter. If they have a webcam, using the webcam’s program to put their picture on the screen (along with the VCM) you can even see their image in real time. The problem with Skype is that (1) it is often unstable and crashes easily, (2) it is very slow, so that you can usually not identify “instant reads” with any certainty. This is a deal-breaker for assessments and other work with lists. Also, with Skype, you cannot control your client’s screen, which means they must control their own meter in session—yet another deal-breaker for most practitioners.
There are quite a number of other “conferencing” programs, including TeamViewer, Logmein Hamache, Yugma, Mikogo, join.me, Fuze Meeting and others, some of which will enable the client to not only share their screen with video, but will also allow them to share control with the practitioner. You may have experienced one of them while receiving technical support from a software company or Internet provider. Some are free, and some charge a monthly fee.
For me, the most crucial aspect of a conferencing program for Clearing sessions is speed of response. Without that, metering is guesswork, and can render what metering you are able to do not worth the trouble. There is only one program that I have found that gives instantaneous meter reads in most situations, and that is Webex.com. For a small monthly fee (I think it’s $24), your client can not only share his or her screen, but can allow you to operate their meter. Furthermore, video and audio can be transmitted and received within the Webex program!
Only one person in the conference needs to be a paid subscriber to Webex. If you are the practitioner, I feel it’s much more professional for you to be that person.
The only downside I’ve seen is that on occasion a client will have trouble logging in or getting it to perform. However, their tech support is always available.
It is not absolutely necessary for the participants to have headsets—sometimes your internal microphones and speakers can be balanced so that headsets are not necessary. However, sometimes balancing these (so that neither party hears and echo when they speak, or experiences any number of other problems) is so difficult and time consuming that I’d say both the practitioner and the client should really have a headset. They are available for less than $30 if you shop around. Many are certified “workable for Skype.” I myself prefer the USB type (rather than the ones that plug into the audio and headphone ports).
When first setting up with your client, you may need to show them how to “select” the headset from the list of options in their computer’s audio and video system. This can usually be done from within Webex. If you are a professional practitioner with several clients, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with this process (using Webex tech support if necessary) so you can coach your client to make these selections.
Keep in mind, many older clients will not even know the difference between a search engine and a web browser. Their Internet is set up to go directly to AOL or Google or somesuch, and when you tell them to go to Webex.com they’ll type that into the search engine and get a list of articles about Webex!
Establishing a protocol for the session setup with each client can take as much as an hour. Once you have done this, it should be a fast ritual to do so before each session; nevertheless, you will want to leave ten minutes at the beginning of each session to set it up and verify it’s all working.
The Setup Procedure[edit | edit source]
For the sake of consistency, we’ll assume here that you are the practitioner.
1. First, go to Webex.com. (You and your client will use your web browsers for the Webex “experience,” though you will be prompted to download and install a small “helper” program.) Your initial screen will have two buttons in the upper right, “Host a Meeting” and “Attend a Meeting.” Select “Host a Meeting.” You’ll be prompted to sign in; do so.
2. You’ll be brought to a screen where you can choose “Meet Now” or “Schedule a Meeting.” Choose “Meet Now.” Then choose “Start.” Wait a moment for Webex to prepare the meeting.
3. Call your client on the phone and tell him or her to go to Webex.com and stand by.
4. A window will open offering you the choice of using your phone for audio, or using the computer. I prefer to use the computer. If you choose that, you can test your audio; another window will open that has an option to choose which speaker you want to use (choose your headset), and what microphone you want to use (again, choose the headset).
5. Your meeting will start. You will see yourself listed on the “dashboard” page. If your webcam is available, click the black “camera” icon to the right of your name, and it will turn green as your camera comes on. (If you have Skype on, it may have “captured” your webcam so it will not be seen by Webex. You will have to close Skype or anything else using your webcam, and you may have to restart Webex.)
6. At the top of your screen there will be a yellow bar with the 9-digit Webex Meeting Number. Give the number to your client and have them write it down. Have your client go to Webex.com and choose “Attend a Meeting.” He or she will be prompted to give their name and the meeting number. Have him or her do so.
7. You will see your client come online on the list of attendees under your name. Have them click on the webcam icon (as you did) and you should now see each other. They will also have to choose the audio method (as you did) and test their audio. You should now be in full audio and visual communication. You can both hang up the phone.
8. Have the client start their Virtual Clarity Meter, if they have not already done so. They should also choose “Share My Desktop” from the big button on the dashboard, or from under the Share pull-down menu at the top of the Webex screen. You will now see their desktop, and (hopefully) their Virtual Clarity Meter screen.
9. Now, go to the colored menu bar at the top of your own screen (they will not see this), click the menu bar and go to the far right. There is a pull-down menu, where you can select “Ask for Control.” Do so. Your request will appear on your client’s screen, and when they grant it you will have to accept.
10. Once you accept control of their screen (and their meter), if they then use their own mouse, you may loose control until they grant it to you again.
You are now ready for your session[edit | edit source]
I always like to test the immediacy of the response time by running this short test before beginning the actual session: Tell your client to simultaneously say the word “Now!” and squeeze the sensors (cans, electrodes, etc.). Usually, you will hear the work “Now!” at the same moment you see the needle drop to the right—even if they are in another country (the wonders of Webex). However, distance and compromised connectivity might delay the read up to a half second without compromising your metering.
(If the delay is a second or more, you will have to try to compensate for the delay in your session.)
You are now ready to begin your session!
It gets easier and faster with practice—trust me.