Use the whiteboard on Cisco Webex Boards

Ensure your meetings and presentations are enhanced with the interactive visuals provided by your Cisco Webex Board’s whiteboard. Using a whiteboard is like having an infinite canvas in front of you. You can draw and write in any direction and will never run out of space.

You can draw, share ideas, annotate shared content, and share ideas using your fingertip or the stylus provided with the app. It’s easier than ever to collaborate with the team: you can email whiteboards, share them during meetings, or save them to a Webex workspace so everybody can work together on them together.

Whiteboard basics

The whiteboard can be opened by tapping the whiteboard button on the touchscreen of your smartphone or tablet. It is the latest whiteboard that opens if there are already some that have been started. Alternatively, if your board is blank, you will be given a new one. In order to get started, you must first get the tool bar at the bottom of the page to appear.

As a starting point, let me take a look at what the buttons on the toolbar on the left are for:

Open

Open the list of whiteboards from your current session. Tap one to open it.

New

Let’s begin by starting a new whiteboard with a blank page.

Copy

In the whiteboard folder, you should copy the whiteboard that is open. To open the copy, you need to tap the copy to find it.

Delete

I would like to delete the whiteboard that is open. A confirmation request will be sent to you by the system. Tap on the button to delete the remaining whiteboards in your current session. If you would like to delete a whiteboard (or whiteboards), select Delete from the menu (or select Select All). You will be asked to confirm your choice by tapping the red checkmark, which will be displayed on the screen.

Black Canvas

A black screen should be displayed instead of the whiteboard. In the event that the Board goes into standby mode, the whiteboard appearance is reset to the default setting. You can change the whiteboard default appearance by opening the Settings menu in the Board, going to Advanced Settings and then toggling the default appearance for the whiteboard in the Advanced Settings tab.

When You’re Finished

A quick way to exit the whiteboard on a Board Pro is to swipe up from the bottom of the screen and then clicking the back button.

You can exit the whiteboard at any time by pressing the Home button on the whiteboard and then tapping the End Session option. In this case, you will be prompted to delete the existing work. Once you do so, you will be taken back to the Home screen. Find out more about how to clean up the whiteboard at the end of your whiteboarding session in this guide.

Whiteboards: creating content

A whiteboard is an excellent tool for creating content since it can easily be written and drawn on with your fingertip or a stylus that comes with it. The board can be worked on by more than one person at the same time if necessary. If you prefer to use your phone to zoom in (up to 3x), then you can pinch and zoom on the touchscreen as well. When you are zoomed in on a whiteboard, you can use your finger to swipe in the direction you want to move around the whiteboard while you are zoomed in. When you zoom out (up to ten times), you will be able to see the entire whiteboard at once.

Here is a quick overview of what you will be able to do with these buttons that are displayed in the middle toolbar of your screen:

Undo/Redo

You can undo or redo the last action you took.

Pen

If you want to change the stroke of the pen, do so. The thickness can be selected by tapping the following: . It is possible to pick a different color by tapping on one of the colored buttons on the screen.

Eraser

Use your fingertip (or your stylus in the case of the stylus) to rub out any mistakes you have made. Tap the eraser twice on the whiteboard and then tap on the Clear All button to completely clear the whiteboard.

Shapes

Using the whiteboard, you will be able to create basic shapes like squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, arrows, and curved lines and it will automatically adjust the edges and close small gaps in the outline so that it looks neat. Either tap the button and start drawing, or draw your shape and hold your finger or the stylus down for a short period of time before lifting your foot away from the screen. Your shape is detected by the whiteboard and it adjusts itself based on your shape.

Sticky Note

There is a sticky note on the whiteboard that needs to be added. A soft keyboard will appear when you tap the button. Tap the checkmark to add a note to the board as soon as you type your text (up to 6 lines) and choose a color for it. Whenever you tap a note on the board, you have the option of changing the color, editing the text or deleting it. The note can be moved by pressing and dragging with your finger on the note.

Active Pen on Board Pro

Using two active pens on a Board Pro allows two people to draw at the same time, or one active pen and one finger can be used simultaneously on a Board Pro. If you wish to use the pen, press the button on the top of the pen and hold the tip against the screen. There is an open toolbar on the pen.

Depending on your preferences, you can choose different line thicknesses and colors for the lines. Press the lower button of the pen to erase the pen or tap on the eraser icon on the pen to erase it. This means that in the main color toolbar, the letter A represents the first active pen, the letter B represents the second, and the letter F represents the hand drawing of someone else.

Share a whiteboard in a call

Your whiteboard can easily be shared with other participants in a Webex meeting, where they will be able to edit it from their own devices or from their Webex application. A shared whiteboard can be edited by anyone, and you’ll be able to see their avatar or device initials at any moment.

1. If you would like to access the Whiteboard while you are on a call (or in an open Webex area), tap the home button and select Whiteboard. Those who are participating in your call will be able to view your whiteboard live as it is automatically shared. During the call, you can tap the whiteboard icon to open a new one.
2. It’s time to move on to the next step when you have finished your work, but keep in mind that your whiteboard remains shared after you finish working.
3. Then you can choose to continue working on your whiteboard or to stop sharing it with others.
4. The Save your work button will appear on the home screen as soon as your call is over. By tapping on it, you will be able to save your whiteboard to a Webex space.

Save and send whiteboards

The Webex app can be easily connected to your board if the board is already connected to the Webex app. During the current session, any whiteboard you create will automatically be saved to this space as a snapshot in the .png format. Open a Space on a Cisco Webex Board explains in more details how to open a space on a board and what you need to do.

In any case, you may need to create an entirely new whiteboard space, or perhaps open up an existing whiteboard space in order to save your whiteboards:

• You can access the Save Your Work dialog by tapping either the Save button or the Home button on your active whiteboard. Either:

Click on the Create a new space option.

Or

Choose a space that already exists and click Save to that space. Open the Webex app and connect to the location where you would like to save your document. You cannot save to spaces that the board owner is a member of if you are a guest user on a personal Webex Board. Also, as a guest, you will not be able to view any whiteboards in any spaces where the board owner is not a member as well.

• There is no limit to how many whiteboards you can save.

In the upper right corner of your screen, you can tap the blue arrow if you are creating a new space. There will be a dialog box where you will be able to rename the space and add other people to it.

• In the corner, there is a blue checkmark. You will be able to save the whiteboard(s) you have created.

You will be able to access your new Webex space from the Webex app if you have created one.

The bottom right corner of the current whiteboard can be tapped to email the current whiteboard. Choose a whiteboard from the list by tapping on it, or click one or more from the list and select it. During the dialog, it is easy to enter people’s e-mail addresses or their names if they are in your directory. Tap the blue checkmark to send the message, and then edit the subject line if necessary. It will be emailed to the recipients in the form of a .pdf file with the whiteboard(s) attached to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

In Webex breakout rooms, are whiteboards able to be used?

In a breakout rooms screen sharing apps, it is possible to share files, whiteboards, as well as desktop screens with hosts and participants by clicking the “Share” tab in the screen sharing apps. Annotations can be made by users and hosts in real-time on whiteboards and files shared in breakout rooms. Files and whiteboards that have been edited are automatically saved when they are saved.

How do you annotate on a whiteboard in Webex?

Share your screen with your colleagues and annotate it

Click on Webex > Annotation and share your screen with your colleagues. While you are annotating your screen, tap More > Let Anyone Annotate if you want other meeting participants to be able to annotate with you. Tap End to end the annotation process, then choose whether or not to save the annotation you are currently doing.

Can multiple people use whiteboard in Webex?

A shared whiteboard can be edited and viewed by several people at the same time. In this case, it could be someone joining from a Webex app on a Windows machine, on a Mac machine or from the web. In the meeting, other participants can only view whiteboards on the board. This includes Skype for Business, and many third party applications that are available in the meeting.

How do I close a whiteboard in Webex?

You can select the Whiteboard option from the activity menu when you are in the space. Choose the whiteboards you wish to delete, tap the Delete button, and then tap the Delete button again.

How do I change font size in Webex whiteboard?

You can change the font size on your device by dragging the slider to the right in the Settings > Display & Brightness > Text Size section of the Settings app on your device.

All images and contents credit goes to help.webex.com