Using Solstice Wireless Projection for Mac

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This guide was created or last modified prior to 2019, and screenshots or individual steps may now be out of date. If you need assistance with the steps below, please email the Help Desk at ts@dornsife.usc.edu.

Solstice provides the ability to present content on your workstation or mobile device wirelessly to a group of participants. As long as the device has a WiFi connection, you can wirelessly project the screen of your workstation or mobile device to a central meeting screen. This document explains how to accomplish basis tasks within Solstice.

There are two roles in a Solstice Session: the host and participant. The host computer is the workstation that is hosting the meeting. The host computer initiates the Solstice session and facilitates the meeting. A participant is an individual that may or may not be wirelessly projecting via Solstice during the session.

Understanding the Solstice Display Screen

The Solstice Display screen provides a few key pieces of information that participants will need in order to wirelessly share their screen.

Solstice displays the room name at the top of the screen. The room name does not change from meeting-to-meeting.
Displayed in the center of the screen is the IP address of your meeting. The IP address does not change from meeting-to-meeting.
Last, Solstice displays the screen key. The screen key is like a password. It provides access to your meeting by authorized attendees only. The screen key changes periodically, unlike the room name and the web address.

Using Solstice Display from the Host Computer

As the host computer, you will need to initiate a meeting session that other participants can join. Complete the following steps to initiate a host session.

The host computer must log into Solstice to initiate the meeting. The host computer is located in the conference room. Log into the host computer with the appropriate user credentials. For Dornsife users, the user name will be the portion of your email address that appears before the '@' symbol. In the password field, enter the password that corresponds to your Dornsife user name. These credentials are, most often, the credentials with which you log into your USC workstation.
After the desktop displays, double-click the Solstice icon.

The Solstice information screen displays.

At this point, the host computer does not need to complete any other actions. The host computer simply facilitates the other users that want to wirelessly connect to the meeting. When the meeting is complete, you will need to exit Solstice by right-clicking anywhere on the Solstice information screen and selecting Exit Solstice. An example is shown below.

Right-clicking and selecting Exit Solstice is the only way to exist the Solstice program.

Repeat these steps to begin or end a Solstice meeting session.

Using Solstice on a Participant Device

Complete the following steps join a Solstice meeting session as a participant.

Navigate to the appropriate web address for the Solstice session you are joining. In the example provided above, you would open a browser and enter http://128.125.231.52 in the address bar.
Select the Get the app & connect! option, located in the center of the screen. You will be prompted to download and install a ZIP file.
Locate the ZIP file in your Downloads folder, once it has finished downloading.
Double-click the ZIP file. You will receive an alert, confirming that you want to open the ZIP file.
Select the Open button. The Solstice software begins to install.
Solstice completes the installation process and displays on your screen. You will be asked to enter the name by which they want to appear on the attendees list, within Solstice. Participants could entered their first name, their entire name, or a company name.
Before the participant can enter the meeting and wirelessly share their screen, they must enter the meeting key. The meeting key functions as a password and grants access to the meeting session. An example is shown below.

The participant is now a meeting member. They can see what is being shared and can share their screen.

Sharing Your Screen Via Solstice

There are several screen sharing options within Solstice. You can select the sharing option that best suits your needs. You can select how much or how little you want to share of your screen, through Solstice. Solstice provides the ability to share your entire Desktop, an App Window, or a Media File. Sharing your desktop makes all items on your desktop viewable to meeting members. If you work with sensitive or confidential information, you might want to restrict your sharing to an App Window. This means that only a specific window on your computer would be visible to meeting members. If you want to further restrict what is displayed, you can elect to share only a single Media File.

Select the option that best suits your needs.