SAFARI Montage^® Version 4.0.x

New and Updated

CreationStation

• Newly Supported File Formats
  • Video File Formats
    • Adobe^® Flash^® Video Encoder (FLV)
    • MPEG-1
  • Interactive File Formats
    • Adobe Flash Player (SWF)
  • Document File Formats
    • Text/Rich Text
    • Microsoft^® Office – Word, Excel^®, PowerPoint^®;
    • Open Office – Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw
    • Adobe Acrobat^® – Portable Document Format (PDF)
  • Interactive Whiteboard File Formats
    • SMART^™ Notebook
    • Promethean support expanded to include Resource Packs
• Licensed Media Metadata

  Licensed Media information (e.g., Licensor, Performance Rights, Duplication Rights, etc.) can now be maintained directly with licensed media.

• Enhanced Permission Management

  Permissions can now be assigned independently to individual user types.

• Virus Scanning

  All files are scanned when uploaded via CreationStation to SAFARI Montage. Virus definitions are updated nightly (requires Internet connection).

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Playlists

Keep playlists organized in a familiar folder hierarchy.

• Playlist Foldering
  • My Playlist Folders – Single repository for user created playlists with user created folders.
  • District Folders – Single repository for district shared playlists with district created folders.
  • Drag and Drop - Easily organize playlists with the familiar ‘click and drag’ technique.
  • High volume management - Districts and users can organize multiple playlists quickly by selecting more than one playlist when organizing.
• Permanent Links

  Hyperlinks can be included in presentations, documents and whiteboard files or web portals.

• Expanded File Support

  Playlist support for – Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Open Office, Acrobat PDF, SMART Notebooks, Promethean Flipcharts and Adobe Flash Player and Video Encoder.

• Enhanced Permission Management

  Permissions can now be assigned independently to individual user types.

• Playback

  Updated to view playlist items and transition to manual playback when a playlist includes content that has no standard duration for automatic playback, e.g., documents, interactive whiteboard files, etc. Prior versions allowed automatic playback and skipped such playlist items.

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Interactive Whiteboard Support

• Interactive Whiteboards Now a Fully Integrated, Standard Feature
  • Interactive whiteboard support is no longer a separately licensed module.
  • Each user's interface is customized to their individual interactive whiteboard preference.
• SMART Board Notebook Support
  • SMART Board™ – Full support with the ability to freeze frame video and annotate.
  • SMART Notebook – Files can be uploaded via CreationStation and are fully searchable in SAFARI Montage.

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SAFARI Montage Managed Home Access

• Upload From Home

  Users can now upload original content from home.

• Remote School Server Support
  • Remote school server user accounts are now automatically synchronized through LDAP integration to allow home access, eliminating the need to manage remote school server users separately for home access.
  • Content uploaded from home is automatically transferred to remote school servers for in-school access.
• Administration
  • Limited administration access is now available from home.

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SAFARI Montage Live!

• SAFARI Montage and SAFARI Montage Live! Are Now Integrated

  Playback previously recorded SAFARI Montage Live! archives directly from the SAFARI Montage dashboard.

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SAFARI Montage Media Player

• Variable Speed Playback

  Enables variable video and audio speeds.

  • Supported Formats
    • Apple^® QuickTime^® Movie
    • MPEG-4 (H.264)
    • Windows Media^® Video
  • Speed Range – .7x to 2.5x

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Selective Video Streaming

• Improved Organization

  Group live video streams by type: Digital TV (DTV), DVD players, Internet feeds and live Cameras.

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Search

• Search By Media Types

  Search filter has been updated to include newly supported media.

• Reinstated Search Filters

  Reinstated filters that include Other Attachments and attributes for Home, Spanish and Closed-Captioned.

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SAFARI Montage HD Network

• SAFARI Montage HD Network Community Site

  The SAFARI Montage HD Network is available to teachers and administrators directly from the dashboard.

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SAFARI Montage Interface

• Updated Usability and Performance
  • Dashboard – updated to list items most recently played by individual user.
  • Increased Performance – Faster page response times.

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Administration and Other

• Add-ons are now referred to as Modules

Known Issues

• Interactive Whiteboard File Upload

  Interactive Whiteboard Settings are not correctly set upon new school creation; therefore, associated file types are not supported when attempting to upload the file types via CreationStation.
  
  To remedy, verify the school's "Interactive Whiteboard Settings" and resubmit the settings by clicking the "Update" button.

Release Log

Version 4.0.30

• Enhancement to SAFARI Montage Media Player Detection
  • System Settings - Added administrator control to manage whether users are or are not prompted about player updates.
    • Enabled - With SMMP set as the 'Media Player,' detects SMMP version at login and alerts the user of available updates.
    • Disabled - With SMMP set as the 'Media Player,' will not alert the user of available updates.

      Exception: Under conditions where SMMP is required (e.g., when set as the media player, when using Managed Home Access or when using Apple Mac OSX) but undetected, the user will be alerted to download and install regardless of the 'Alert User to Install Latest SAFARI Montage Media Player' setting.

• Corrected static image alignment pertaining to full-screen playback.

Version 4.0.31

• Annual update to new State Standards.
• Corrected issuse with missing text when using Closed Captioning within SAFARI Montage Media Player.
• Corrected numerous Playlist functionality in regards to document and whiteboard files.
• Corrected known issues relating to Version 4.0.30.

Browser Plug-ins (All Platforms)

• SAFARI Montage Media Player - Plays both Windows Media^® and Apple QuickTime^® (Apple QuickTime 7.6 required)

  SAFARI Montage Media Player is required for:

  • Microsoft Windows Vista Compatibility
  • SAFARI Montage Managed Home Access Module
  • Closed Captioning Toggle
  • Alternate Language Audio Tracks
  • Enhanced Full-Screen Playback
• Apple QuickTime 7.6
• Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 (Windows platforms only; video playback not available on Mac OS)
• Adobe^® Flash^® Player 10 - Required for Visual Dictionary interactive image package.
• Adobe^® Acrobat^® Reader 9
• Sun^® Java^® 6 Standard Edition - required for CreationStation uploads.

Additional Local Software

Additional software may be required to create or view certain CreationStation content.

• Software clients for the associated file types
  • SMART Notebook^® software / Notebook Interactive Viewer - .NOTEBOOK / .NBK
  • Promethean^® ActivInspire^® / ActiveStudio^® / Flipchart Viewer - .FLIPCHART / .FLP / .AS3A
  • Microsoft Office / Office Vewiers - .DOC/.DOCX, .XLS/.XLSX, .PPT/.PPTX
  • OpenOffice - .SDW/.ODT, .SDC/.ODS, .SDD/.ODP, .ODG; .ODF, .SDP
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader - .PDF
• Interactive Whiteboard Integration - supported software versions.
  • SMART Notebook Software / Notebook Interactive Viewer - v 9.5 or greater
  • Promethean ActivInspire (v 1.5 or greater) / ActiveStudio (v 2.5 or greater) / Flipchart Viewer

Managed Home Access Clients

• SAFARI Montage Media Player 4.0.x
• Appled QuickTime 7.6
• 768kbps Broadband Internet Connection

Local Area Network

• 100Mb Wired Ethernet
• NetBIOS Protocol
  • Windows: "Client for Microsoft Networks" protocol must be active on client machines.
  • OS X: The "Samba" suite of protocols is already active. No changes are required.
• Switched Backbone
• Full Duplex

Instructions for Upgrading SAFARI Montage OS to Version 4.0.x

Please note that these upgrade instructions are ONLY for upgrades to installations of version 2.3.13 or higher. If you are currently running a version prior to 2.3.13, you will need to update your installation to 2.3.13 first.

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Contents - One(1) Upgrade DVD:

• SAFARI Montage - 4.0.x Upgrade DVD - Disc 1 of 1

Please read these instructions in their entirety before you begin:

• These instructions and all related documents are available online at http://www.safarimontage.com/support
• It is important that you review the SAFARI Montage 4.0.x Release Notes available online, as these may include Known Issues that you should understand before running the upgrade.
• Review the SAFARI Montage 4.0.x System Requirements, which include important information that will ensure your environment meets all requirements.
• Allow for time to backup your system in your update planning.
• No one should use the SAFARI Montage System during the update process, so please perform this update during off-hours.
• Review any questions with Technical Support in advance. Please note that SAFARI Montage Technical Support is available Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time and they may be contacted by telephone at 800-782-7230 or online via http://www.safarimontage.com/support/.

Important Considerations:

1. SAFARI Montage Media Player Deployment:
   • We recommend you update all client computers to the current version of the SAFARI Montage Media Player prior to running the OS upgrade. Not doing so will result in all users receiving an alert upon logging in to SAFARI Montage instructing them to upgrade the player. The latest version of the player is available for download at http://www.safarimontage.com/support.
2. Determine the version of SAFARI Montage OS that you are running by clicking on the "Admin" tab. Then click on "System" within the "Settings" menu on the left nav.
   • If you are upgrading from version 3.2.x or later:
     • This upgrade requires approximately two hours to complete for each server in your environment.
   • If you are upgrading from version 2.3.13 - 3.1.x:
     • This upgrade includes significant database updates and optimizations and it may take from four to six hours to complete on your primary server, after which updates can be distributed and synchronized to your expansion and remote school servers.
     • The total time to complete the update will depend upon the number of servers in your specific environment, so please use the following guidelines when planning your schedule:
       • 1 or 2 servers can be upgraded overnight.
       • 3 or more servers should be upgraded when 1-2 days of downtime can be scheduled.
     • Once the software update is complete, the SAFARI Montage server will reboot, and the database optimization process will begin automatically.
3. If monitoring the update from the console, be aware that the system may appear to be inactive at certain times during the update. This does not mean that the update has stopped.

WARNING: DO NOT interrupt the update in any way or power off the server at any time during the update process or database optimization. Doing so may severely and irreparably damage your Safari Montage system.

If you are running WAN Manager with Expansion Server(s):

1. The Expansion Controller must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions below.
2. Once the Expansion Controller has been upgraded, it will automatically push the upgrade to all of the Expansion Servers. The progress of the upgrade can be viewed by navigating to Admin -> Expansion Server -> Expansion Servers.

If you are running WAN Manager with Remote School Server(s):

1. The WAN Manager Parent server must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions below.
2. Once the upgrade is completed on the WAN Manager Parent server, you will be able to automatically 'push' the upgrade to the Remote School Servers, thereby eliminating the need to upgrade them separately on-site.
   1. Navigate to Admin -> WAN Manager -> Remote School Servers
   2. Either check 'Remote update all servers', which will update five servers at a time until they have all been upgraded, or select individual servers to be upgraded by checking the box next to the server name.

Total time to upgrade all expansion and/or remote school servers will depend upon the total number of servers and available bandwidth. The upgrade will be downloaded to each remote server, where the upgrade process will run automatically and take approximately one to two hours. If 'Remote update all servers' is selected, servers will be processed in groups of five, and upgrades will run concurrently on each group of remote servers.

Upgrade Instructions:

1. Backup your SAFARI Montage system via the Administration tools:
   1. Navigate to Admin Data Recovery Backup
   2. Perform a full backup setting the backup option 'Data Only' to 'No'.
2. At the SAFARI Montage Console, select 'Eject Removable Media' to open the DVD drive, and then insert the SAFARI Montage Upgrade DVD.
3. Select 'Update SAFARI Software' from the console menu.
4. Select 'Update from CD or DVD' to run the software upgrade. The upgrade will take approximately one to two hours, after which the server will reboot.
5. If you are upgrading from a version prior to 3.2.x, database optimizations will begin automatically when the server reboots. Please allow at least six hours for this process to complete.
6. When the upgrade is complete, choose 'Eject Removable Media' from the SAFARI Montage Console Screen and remove the disc.

~ THIS COMPLETES THE SERVER UPDATE PROCESS. PLEASE TEST FROM A CLIENT BROWSER. ~

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Deploying the SAFARI Montage Media Player:

Go to http://www.safarimontage.com/support/ to download the latest version of the SAFARI Montage Media Player and for instructions on how to deploy the player to your client environment.