Now that the school year is winding down, I’ve been reflecting on my use of my TANDBERG MPS MCU this year. Some of you have read my previous posts (one and another) on my TANDBERG bridge and so it’s time for a follow-up.

I Can’t Have It Both Ways
It struck me funny a couple weeks ago when I realized that I wanted the best of both worlds. I hope you can laugh at me with me. My previous PictureTel Montage bridge allowed me to have people to dial into different conferences by different numbers. So when I realized that the TANDBERG only let me have people dial in to conference 1 (see note below), I was frustrated with it. But recently I realized that it’s that same functionality that allows me to have a conference up and tell everyone to dial in and they just do. I don’t need their IP address. I don’t need to know their speed or any other weird specs or settings. They just dial in and the VC starts. What I’ve been frustrated about has also been a great blessing this year. Isn’t that funny?!!

It Doesn’t Fit My Paradigm
I learned a tiny bit about Joel Barker’s paradigm shift theory recently, and it dawned on me that my first year and a half of frustration with the Tandberg bridge was because it didn’t fit my paradigm! You can laugh at/with me on that one too! 🙂 I couldn’t get it to work the way I needed it to and I was running so many programs that I didn’t have time to adequately figure out how to think like it does. I’m definitely making progress in this area, but I’m not there yet!

I’m Not Using It The Way It Was Designed
The TANDBERG MPS is set up to either have people dial into conferences based on the E.164 alias (by endpoints registered to the gatekeeper), or using a Single Dial In system that works similar to the way the Codian MCU does with the welcome menu, etc. Because of my obsession with having a conference that people can just dial an IP and get into (no extensions, no menus, etc.), we changed a setting on the bridge so that it has a default conference (conference 1).

Using it that way, I can’t use the Tandberg Management Suite because it randomly assigns conferences and I can’t force it into conference 1. (Although there are a couple new versions out since I last looked at it so I need to research this more.) If I was using it the way it was designed to be used, the Tandberg Management Suite would be perfect and would add lots more functionality than I currently get just using the web interface to the MCU.

So why don’t I use it that way? I still do a lot of programs with old units that can’t dial extensions or use the tone dialing to get into the right conference. I also still do VCs with schools that can only dial out. And I still have scenarios where my school calls me in a panic and we have to put it up on the bridge to make it work. Having the option for endpoints to dial in with just an IP address is still crucial to my practice. So… this summer I hope to spend some more time testing and researching, so I can learn how to think like my bridge thinks. This is an ongoing journey that’s by no means finished. But I think I’m growing in my understanding and that’s worth something!

Bottom Line
If you’re in the market for an MCU, you need to look at all the sides, not just my little opinion here! Don’t just take my experiences shared here. I’m not a techie; just an educator with a knack for technology.

Last year I muttered about H.261, H.263 and H.264 la la land. This year, not only have some of these odd problems settled down, but I’ve also begun to appreciate the quality that H.264 brings to the videoconference.

But first, a quick little lesson from my admittedly educational and not-so-techie perspective.

A Little Background
H.261, H.263 and H.264 are video protocols within the H.323/H.320 videoconferencing standards. It’s also partly the algorithms used in compressing the video to send to the far site. H.261 is the oldest videoconference standard. H.263 is still very commonly used. H.264 has been the latest until HD came along. But in K12 videoconferencing, we’re still operating basically on H.261, H.263 and H.264.

If you’re like me, you haven’t really thought about these protocols at all. You just connect and if it works you’re happy! You see a wide variety of quality, but you chalk it up to whatever is happening on the network between you and the far site. Or like a true VC pro, you blame it on the other guy’s unit.

Seeing the Difference
But now, you can know what’s really making the difference. I’ve started to notice the difference. Having lived in H.261 land for so long, I didn’t know what I was missing. And I admit I’ve been slightly annoyed with people off my network who wanted to see higher quality. Since we are always bandwidth strapped, I figure if you can make a connection and have a conversation, it’s good enough for learning to happen. And shall we judge the quality of partners for educational projects based on their bandwidth? It just seems wrong to me.

But now I must admit I understand a bit better. My new VC schools are noticing a great difference when connecting directly to my endpoint and connecting to multipoint activities on my bridge with many different kinds of sites connecting. When they connect to my Polycom VSX 7000, it almost always connects at H.264. But when they connect to an multipoint ASK or MysteryQuest program, all types of video qualities are represented.

So How Do You Know?
On the Polycom VSX 7000 series (which I use mainly now), when you are in a call, you can press the yellow help button the remote to see the call statistics. On this first screen you can see how it connected, the IP address of the far site, the protocols it’s using, and the packet loss. All very useful information once you know what it means.

On the Tandberg codecs, you can find these same details under the Call Status menu area. Thanks Arnie for help with that!

Getting Attached to H.264
H.264 is designed for low-bandwidth situations and uses a lot of processing power, so you really notice the difference with 384K and lower connections. I’m starting to really like the high quality. I’ve also noticed with both Polycom and Tandberg that when you connect the same vendor unit together, you often get higher quality (but that can vary based on the network too). Must be some magic in there somewhere.

It’s funny how we adapt to what we see most often. I’m starting to really like the looks of H.264!

Note: This post was written for the MACUL conference blog 2007 with attendees in mind. However I’m reposting it here because it seems it would be useful for readers here too.

H.323
The videoconferencing TWICE is showcasing here uses the H.323 videoconferencing standard. We connect using IP or via the Internet. Generally this is “room-based” videoconferencing which allows for a whole class to participate. The H.323 standard allows multiple types of equipment to connect to each other, no matter the vendor.

By comparison, Skype videoconferencing is desktop based, designed for one person at a computer using a headset, and requires Skype installed on both computers to work.

Codec / Videoconferencing Unit
First, you need a codec or videoconferencing unit. There are three main manufacturers that schools tend to be using. Polycom and Tandberg are the most popular, and Sony offers several units, including cheaper low end versions. Most of the companies don’t sell directly to customers; instead you purchase the videoconference unit through a reseller. Some resellers that Michigan schools use are: ICI which is based in Michigan and provided the audio-visual equipment in the TWICE room, and SKC to name a few.

Generally room-based videoconferencing units run around $5000 and upwards from there.

However if you want to dabble in videoconferencing before purchasing a higher-end unit, you can start with H.323 desktop videoconference. With a webcam you can use open source H323 clients or Polycom’s PVX for $120ish, to connect to H.323 content like TWICE is showcasing here. You could hook it up to show a class via a projector too. The challenge with this setup is the audio. The sound in desktop videoconferencing is designed for a headset. So if you use a microphone and speakers you’ll find a lot of echoing. The solution is to have a ready finger on the mute button so that you are always muted when the other site is talking. Annoying but doable if you want to just try it out.

Projector / TV Monitor
You’ll need a way to show the video from the codec. Most commonly this is a data projector or a TV monitor. Some installations have several monitors, but one is minimum required.

Cart
Some schools install videoconferencing into a fixed room, but it is becoming more common to purchase a cart to bring videoconferencing right into the classroom.

Network Issues
One of the huge challenges with videoconferencing is making H.323 work through firewalls. TWICE has a collection of resources and articles to help you address this. Definitely start talking to your technology people early if you are interested in VC. It may take several months to work through the networking challenges that come up with H.323 videoconferencing. Give it time and realize that it’s a journey!

Grants
So how can you get grants to support the purchase of videoconferencing? Here are a few resources I know of:

• USDA RUS DLT Grant
• Polycom Grant Assistance Program
• Tandberg Grant Services
• ITC Network has a nice list of grant sources as well.

Last summer I muttered on a NECC blog about dialing problems and firewall traversal systems. Yes, I think, mutter is the right verb. I find the current state of IP dialing to be a maze at best, a frustration for my schools at worst.But, there is good news! I said in January, with hope, that the vendors are working on these dialing problems. And just a few weeks later I get an email from directPacket Research, following up from my visit to their exhibit at NECC. Today we talked on the phone. They have a new feature called the Auto Attendant. You can read more about their whole firewall traversal system online, but here’s the snippets of what was most interesting to me.

• Two ways a call can come in.  The first is using DTMF tones. I’m still learning how this works, and I hear that the new endpoints and MCUs can do DTMF tones. More experimentation needed there for me to be comfortable with how that works. However it’s the second option that really perked up my ears. If a call coming in can’t use DTMF tones, you can enter the incoming IP address on the directPacket firewall traversal unit, and point it to the right e.164 alias of the endpoint behind it, and voila, the call goes to the right place. Now how cool is that! Kind of like how on the Polycom MGC you can enter the IP address and get into the right conference.
• All the H323 traffic is condensed into just one port.
• They say it’s non manufacturer specific (yeah!!) and it works with legacy units.

Of course I really want to see this in action and if I get some time after RAP to test one out I’ll definitely report it here. I was really glad to hear about this because it means the vendors are hearing our feedback and working on solutions so that we can call each other.

Recently Scott Merrick pointed out a list of the top 10 VC systems of 2006. Thanks Scott for catching and sharing this list! HD is definitely the up & coming technology to pay attention to.

Last week in a post about dialing challenges, I mentioned the issue of ports and firewalls. Different vendors use different ports and if you have your firewall set up for one vendor you might not be able to connect to the next vendor.

So when I was meeting with our tech support from AVI Systems, they sent me this awesome list of ports used in videoconferencing and gave me verbal permission to post it online. Note that these change between versions and updates, so it’s probably only current as of today. But hopefully still helpful. Thank you AVI Systems for compiling this list!

If you copy this list to another format, please give AVI Systems credit. Thanks.

Well Known Port Numbers Used in Videoconferencing

Registered Port Numbers Used in Videoconferencing

Other Port Numbers Used in Videoconferencing

Polycom

Sony PCS – X

Tandberg

Vcon

Today I met with our tech support from AVI Systems. While I was gone, they upgraded my Tandberg MPS MCU and Gateway, worked on some weird issues I was having, and worked on getting our Tandberg gatekeeper connected to GDS. I’m really pleased with the work they accomplished over the break.

I have to say I really appreciate support from a neutral third party. Having both Polycom and Tandberg equipment in our network, and consistently connecting to just about everything under the sun, it’s really helpful to have techs who don’t point fingers at the other guy. They actually work on the solution. Before AVI Systems, we had our support through AT&T. Those techs were also great at solving problems no matter what the vendors said. It’s definitely something to consider when purchasing support on VC equipment.