Voice Email

Wimba Voice Email allows you to record messages to anyone who is participating in your WebCT Vista course, from students to teaching assistants to co-instructors. Once you have done your recorded email, the recipient will get a link sent to their email address where they can listen to your message.

Adding Voice Email to your course requires access to the BUILD TAB. If you don't have access, please contact your faculty's Instructional Support Unit.

Setting Up Voice Email

Adding Voice Email to your WebCT Vista Course requires access to the BUILD TAB.

Login Vista and go into the course you want to use Voice Email in. Once you are inside your course,

Click on the BUILD TAB on the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
Under COURSE TOOLS, choose COURSE CONTENT to open your course's homepage.
In the middle of the screen, click on the ADD CONTENT LINK button to open a drop-down menu that lists alphabetically all the tools you can add into your course.
Choose VOICE EMAIL and click CREATE VOICE EMAIL.
You will be brought to a new window asking you to give a name for the Voice Email tool. Remember you can always change the name at a later name when you go under the Settings menu.

Once you've given it a name, just click CONTINUE and you will then have the option to customize your experience with the tool.

Flash Videos (Courtesy of Arts ISIT)

→ Adding the Voice Email tool in Vista (Print PDF Instructions)

Settings

Wimba Voice Email Settings window

You are given a number of options on how you want you and your students to use Wimba Voice Email.

General Settings

Title: The same name that you initially gave to Voice Email but you can also change it if you'd like to.
Description: Provide more detailed text on how you want your students to use Voice Email. These could be expectations or certain protocol on when to use it.

Audio Settings

Audio Quality: Set the quality of the voice recordings between 4 options Basic, Standard, Good, and Superior. Keep in mind though that the higher the audio quality that more date it creates. Not everyone in your class will have the same level of access to technology and Internet speeds. To reduce barriers to accessibility, it is recommended that you keep the setting to STANDARD.
Max message length: Set the limit on how long recorded messages can be. They can be as short as 15 seconds to as long as 20 mins.

Detailed Settings

Reply Links: Choose to either show or hide the links to the different voice reply options in the sent emails. Hiding them only allows recipients to reply via a regular text email.

When you have chosen all of your settings, click on the CONTINUE button and you will find Voice Email available on your homepage or your Course Content page. If you'd like to change any of the settings at a later time, just go into Voice Email under the TEACH TAB and click the EDIT SETTINGS link on the upper right-hand corner of the window.

Flash Videos (Courtesy of Arts ISIT)

→ Wimba Voice Email Settings (Print PDF Instructions)

Sending a Voice Email

Everybody needs to provide a valid email address in their Vista Profile in order to use Voice Email

Now that you have setup Voice Email, you are now ready to send a message to any participant in your course including co-instructors and teaching assistants.

Providing a Valid Email Address to WebCT Vista

Before you can start creating messages, make sure you have given WebCT Vista a valid email address it can use.

Click on MY VISTA on the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
After you've been brought to a new page, click on MY SETTINGS found in the same spot as My Vista.
Your WebCT Vista Profile will be presented to you. Make sure that there is a valid email address associated with it. If not click, EDIT PROFILE.
Once you are done, click SAVE and go back into your course.

Please instruct your students to do the same thing as they will not be able to receive or send voice emails without valid email address in their Vista Profile.

Flash Videos (Courtesy of Arts ISIT)

→ Providing Valid Email Address (Print PDF Instructions)

Choosing Message Recipients

You can choose who should receive your voice email

Open Voice Email under the TEACH TAB and click LAUNCH VOICE EMAIL. You will then be given 4 options on who you want to send the messages to:

Send to Teachers of this section: Send a message to all instructors and teaching assistants associated with this course.
Send to Students enrolled in this section: Send a message to all students enrolled in the course.
Send to All people enrolled in this course': Send a message to everybody participating in the course including co-instructors, teaching assistants, and students.
Select among people enrolled in this section: Send a message to a specific person or a select group of people. Remember to check the box right beside the name inside the user list.

These options are also available to all students. It is recommended to establish your expectations on when students can send you messages.

Click CONTINUE when you've decided on who to send the email to.

Recording a Voice Email

Except for the Archives feature that is only available to instructors, the same user interface will be seen by all course participants.

You can start creating a voice email by doing the following:

Click on the square icon right beside the timer to check if Voice Email is using the correct input and output devices. Devices with a check mark are the ones being used.
You are required to put in a SUBJECT line into your voice email so recipients know what the message is about.
Although not required, you can put in a more detailed written message for your email body.
Start your message by pressing the RECORD button denoted by a red circle. When you are finished, just press the STOP button denoted by a square. Review your message by pressing the play button denoted by a triangle.
When you are finished, review all that you have entered. Once you are satisfied, click the SEND button at the top of the user interface.

Your recipients will then receive an email that contains a link to your voice message as well as links on how to reply (if you've enabled them).

To see an example email that a recipient will receive, click here.

To see the user interface a recipient will see when they are listen to the voice email, click here.

Flash Videos (Courtesy of Arts ISIT)

→ How to Send a Voice Email (Print PDF Instructions)