Tag Archives: MCU

Day 15: Dialing Tips for the Codian MCU

This post continues our 20 Day Challenge to understand the technical aspects of videoconferencing, particularly the section on dialing.

If you have a Codian bridge, or need to dial into a Codian bridge, you may find these tips helpful.

To dial into the Codian MCU

Cisco-TANDBERG-Codian bridges usually pose no problem for participants dialing in.

  • LifeSize and Polycom endpoints can dial in with IP##alias.
  • Tandberg endpoints can dial in with alias@IP.
  • Or any endpoints can dial the IP of the Codian, and use the far end camera control to enter their meeting room.
  • Or if the endpoint or MCU can’t dial in one of these ways, you can dial in to the IP address and the bridge operator can move you to the conference where you belong.

To dial an Extension from a Codian MCU

Codian MCU

Many have questions on how to dial an extension (E.164 alias) from a Codian bridge, and some even think it can’t be done! But it can. Here’s how:

  • Login to the Codian web interface
  • Find the Gateway option in the menu
  • Add a Gateway. This will be the IP address of the device that you will be connecting to. Be sure to name this Gateway.
  • Once this step is done, you will then create a endpoint.
  • Find the endpoint menu option.
  • Create a endpoint. Under this option you will name the endpoint. For the address you will input the E.164 alias or extension.
  • From the H.323 Gateway drop down menu, you will select the Gateway that you created and select it.

Normally you would dial an extension/alias in this form: x.x.x.x##alias
However, the Codian is using the Gateway as the IP address and the endpoint as the alias settings.
So the Codian sees the dial string like this: Gateway##Endpoint

References

Your Turn

  • What tips do you have to share for dialing with the Codian?
  • Any other issues or quirks you’ve run into? Please share!

Team-written by Janine Lim, Shane Howard, and Roxanne Glaser. The opinions expressed in these posts are based on our collective video conference experience connecting classes across multiple networks to connect them to zoos, museums, experts and other classes during the past 10 years. This series of posts reflects our usage and understanding, not that of any vendor or manufacturer. No one is paying us to write these. We are just sharing what we have learned.

Calling Other MCU Conference Rooms

One of the conundrums of my videoconferencing life is how to make calls work with weird dialing. Since 60% of my calls are with schools across the country (off my network with various dialing policies of their own), I run into these a lot.  Please, please, please vendors, when will it work like a phone?!

Yesterday I received additional training on TMS from SKC. We spent pretty much two hours trying to figure out how to make TMS in conjunction with my Tandberg MPS 800 dial conferences on other MCUs that are off my network. Since the results are obscure and undocumented, I thought it would be helpful to share. This was tested with TMS J12.2 and the MPS J4.5.

Codian:

Create a Participant Template. Enter the MCU IP as normal. In the DTMF box, enter the extension this way:
,,,numbers#

Polycom MGC:

Create a Participant Template. Enter the MCU IP as normal. In the DTMF box, enter the extension this way:

,,,,,number,,number,,number,,#

(Apparently the numbers come too fast for the MGC. The commas slow it down.)

Polycom RMX

Create a Participant Template. Enter the MCU IP as normal. In the DTMF box, enter the extension this way:

,,,numbers#

Tandberg MPS

This needs the alias@IP format, however you can’t enter this in the participant template. If you put the alias@IP in the IP field, it strips out the @IP.

So, instead, use the phone book to enter alias@IP.

This solution works for a Tandberg endpoint behind a Border Controller as well.

Your Turn: If you have additional tips for making MCUs dial conferences and extensions on other equipment outside your network, please comment!!