Still Room in Upcoming Events: ASK & MysteryQuest

TWICE ASK Sesssions
Join us for an ASK author interview. It is the best bargain in town. No here else will your children have a chance to speak personally with the uthor of the book they just read and all for only $70.00 or $35.00 for TWICE members. Go to http://www.twice.cc/ASK/index.htm for registration and to learn more about the ASK Program.

February 8 EST
Openings in 10:45-11:45 am and 12:45-1:45
Sue Stauffacher
Bessie Smith and the Night Riders
Best for Grade 5
Based on an event that took place in 1927 as seen through the eyes of young Emmarene. Bessie Smith, a blues singer, is performing when several Ku Klux Klan members try to collapse the tent. Bessie confronts the men, and sends them packing.

February 13 EST
Openings in 10:45-11:45 am and 12:45-1:45
Ethel Footman Smothers
Hard Times Jar
Best for Grade 3
Emma, the daughter of a poor migrant family knows that money from the hard times jar can’t be used to buy her a real book. So, she draws her own. Find out if she ever gets a “store-bought” book.

March 21 EST
Openings in 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Sue Stauffacher
Wireman Comic
“Wireman” comic series is designed to meet a need for literature that appeals to late, reluctant and non-English speaking readers.  It focuses on the 100 most common words in the English language-they make up 50% of all written English.

Openings in 10:45-11:45 am and 12:45-1:45
Harry Sue
11-year-old Harry Sue Clotkin, has no greater ambition than to get thrown in the slammer and be reunited with her incarcerated mother, who, like her father, is in prison. Unfortunately for Harry Sue, she has a heart, and it is not the cold heart of a criminal.

MysteryQuests
I still have room in MysteryQuest World coming up in February (middle school) and also in MysteryQuest USA (5th grade) for April. Click the links for details and registration.  Everyone welcome. IP or ISDN!

NASA Video Clip

If you’re not reading Scott Merrick’s blog, you should check out this video clip he posted of their session with NASA on the solar system. Thanks Scott for putting this online to give us a taste of NASA programs! (The picture is from Scott’s blog too.)

VCing Within the District

One of my districts in our RUS grant has 7 buildings with new videoconferencing equipment. The district is spread out and has fiber connecting all but one of their buildings. So they’ve started off with simple connections between buildings. Having the middle school students read to elementary students, etc. They are having so much fun with it! Learning the equipment in a much less stressful situation, since they already know each other. Here’s a comment from one of the coordinators:

This was a connection between 2 schools (elementary and middle) in our district. It was the second program we tried of this kind and we were even more pleased than the first time. The middle school students read How The Grinch Stole Christmas to 2 elementary classes. Students at both sites were exceptional! They were engaged, courteous, and very enthusiastic. We hope to have many more of these storytimes, as they are beneficial to all the students in so many ways.

Yet another effective way to get started with VC…..

Let's Go to the Show

This morning Galien Elementary is connecting to The Cleveland Insitute of Music for the Let’s Go to the Show program. This program is one of my favorites for Kindergarten students. You clear the floor and students learn about high and low, loud and soft, fast and slow, and other simple musical concepts. The program is filled with music, movement, interaction, singing, and dancing. Featured songs include Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It’s a great exercse in following directions too!

I Cloned Myself!

Since we received the Polycom RSS (on loan from Polycom for Polycom special events), I’ve had some ideas for how we could use it. One was to record the PD sessions I do for teachers. That way when I can’t do a VC for others, they can at least access an archive.

So today I tried it out with a projects workshop for Utica Community Schools. It’s about 40 min. long, with 20 min. of presentation and 20 min. of an interesting Q&A discussion. It’s an informal discussion, so not perfectly polished. But hopefully you it will be useful to you if you were hoping to have me talk for your workshop and couldn’t because I’m too busy with my own districts. Just click this link to access the archive.

I’ve also added a Streaming category to my blog so that you can find all the things that we have archived for streaming. Enjoy!

35 Polycoms Up & Running

Yesterday we hit a milestone for our RUS grant. All 35 units are now up and running and tested in all the buildings. The last two buildings had serious networking issues to be resolved. We do have a few buildings that are locked down to 128K due to bandwidth issues within the district network, but most of them are connecting at 384K.

It’s interesting to me that when you’ve struggled with a connection and the building coordinator has seen a black screen or horribly choppy video many times, when those problems are finally resolved, they are thrilled with the connection they see even though it’s 128K. But for those who are spoiled with more bandwidth and no problems at the beginning, they see the 128K quality and scorn it. It’s all a matter of perspective, right?!

Ports Used in H323 Videoconferencing

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

Port Type Protocol Application Manufacturer
21 Static TCP File Transfer Protocol for endpoint software upgrades (must be bi-directional) Polycom and Tandberg
23 Static TCP & UDP Telnet (must be bi-directional) Polycom, Sony, Tandberg
80 Static TCP Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) – web browser interface for codec control and menus Polycom, Sony, Tandberg
161 Static UDP Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Queries Tandberg
389 Static TCP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) – ILS registration Polycom
962 Static UDP Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Traps Tandberg
963 Static TCP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for Netlog Tandberg
964 Static TCP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for FTP/data Tandberg
965 Static TCP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for VNC Tandberg
970 Static UDP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) for streaming video Tandberg
971 Static UDP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) for streaming video Tandberg
972 Static UDP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) for streaming audio Tandberg
973 Static UDP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) for streaming audio Tandberg
974 Static UDP This port is not assigned, but Tandberg uses it for SAP Tandberg
1002 Static UDP This port is not assigned, but Vcon uses it for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) – ILS registration Vcon

Registered Port Numbers Used in Videoconferencing

Range Type Protocol Application Manufacturer
1300 Static TCP & UDP This port is registered to Intel and is used to secure a H.323 host call – h 323hostcsllsc (must be bi-directional) Polycom
1503 Static TCP This port is registered to Databeam and is used for T.120 file sharing Polycom, Sony, Tandberg and Vcon
1718 Static TCP & UDP This port is registered to Intel and is used to secure a H.323 host call – h 323gatedisc (must be bi-directional) Polycom, Sony, and Vcon
1719 Static TCP & UDP This port is registered to Intel and is used foe gatekeeper RAS – h 323gatestat (must be bi-directional) Polycom, Sony, Tandberg and Vcon
1720 Static TCP & UDP This port is registered to Intel and is used to establish a H.323 host call using Q.931 call setup – h 323hostcall (must be bi-directional) Polycom, Sony, Tandberg and Vcon
1731 Static TCP & UDP Audio call control –msiccp – for VoIP Polycom
1024 – 65535 Vcon
1024 – 65535
2253 – 2255 Dynamic Sony uses an available port in this range for the exchange of H.245 call parameters. (Also known as RTCP) Sony
2326 – 2373 Dynamic UDP Tandberg uses an available port in this range for video data streams Tandberg
2326 – 2373 Dynamic UDP Tandberg uses an available port in this range for audio data streams Tandberg
2326 – 2373 Dynamic UDP Tandberg uses an available port in this range for data transfers and Far End Camera Control – FECC Tandberg
2979 Static TCP & UDP This port is registered to ACM for H.263 Video Streaming Polycom
3230 – 3247 Dynamic UDP Polycom uses an available ports in this range for audio and video Polycom
3230 – 3235 Dynamic UDP Polycom uses an available port in this range for the exchange of H.245 call parameters. (Also known as RTCP) Polycom
5004 – 6004 Dynamic TCP There is no registered port for this application, Vcon uses an available port for H.245 (Call Parameters) Vcon
5004 – 6004 Dynamic UDP There is no registered port for this application, Vcon uses an available port for Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) for streaming video. Vcon
5004 – 6004 Dynamic UDP There is no registered port for this application, Vcon uses an available port for Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) for streaming audio. Vcon
5004 – 6004 Dynamic UDP There is no registered port for this application, Vcon uses an available port for Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) for streaming video and audio. Vcon
5555-5556 Dynamic TCP Q.931 Call setup Tandberg
11720 Static TCP & UDP This port is registered to Cisco and is used as an alternative for call set-up – h 323hostcallsigalt (must be bi-directional) Polycom
22136 Static TCP There is no registered port for this application, Vcon uses an available port for remote Vcon endpoint administration Vcon
26505 Static TCP There is no registered port for this application, Vcon uses an available port for Remote Console Vcon

Other Port Numbers Used in Videoconferencing

Range Type Protocol Application Man.
49152 – 49159 Dynamic UDP Sony uses this range of ports for audio and video data streams Sony
49152 – 49239 Dynamic UDP Sony uses this range of ports for multipoint Sony

Polycom

PORT TYPE PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION
224.0.1.41:1718 Static TCP & UDP h323gatedisc (must be bi-directional)
1719 Static TCP & UDP h323gatestat Gatekeeper RAS (must be bi-directional)
1720 Static TCP & UDP h323hostcall Q.931 (Call Setup) (must be bi-directional)
1731 Static TCP & UDP msiccp Audio Call Control (VoIP)
3230 – 3247 Dynamic UDP Audio and Video (must be bidirectional)
3230 – 3235 Dynamic TCP H.245 call control: aka RTCP (must be bidirectional)
Other:
PORT TYPE PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION
21 Static TCP FTP allows upgrade of endpoint software (must be bidirectional)
23 Static TCP Telnet (must be bidirectional)
80 Static TCP Web browser interface to codec controls and menus
389 Static TCP ILS Registration (LDAP)
1300 Static TCP & UDP h323hostcsllsc H323 Host Call Secure
1503 Static TCP & UDP T.120 (Data Channel in a multipoint)
2979 Static TCP & UDP H.263 Video Streaming
11720 Static TCP & UDP h323callsigalt H.323 Call Signal Alternate

Sony PCS – X

PORT TYPE PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION
1718 Static TCP h323gatedisc (must be bi-directional)
1719 Static TCP h323gatestat
1720 Static TCP H323hostcall
2253 – 2255 Dynamic TCP H.245(Call Parameters)
49152- 49159 Dynamic UDP (RTP/RTCP) Audio & Video Data Streams
49152 – 49239 Dynamic UDP Multipoint

Tandberg

PORT TYPE PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION
1719 Static UDP Gatekeeper RAS
1720 Static TCP Q.931 (Call Setup)
5555 – 5556 Dynamic TCP H.245(Call Parameters)
2326- 2373 Dynamic UDP Video Data Streams
2326- 2373 Dynamic UDP Audio Data Streams
2326- 2373 Dynamic UDP Data/FECC
21 Static TCP FTP
23 Static TCP & UDP Telnet & NTP listening socket
80 Static TCP HTTP
123 Static UDP NTP
161 Static UDP SNMP (Queries)
962 Static UDP SNMP (Traps)
963 Static TCP Netlog
964 Static TCP FTP/data
965 Static TCP VNC
970 Static UDP Streaming/RTP Video
971 Static UDP Streaming/RTCP Video
972 Static UDP Streaming/RTP Audio
973 Static UDP Streaming/RTCP Audio
974 Static UDP SAP (Stream is directed to 224.2.127.254:9875)

Vcon

PORT TYPE PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION
1718 Static UDP h323gatedisc (must be bi-directional)
1719 Static UDP Gatekeeper RAS
1720 Static TCP Q.931 (Call Setup)
5004 – 6004 Dynamic TCP H.245(Call Parameters)
5004 – 6004 Dynamic UDP (RTP) Video Data Streams
5004 – 6004 Dynamic UDP (RTP) Audio Data Streams
5004 – 6004 Dynamic UDP (RTCP) Control Information
Optional:
PORT TYPE PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION
389 Static TCP ILS Registration (LDAP)
1002 Static TCP Site Server Registration (Windows 2000 Built-in LDAP)
1503 Static TCP T.120 (Data Channel)
22136 Static TCP VCON MXM – Remote VCON Endpoint Admin
26505 Static TCP VCON MXM – Remote Console

RAP Update

Just a quick note for those of you who are participating in Read Around the Planet this year. We’ve been running some preliminary matches with the requests already in the system and it’s looking really good for the English matches. TWICE is using a new database this year and the computer will be matching everyone. (Unlike in the past where TWICE volunteer board members spent 3 weeks matching by hand!)

The number of “leftovers” for the regular English match requests is less than 5 (compared to 100 leftovers last year). So in my opinion, all the challenges we’ve had with the system this fall are so totally worth it.

However, we only have 40 World Language match requests right now. We need more requests to help make those matches. So please encourage your language teachers to participate!

Just a reminder that the match requests have to be in by this Friday, January 19. And no changing your mind after January 19!

The matches will be posted in the system by January 31.

If you haven’t started the process for this year, it IS too late. Mark November on your calendar for next year and start reading about the process of this huge project.

Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections Starts January 22

My online class, Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections starts January 22 and runs four weeks. This class is always a wonderful experience of networking with others interested in videoconferencing. We’d love to have you join us! Read all about it and how to register here.