Codian Video Conferencing Family. Guide for Administrators

Transcription

1 Codian Video Conferencing Family Guide for Administrators

2 Copyright Codian All rights reserved. This guide may not be copied, photocopied, translated, reproduced, or converted into any electronic or machine-readable form in whole or in part without prior written approval of Codian Limited. Codian Limited reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make changes in content from time to time without obligation on the part of Codian Limited to provide notification of such revision or change. Codian Limited provides this documentation without warranty, term, or condition of any kind, either implied or expressed, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties, terms or conditions of merchantability, satisfactory quality, and fitness for a particular purpose. Codian Limited may make improvements or changes to the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation at any time. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Rev 03 Europe, Middle East, and Africa Codian Ltd. 14 Waterside Drive Langley Slough SL3 6EZ United Kingdom The Americas Codian Inc The Alameda #216 San Jose CA United States of America Asia Pacific Region Codian (Asia Pacific) Ltd. Suite 1606 Saxon Tower 7 Cheung Shun Street Cheung Sha Wan Kowloon Hong Kong

3 Table of contents Chapter 1 Introduction... 1 This guide... 1 Assumptions... 1 Related documentation... 1 Getting more help... 2 Using this document... 3 Chapters in this guide... 4 Chapter 2 Video conferencing today... 5 Introduction... 5 H.323 protocol... 5 Video conferencing elements... 5 Session Initiation Protocol... 6 Video conferencing, networking and telephony protocols... 7 Chapter 3 The Codian video conferencing family... 9 Introduction... 9 MCU 4500 Series... 9 MCU 4200 Series...10 IP VCR 2200 Series...11 ISDN Gateway 3200 Series...12 IP Gateway 3500 Series...13 MSE 8000 Series...13 Chapter 4 Different video conferencing scenarios...15 Introduction...15 Simple scenarios...16 MCU with three or more endpoints...16 Streaming to a web browser with the MCU...17 Sharing data with the MCU and two or more endpoints...17 IP VCR recording a call or playing back a recording on an endpoint...19 Sharing data with the IP VCR...20 Recording a conference with an MCU, IP VCR and two or more endpoints...20 ISDN GW and an ISDN endpoint video conferencing...21 Video conferencing with a gatekeeper...23 IP VCR recording a point-to-point call...23 MCU or IP VCR with a gatekeeper and two or more endpoints...25 ISDN GW with a gatekeeper and IP and ISDN endpoints...26 Video conferencing using H.323 gateways...27 Video conferencing with the Video Firewall Option...28 Using the IP gateway...28 Using the IP gateway as an enterprise video portal...28 i

4 Point-to-point call between a SIP endpoint and an H.323 endpoint...29 Video conferencing with a gatekeeper...30 Using the built-in gatekeeper to connect two networks of H.323 endpoints...31 Chapter 5 First steps...33 Introduction...33 Networking considerations...33 SNMP...34 Quality of Service...34 Configuring user accounts...35 Setting an administrator password...35 The guest user...35 Other user accounts and privilege levels...35 MCU specific user fields...36 Port reservation (MCU only)...37 Configuring auto attendants...38 Auto attendants on the MCU...38 Auto attendants on the IP VCR...39 Customizing the auto attendant banner...39 Auto attendants on the ISDN GW...40 Auto attendants on the IP GW...40 Localized MCUs...40 Customizing voice prompts (MCU and IP VCR)...40 Communicating with the unit / blade...41 Chapter 6 MSE 8000 administration...43 Introduction...43 Getting started with the MSE Monitoring the MSE 8000 hardware status...44 Displaying the alarms status...44 Chapter 7 MCU administration...45 Introduction...45 Conferencing considerations...45 How participants access conferences...45 Types of conference...46 Scheduled vs. ad hoc conferences...46 Permanent vs. time limited conferences...46 Stopping scheduled conferences early...47 Pre-configuring endpoints...47 Setting up and controlling conference layouts...48 Who is shown in the largest pane...48 Pane placement...49 Content channel support...49 Selecting a video size (4CIF feature key only)...49 Summary information icon...50 Conference security...50 ii

5 Encryption...50 Conference PINs...50 Public and private conferences...51 Conference ownership...51 Locking conferences...51 Enabling the MCU for H Setting up a H.323 gateway...52 Cascading MCUs...52 Load balancing MCUs...52 Sending messages during a conference...53 Using the MCU with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar...53 Displaying conference and participant statistics...53 Chapter 8 IP VCR administration...55 Introduction...55 Making recordings...55 The recording console...56 Recording settings...58 Playing back recordings...59 The auto attendant...59 Transferring recordings...59 Recording file formats...59 Transferring by re-recording...60 Downloading recordings...60 MPEG Converter...60 Storage on the IP VCR...61 Displaying the connection status...61 Enabling the IP VCR for H Configuring endpoints...62 Summary information icon...62 Setting up a H.323 gateway...62 Displaying IP VCR statistics...62 Chapter 9 ISDN gateway administration...63 Introduction...63 Installing the ISDN gateway...63 Establishing a connection with the ISDN network...63 Routing calls between IP and ISDN networks...63 Basic call routing...64 Advanced call routing...64 Setting up a gatekeeper...65 Using the ISDN gateway for voice-only calls...66 IP to ISDN calls...66 ISDN to IP calls...66 Monitoring calls...67 iii

6 Chapter 10 IP gateway administration...69 Introduction...69 Installing the IP gateway...69 The auto attendant...70 Using an operator...70 Routing calls between IP networks...71 Basic call routing...71 Setting up a gatekeeper or SIP registrar...72 Using the IP gateway without a gatekeeper or SIP registrar...72 Monitoring calls...72 How to dial the IP gateway...73 Dialing by IP address and E.164 number...73 Using the auto attendant...73 Chapter 11 Using data...75 Introduction...75 Configuring content channel support...76 PC-based streaming of the content channel...76 Using the main video channel as the content channel...77 Recording the content channel in a conference...77 Chapter 12 Encryption...79 Introduction (MCU only)...79 Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar...81 Introduction...81 Why use an H.323 gatekeeper...81 Why use a SIP registrar...81 Registering a unit or blade with an H.323 gatekeeper...82 Registration types...82 Service and dial plan prefixes...82 MCU Registrations, Prefixes and Conference IDs...83 Registering conferences, recordings, and other IDs with a gatekeeper (MCU and IP VCR) 84 Registering auto attendants with the gatekeeper (MCU and IP VCR)...84 The built-in gatekeeper (MCU, IP VCR, IP GW)...85 Enabling the gatekeeper...85 Chapter 14 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR)...87 Introduction...87 Configuring streaming...87 Unicast and multicast streaming on the IP VCR...87 Multicast streaming on the MCU...88 Streaming ad hoc conferences...88 Streaming with Windows Media Player...88 Port allocation when streaming...89 Content channel streaming...89 Web conferencing option (MCU only)...89 Customizing streaming...90 iv

7 Chapter 15 Using firewalls...93 Introduction...93 The Codian Video Firewall Option...93 Port functionality in the Video Firewall...93 Configuring the Video Firewall Option...95 Example Video Firewall Option configuration...95 Working with third party firewalls...97 Chapter 16 Call detail records (MCU & ISDN GW)...99 Introduction...99 Configuring call detail records...99 Chapter 17 General housekeeping Introduction Setting the system time System status and event logging Upgrading software versions Using additional options (features keys) Backing up the configuration file Backing up a Codian unit Automatic backups on MSE blades Shutting down a unit or blade Recovering the admin password/resetting to factory defaults Index v

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9 Chapter 1 Introduction This guide Codian designs and manufactures the most advanced video conferencing products available in the market today, bringing you the best in voice, video and data conferencing. Using a unique architecture and the latest hardware technology, our products are both easy to use and powerful, offering outstanding quality, performance and features. This Guide for Administrators introduces you to video conferencing in general and the Codian family of products in particular. The Guide for Administrators is a concepts document it discusses the advantages of the different configurations that Codian equipment makes possible. It also tells you where to find more specific help on certain topics. Assumptions It is assumed that you understand computer networks but may not have used video conferencing equipment before. If you have been the administrator of an MCU or other video conferencing equipment previously you may want to go directly on to Chapter 3 The Codian video conferencing family. Related documentation Codian provides a large documentation suite and each type of documentation has a particular use. All documentation is available from The Getting Started Guide covers initial connection and configuration. A printed Getting Started Guide is provided with each product The Tutorials run through the most commonly used features of the MCU and IP VCR series and explain some common pitfalls by example The Codian web site provides access to information and all our documents, which you can download. Some examples are: FAQs cover the most frequently asked configuration and troubleshooting topic Endpoint guides tell you how to navigate with the endpoint s remote control Datasheets and product specifications for each product 1

10 Introduction i Online help is available from the web interface of all units and MSE blades. To display help at any time, click the icon in the top right hand corner of the screen. The online help provides both how to step-by-step instructions and separate pages of field descriptions. Getting more help If the documentation does not answer your question or you have a problem with one of our products: 1 Refer to the Technical FAQ section of the Codian web site. We keep the Technical FAQ section up to date with the latest information from our technical support team regarding the resolution of customer issues. 2 Contact your reseller. Our resellers have a wealth of experience with our products and this is often a quick way of solving a problem. 3 If your query remains unsolved, there is a web form in the Support area of the Codian web site that you can complete. Ensure that you provide all the details requested by the form to assist the technical support team in resolving your problem: the serial number and product model number (for example: MCU 4210) of the unit or MSE blade the software build number (to find this, in the web interface, go to Status > General) where you purchased the unit / MSE blade your contact address or telephone number Note that you can also send an to our technical support team at [email protected] 2

11 Introduction Using this document The Codian Guide for Administrators is the starting point for information about Codian products. It refers to all the other documents listed above. In particular, it provides titles of online help pages that tell you how to carry out a task, or that provide detailed descriptions of fields on a page in the web interface. For example: See the online help topic Conference ownership. The instruction 'Go to Conferences > Move participants' means click the Conferences link on the menu bar and then click the Move participants tab. Figure 1: Conferences > Move participants 1 2 The instruction 'Go to Conferences and click Add new conference means click the Conferences link on the menu bar and then click the Add new conference button. Figure 2: Conferences and click Add new conference 1 2 3

12 Introduction Chapters in this guide The Codian Guide for Administrators has the following chapters: Chapter 2 Video conferencing today provides a background to video conferencing and an introduction to the units, MSE blades and protocols used Chapter 3 The Codian video conferencing family introduces Codian video conferencing equipment and highlights their main features Chapter 4 Different video conferencing scenarios describes a number of ways of using video conferencing equipment in general and the Codian products in particular in a number of scenarios from the very simple to a large system Chapter 5 First steps covers the typical questions and options that administrators have when they first start video conferencing. The options and their advantages, disadvantages and consequences are discussed Chapter 6 MSE 8000 administration discusses issues to consider when getting started with the MSE 8000 and also administrator tasks that are unique to the Supervisor blade. Chapter 7 MCU administration describes administrator tasks that are unique to the MCU Chapter 8 IP VCR administration describes administrator tasks that are unique to the IP VCR Chapter 9 ISDN gateway administration describes administrator tasks that are unique to the ISDN gateway Chapter 10 IP gateway administration describes general administrator tasks specific to the IP gateway Chapter 11 Using data discusses using a content channel as part of a conference or recording for example to show a PowerPoint presentation and what you need to do as an administrator to set this up Chapter 12 Encryption discusses the use of encryption for conferences on an MCU Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar discusses using a gatekeeper with any of our products and how you register a unit or MSE blade with a gatekeeper Chapter 14 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR) covers what you need to do as an administrator if your user will be streaming conferences or recordings Chapter 15 Using firewalls discusses using the built-in firewall features in the Codian MCU and IP VCRs Chapter 16 Call detail records (MCU & ISDN GW) discusses the use of call detail records with the MCU and ISDN Gateway Chapter 17 General housekeeping covers functions that you will require from time to time such as upgrading your unit s or blade s software 4

13 Chapter 2 Video conferencing today Introduction Video conferencing was first introduced in the 1960s but early systems were unreliable and difficult to install, use and manage. The equipment and ISDN bandwidth were prohibitively expensive, audio and video quality were poor. Today IP-based video conferencing is an attractive and accessible face-to-face communications business solution. Advances in video technology and the creation of industry standards have allowed for higher audio and video quality, user-friendly web and desktop interfaces and seamless integration across networks. Codian products are powerful and truly "plug and play", enabling quick and easy installation and effortless integration into everyday business processes. Video conferencing is as easy as picking up the phone and making a call. There is no need for prior arrangements, reservations or complex setup. There is an intuitive on-screen audio-visual prompt, and an easy-to-use web interface for scheduling a conference. Individual users can use their endpoint s remote to control their view of the conference. H.323 protocol One of the protocols used by Codian products for video conferencing is H.323. H.323 defines how a series of network elements work together and the protocols to allow multimedia transmission across an unreliable packet-based network such as the Internet. (The H.323 specification is published by the International Telecommunications Union.) Video conferencing elements The H.323 specification defines a number of elements that are required for multimedia transmission. However in everyday usage some of these element names are used more loosely and we try to distinguish between the two: H.323 Endpoint Strictly an endpoint is an MCU, a terminal or a gateway (see below). However, the word endpoint is usually used interchangeably with a terminal. H.323 Multipoint Control Unit or MCU An MCU maintains the communications between all the participants in the conference call. An MCU handles call control and the media exchange (for example voice and video) during a conference. 5

14 Video conferencing today H.323 Terminal The terminal is an endpoint on a network which provides for real-time, two-way communications. A terminal may provide audio (speech) only, or audio in a combination of video and data. H.323 Gatekeeper A gatekeeper is optional and controls a zone. It provides a directory service allowing services to be accessed via directory numbers (E.164 numbers) and alphanumeric names. It also provides call control, routing services, bandwidth management and admission control. It also provides basic security (authorization) for communications between H.323 elements within its zone. H.323 Gateway A gateway is any device that allows calls to be established between networks, whether of the same or different types. It may also provide protocol conversion between H.323 endpoints and endpoints that do not support H.323. For example: The Codian ISDN gateway can route calls to an H.320 ISDN network The Codian ISDN gateway can perform H.323<->PSTN operations, routing voice over IP (VoIP) calls from an H.323 terminal on to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) allowing "normal" telephone calls to be made from an H.323 client The Codian IP gateway can route calls from one IP network to another IP network. It also translates between SIP and H.323 The elements can be software based and there can be more than one entity installed on a single computer. The Codian MCU and IP VCR can act as a gateway to allow direct access to internal features such as individual conferences or recordings. You can also set up gateway definitions on Codian MCUs and IP VCRs so that outgoing calls can be routed to gateways. Session Initiation Protocol The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a newer protocol, and an alternative to H.323. It is a simple signaling protocol for Internet conferencing and telephony. SIP messages have a text format similar to HTTP, making it more suited to Internet applications and easier to implement in software. SIP networks contain equivalent elements to H.323 networks, although they are referred to differently: User Agent (UA) A SIP user agent is equivalent to an H.323 endpoint; it terminates a media stream. Examples of user agents are SJ Phone, Polycom VSX and PVX and Microsoft Office communicator. Codian MCUs and VCRs act as SIP user agents. Registrar A SIP registrar performs a similar role to an H.323 gatekeeper. User agents register to it and can then be called using simple directory numbers or names via a configured dial plan. They may either route 6

15 Video conferencing today calls in the same fashion as a proxy, or act as a Back to Back User Agent (B2BUA) and ensure all calls and media go via the registrar. Asterisk Microsoft LCS, Pingtel and Open SER act as SIP registrars. Proxy Servers A SIP proxy server is similar to an H.323 gateway. Proxies authenticate users and route call signalling, with the media usually going direct between the endpoints. Cisco and Radvision provide SIP proxies. As with H.323, these elements can be software based and, while logically separate, can exist on the same computer. In particular SIP proxies and registrars are often located together. The Codian MCU and VCR take part in SIP calls as user agents. They can register with SIP registrars and make direct SIP calls, allowing SIP user agents to have conferences together and to be recorded. Video conferencing, networking and telephony protocols H.323 and SIP encompass a number of other protocols, including audio (voice) and video codecs, and standards for passing data and control structures. The following are examples of some protocols supported by Codian products and included in the H.323 framework that a video conferencing administrator is likely to come across: G.711, G.722, G Annex C, G.723.1, G.728, G.729, AAC-LC, and AAC-LD are audio codecs Siren14 is a proprietary audio codec used by Polycom endpoints H.261, H.263(+) and H.264 are video codecs. H.264 is the most recent video compression standard. It offers approximately twice the quality of H.263 at the same bandwidth, or the same quality at half the bandwidth H.239 allows a secondary video channel. It defines how PC desktop graphics are converted into a separate media stream and transmitted in parallel with the video stream. This is the protocol that Codian MCUs use for the content channel in a conference H.225 and H.245 are signalling protocols ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is the circuit-switched telephone system. For video conferencing, ISDN provides simultaneous transmission of voice, video and data. Codian s ISDN gateway allows ISDN video conferencing equipment to mix with IP video conferencing equipment in the same conference H.320 allows for multimedia (video, audio, and data) to be transmitted across ISDN networks HTTP is a method used to transfer information on the World Wide Web Dynamic JPEG (DJPEG) is the graphic format that is used by Codian products to display H.239 content in a web conference A number of networking and telephony standards can be involved: for example, ISDN, LAN, WAN, Internet, ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Lines) and VPN (Virtual Private Networks) are the popular transport media used in desktop video conferencing. Where necessary, these protocols are discussed in more detail later in the guide. 7

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17 Chapter 3 The Codian video conferencing family Introduction Codian produce a variety of units for video conferencing: MCU 4500 Series of high definition MCUs MCU 4200 Series of multipoint control units (MCUs) IP VCR 2200 Series of video recorders for recording video conferences and point-to-point calls ISDN GW 3200 Series of video gateways that enable ISDN network connectivity from IP-based units and endpoints IP GW 3500 Series of voice and video gateways that allow calls to be made between two separate IP networks MSE 8000 Series, which is a high capacity, carrier-class, voice and video conferencing chassis that can contain any of the Codian units (MCU, IP VCR or ISDN Gateway) as a blade All units (and the individual MSE blades) have a web interface and detailed, context-sensitive online help. MCU 4500 Series The Codian MCU 4500 Series is the most powerful multipoint control unit available and uses the latest video technology. It is the only conferencing bridge with the power to deliver a true high definition (HD) multimedia experience. It provides crystal clear, full-motion, high definition video on every port: 720p H.264 at 30 frames per second continuous presence with perfect quality and limited only by the capabilities of the endpoint and 9

18 The Codian video conferencing family the network. The MCU 4500 Series provides the latest high performance architecture by matching future capabilities of new HD endpoints. It is ready for 1080p full HD resolution video. The MCU 4500 Series allows for the mixing of SD and HD equipment in the same conference and seamlessly integrates with SIP, 3G and desktop video. In addition it has all the features of the MCU 4200 Series described in the next section. For information about the units available in the MCU 4500 Series, see the Codian web site or MCU 4500 Series datasheet. MCU 4200 Series The MCU 4200 Series is the first MCU ever to maintain its port count (the number of people who can access the conference bridge) regardless of how users connect to a video conference, the speed at which they connect, the layout they choose, and their equipment. A seemingly expected feature, it is unique in the video conferencing industry. The unit streams both video and presentations to web browsers. Streaming sends conference audio and video to a remote computer, allowing the user to watch and listen to a conference. The media flows in just one direction, so it is not possible to contribute to a conference via streaming. Optimized for use in IP networks, the MCU provides the best possible video and audio quality in real-world network conditions and has proven compatibility with all major vendors. The MCU has a firewall solution, integrated web server, integrated gatekeeper, scheduling, video auto attendant (also known as an IVR) and additional voice ports. The MCU is available in a number of models - for more details see the datasheet on the Codian web site Features and benefits of the MCU 4200 Series include: Conference scheduling as standard Up to 200 conferences can be set up on the unit. The only thing that limits the number of conferences actually running is the number of ports that are purchased. One port per participant irrespective of setup. This makes scheduling and provisioning easy because the port count is constant. There is no reduction in the number of MCU ports even using bandwidths up to 4MB. Encoding/decoding on a per user basis and not per conference: you can have any mix of bit rate, resolution and codec within the same conference - with no loss of port count or functionality. At all times every user sees the best possible video quality possible for their endpoint and connection. Also 10

19 The Codian video conferencing family one user's problems with the network do not affect others. This also simplifies conference configuration because you do not need to know in advance all the characteristics of all endpoints. Only one port is used for streaming irrespective of how many people (up to the limit supported by the particular model of MCU) join the conference as streaming participants The content channel e.g. a slide presentation using the H.239 protocol only uses one port even when the content is sent to every participant who can receive it A separate layout is generated for each H.323 or SIP endpoint. This means that participants can choose one of over 50 different continuous presence layouts to view during a conference without affecting anyone else. This also means that participants never have to view themselves. (All streaming viewers see the same layout chosen from the 50 available) Pane placement - you can choose which participant appears in which pane Password-protected conferences and AES encryption, if required Built-in gatekeeper Support for 16:9 screens (wide screens) On screen text messaging to individuals or to all sites Support for every standard endpoint including Tandberg, Polycom, Aethra, Sony, Vtel, LifeSize, and VCON endpoints For information about the units available in the MCU 4200 Series, see the Codian web site or MCU 4200 Series datasheet. IP VCR 2200 Series The IP VCR 2200 Series is a digital video recorder for video conferencing, allowing video, audio and content to be recorded from standards-based video conferencing equipment. It is the only product available today that can preserve video and data (for example a presenter's slides) for future viewing without data needing to be uploaded in advance. The content can be streamed live or played back on demand at multiple bandwidths to a web browser on a PC using QuickTime, RealPlayer or Windows Media Player or to a video conferencing endpoint. The IP VCR plays back to H.323 and SIP endpoints, and to ISDN endpoints (via an ISDN gateway), records conference calls and both ends of a point-to-point call, and streams to users' desktop machines at multiple configurable bit rates. As well as connecting to the Codian MCU you can connect to any MCU on the market because the IP VCR connects like a regular endpoint. 11

20 The Codian video conferencing family The video and data are recorded in their native formats with no loss in quality. Intelligent transcoding and transrating are performed on the data at the time of retrieval to ensure that the video quality is always optimal whether being played back, streamed or exported. The IP VCR stores recordings internally; however you can configure it to connect to an external Network File System (NFS) for greater storage capacity and so that recordings can be shared between multiple IP VCRs. For more information, refer to Chapter 8 IP VCR administration. For information about the units available in the IP VCR 2200 Series, see the Codian web site or IP VCR 2200 Series datasheet. ISDN Gateway 3200 Series The ISDN GW 3200 Series is a high performance video gateway that permits calls from IP endpoints to ISDN endpoints and vice versa. The gateways work with E1, T1 and Japanese T1 ISDN networks. It allows video conferencing and telephone (voice) calls. See the online help topic Using the ISDN gateway for voice calls. The ISDN GW 3200 Series allows multichannel calls using ISO BONDING or H.221 aggregation, supports H.239 data sharing (a content channel) and the following protocols: G711a/u, G728, G722, G729, H261, H263, H263+ and H264. Calls can be transmitted between 64kbps and 1920kbps and you can restrict call duration and/or prevent outgoing ISDN calls. The ISDN GW 3200 Series works perfectly with the Codian MCU. It can also work with a gatekeeper allowing registration of an H.323 id and service prefix, and can call IP addresses with optional extensions. There are three models with 1, 2 or 4 PRIs (Primary Rate Interfaces)/ISDN ports. IP services can be enabled and disabled or moved between ports. The ISDN gateway has one active Ethernet port. 12

21 The Codian video conferencing family IP Gateway 3500 Series The IP GW is a voice and video gateway that allows calls to be made between two separate IP networks without compromising network security. You can be called from standard video conferencing endpoints or IP phones over the Internet without time consuming configuration of gatekeepers and firewalls in advance of the call (Dual Ethernet ports allow two completely independent IP networks to be connected). A built-in auto attendant and support for a switchboard operator allow easy connection of calls in both directions. The IP GW translates between SIP and H.323 and by transcoding all media, it ensures connectivity between almost any two IP endpoints. There are three models in the series allowing 10, 20 and 40 calls simultaneously of which 5, 10 and 20 calls can be video calls. MSE 8000 Series The Media Service Engine 8000 is a carrier-class video / audio conferencing chassis. With faulttolerance a priority, it has been designed to provide for the needs of mission-critical conferencing. The chassis architecture allows upgrades and enhancements by installing new feature blades to give higher capacity, capabilities and support for future applications. The chassis provides: Redundant and hot-swappable fan trays and power supplies Dual 48 volt power option Active environmental monitoring High speed backplane and management bus Up to nine hot-swappable multipoint conferencing, streaming, recording and gateway blades 13

22 The Codian video conferencing family A Supervisor blade to configure and monitor the MSE 8000 By choosing your blades you can provide for: 40 to 360 ports of video conferencing Over 1 Gbit/s of total conferencing bandwidth Data rates from 56kbit/s to 4Mbit/s with no loss of port count Unsurpassed support for all leading IP and ISDN video endpoints Combined H.323, SIP and H.320 to facilitate customer migration CIF and 4CIF resolutions today with future upgrades to HD resolution The blade options for the MSE 8000 are as follows: MSE 8050 Supervisor: the Supervisor is required for system management and configuration MSE 8420 Media: the Media blade provides all the features of the MCU 4200 Series with 40 ports of video and 40 ports of voice multipoint conferencing MSE 8220 VCR: the VCR blade provides all the features of the IP VCR 2200 Series with 10 ports of video recording MSE 8310 ISDN 4: the ISDN blade provides four E1 or T1 ISDN primary rate interfaces 14

23 Chapter 4 Different video conferencing scenarios Introduction Video conferencing can take place in quite simple scenarios and in very large and complex networks. The following diagram shows a high level overview that encompasses many of the scenarios that Codian supports, from the simplest three-way conference using the Codian MCU to conducting and recording a conference with both IP and ISDN endpoints using the Codian MCU, IP VCR and ISDN gateway as well as possible third party MCUs. The following sections start with the three-way conference using the Codian MCU and work back up to this diagram explaining each step. Figure 3: Overview of video conferencing H.323 gatekeeper ISDN gateway MCU ISDN ISDN network ISDN endpoint IP ISDN gateway Port A MCU Port B PC Internal IP network H.323 endpoint Port A IP VCR Port B IP network SIP endpoint H.323 soft client IP VCR Port A IP GW Port B MCU H.323 soft client Firewall H.323 endpoint 15

24 Different video conferencing scenarios Simple scenarios MCU with three or more endpoints Figure 4: MCU with three or more endpoints H.323 endpoint IP network H.323 soft client MCU SIP endpoint This is the simplest video conferencing scenario. Two endpoints could make a point-to-point call but when three or more endpoints want to hold a video conference, they need an MCU to co-ordinate the conference and to send the video and streams from all the endpoints to each endpoint. 16

25 Different video conferencing scenarios Streaming to a web browser with the MCU In this scenario three endpoints are contributing to the conference and the PCs are streaming. This means they see and hear the three participants but they cannot contribute themselves. Figure 5: Streaming with the MCU H.323 endpoint IP network H.323 soft client MCU SIP endpoint Sharing data with the MCU and two or more endpoints In this scenario two or more endpoints can be holding a video conference via the MCU (three in the following diagrams). In addition several PCs may be streaming the conference. Another PC is contributing a video content channel to the conference; for example to show a PowerPoint presentation. The content channel can come from a PC connected directly to a Codian MCU using VNC (top diagram) or connected to an endpoint which then sends the presentation using the H.239 protocol (not all endpoints support the direct connection of a computer). Virtual Network Computing or VNC is an open standard commonly used for remotely controling one PC from another. To display the content channel, endpoints can watch using the H.239 protocol. For endpoints that do not support H.239, Codian MCUs can display the data in a standard video pane. 17

26 Different video conferencing scenarios Figure 6: Sharing data with the MCU and two or more endpoints MCU IP network Computer contributing the content channel via VNC H.323 endpoint SIP endpoint H.323 endpoint MCU IP network Computer contributing the content channel by direct connection to an endpoint H.323 endpoint SIP endpoint H.323 endpoint with H.239 support 18

27 Different video conferencing scenarios IP VCR recording a call or playing back a recording on an endpoint An endpoint calls in to the IP VCR and selects the Record this session option from the auto attendant or the endpoint calls in to the IP VCR after it has been configured to record incoming calls by default. The IP VCR records the stream from the endpoint. It can also record a content channel at the same time. There are other ways to record using the IP VCR: Call out and record - the IP VCR, via its web interface, calls out to an endpoint and records its media streams. In this case the recording console allows you to see what is being recorded which can be especially useful when recording conferences on an MCU. Using a gatekeeper - as described later in this chapter. Figure 7: IP VCR recording a call or playing back a recording IP VCR IP video endpoint IP IP IP network i The IP VCR can support several endpoints dialing in simultaneously; however they are completely independent of one another unlike endpoints holding a conference via the MCU. Equally, recordings can be played back: The IP VCR, via its web interface, can call out to an endpoint and play back a recording to it The endpoint can call in to the IP VCR's auto attendant and select the recording to play back In a similar scenario, you can use a PC to connect to the IP VCR and select a recording to play back using streaming. 19

28 Different video conferencing scenarios Sharing data with the IP VCR The IP VCR can record the content channel as well as the main video and audio streams. (The IP VCR cannot record a content channel in isolation, only alongside the video and audio streams. This is unlike the MCU which can connect to a PC directly using VNC.) Figure 8: Sharing data with the IP VCR IP VCR H.323 endpoint IP network Computer contributing the content channel by direct connection to an endpoint H.323 endpoint SIP endpoint H.323 endpoint with H.239 support Recording a conference with an MCU, IP VCR and two or more endpoints The IP VCR can record a conference being hosted on an MCU if the IP VCR is added as an endpoint in the conference. Equally the IP VCR can call in direct to the conference. (Also see Video conferencing using H.323 gateways later in this chapter.) 20

29 Different video conferencing scenarios Figure 9: Recording a conference on the IP VCR MCU IP network IP VCR H.323 endpoint SIP endpoint H.323 endpoint One of the IP endpoints, or collection of endpoints could be replaced with an ISDN gateway and ISDN endpoint(s) see the next section. To the IP VCR it is exactly the same as an H.323 or SIP endpoint and the IP VCR can record the conference in the normal ways. ISDN GW and an ISDN endpoint video conferencing The ISDN gateway is a protocol converter that allows calls between IP and ISDN endpoints. An ISDN gateway and ISDN endpoint(s) can replace an IP endpoint in any of the previous scenarios and then can be used in conferences, for point-to-point calls, and to call out and record from the VCR for example. Figure 10: ISDN gateway with an IP endpoint and an ISDN endpoint ISDN GW H.323 endpoint IP ISDN ISDN ISDN endpoint IP network ISDN SIP endpoint 21

30 ISDN ISDN Different video conferencing scenarios In the following diagram a computer contributes a content channel and both IP and ISDN endpoints can see the data being transmitted. Either computer can contribute the content channel (note that a SIP endpoint cannot), but because there is only one content channel they cannot both do so at the same time. This is different to the main video and audio channels: both endpoints can send and receive video and audio simultaneously. Figure 11: Sharing data with the ISDN gateway with an IP endpoint and an ISDN endpoint ISDN GW H.323 endpoint IP ISDN ISDN ISDN endpoint IP IP network ISDN PC PC The following diagram shows ISDN endpoints in a conference being hosted by the MCU. Figure 12: ISDN endpoints in a conference MCU ISDN GW ISDN ISDN IP IP ISDN endpoint IP network ISDN endpoint SIP endpoint H.323 endpoint H.323 endpoint PSTN telephones (including mobile phones) can join the conference as audio-only participants, as shown below. The Codian ISDN gateway works with PSTN telephones: you do not need to change any settings. 22

31 PSTN ISDN Different video conferencing scenarios Figure 13: IP, ISDN endpoints and PSTN telephones in a conference MCU ISDN GW ISDN ISDN PSTN Regular telepone (POTS) IP IP ISDN endpoint IP network SIP endpoint H.323 endpoint H.323 endpoint Video conferencing with a gatekeeper All Codian units and MSE blades can use a gatekeeper. A unit or blade registers with the gatekeeper, then when it calls out it queries the gatekeeper to find out where to connect to. i For MCU units and blades, the gatekeeper can be the built-in gatekeeper. See Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar IP VCR recording a point-to-point call If you use a gatekeeper, the IP VCR can be used to record both ends of a point-to-point call between two H.323 endpoints. (In the current release, the IP VCR cannot record point-to-point calls between two SIP endpoints.) This is initiated from one of the endpoints, and cannot be done via the IP VCR s Call out and record function. 23

32 Different video conferencing scenarios Figure 14: IP VCR with a point-to-point call IP VCR H.323 Gatekeeper IP network H.323 endpoint H.323 endpoint On the IP VCR you register a prefix for point-to-point calls, say 11, and the endpoint registers its number, say 222. To call point-to-point another endpoint calls the registered endpoint by dialing This is directed to the IP VCR, which knows to call out to 222 and record the call. The IP VCR records both endpoints' media streams - unlike the earlier scenario in which only one endpoint was recorded. 24

33 Different video conferencing scenarios MCU or IP VCR with a gatekeeper and two or more endpoints A gatekeeper also makes it easier for participants to join conferences or watch and make recordings on an IP VCR because they can dial using directory numbers rather than having to know the IP address or host name of the IP VCR unit or blade. For example a participant can call a specific gatekeeper ID that is configured to trigger recording. Equally an existing recording can be registered on a gatekeeper and it can be played back subsequently by calling its registered gatekeeper ID. Figure 15: MCU or IP VCR with a gatekeeper and two or more endpoints MCU or IP VCR H.323 Gatekeeper IP network H.323 endpoints i SIP endpoints can work with a SIP registrar in the similar way to H.323 endpoints and an H.323 Gatekeeper. 25

34 ISDN ISDN Different video conferencing scenarios ISDN GW with a gatekeeper and IP and ISDN endpoints You can configure the ISDN gateway to use a gatekeeper, which can make it easier for end-users to make calls using directory numbers rather than requiring them to know the IP address or host name of the ISDN gateway. Figure 16: ISDN gateway with a gatekeeper, IP endpoints and an ISDN endpoint MCU ISDN GW ISDN ISDN IP IP ISDN endpoint IP network H.323 Gatekeeper ISDN endpoint SIP endpoint H.323 endpoint H.323 endpoint 26

35 Different video conferencing scenarios Video conferencing using H.323 gateways A gateway can be useful when you do not have a gatekeeper or the gatekeeper is not accessible, for example because it is behind a company firewall. The gateway can be a protocol converter such as Codian s ISDN gateway discussed previously, but it can also be a interface between two networks using the same protocol. The Codian MCU and IP VCR allow you to define a gateway and this H.323 gateway definition is used to direct an outgoing call more specifically than just using an IP address. This means that the gateway definition can often be used instead of a gatekeeper. Typical uses are: When the MCU calls an ISDN endpoint in to a conference, the gateway definition directs the call to the ISDN gateway. The ISDN gateway interprets the second part of the calling address (a telephone number in this case) and directs it to the ISDN endpoint. When the MCU calls the IP VCR in to a conference as described earlier in this chapter. The gateway is needed because calling with the IP address only is ambiguous: the IP VCR can have several responses to an incoming call depending on how it is set up. By using the gateway you can route the call directly to the IP VCR s recording port so the IP VCR will start recording the conference. The call address has two parts: the IP address of the IP VCR and an extension that defines the port on the IP VCR. The following diagram shows the MCU with the two H.323 gateways defined. Figure 17: Video conferencing with gateway definitions MCU H.323 Gateway Definitions IP VCR: IP address ISDN GW: IP address ISDN Gateway ISDN ISDN ISDN IP ISDN endpoint IP network IP endpoint IP VCR IP endpoint 27

36 Different video conferencing scenarios Video conferencing with the Video Firewall Option The MCU and IP VCR have an integral, optional Video Firewall Optione. The IP gateway provides integral firewall functionality. The firewall functionality of these Codian products is designed to allow video calls to be made between "internal" and "external" IP endpoints, as indicated in the figure Overview of video conferencing on page 15. This Video Firewall Option functionality is quite different from a third party firewall which would typically be used for all traffic. If you want to use your existing firewall and make calls between internal and external endpoints, then that firewall must be "H.323 aware. For more information about both see Chapter 15 Using firewalls. Using the IP gateway Using the IP gateway as an enterprise video portal The IP gateway can be used to give a single entry point into your video-conferencing system, allowing all endpoints, MCUs, and IP VCRs within the system to be accessed through a single IP address. Incoming callers can dial direct, choose their destination from the auto attendant menu, or be routed by an operator. The IP gateway transcodes between different media types, and uses both SIP and H.323 protocols to allow maximum interoperability between endpoints inside and outside the enterprise. Figure 18: IP Gateway as an enterprise video portal Operator IP VCR MCU SIP endpoints Internal IP network IP Phone IP Gateway IP network H.323 video endpoints Port A Port B H.323 video endpoints Software IP endpoint SIP endpoints IP Phone 28

37 Different video conferencing scenarios Point-to-point call between a SIP endpoint and an H.323 endpoint These two endpoints, which could not normally communicate because of their different protocols, can be connected through the IP gateway to allow a point-to-point call. The endpoints can both be on your internal network or one can be internal and the other external. Figure 19: H.323 to SIP point-to-point call H.323 video endpoint SIP endpoint Internal IP network IP Gateway IP network SIP endpoint H.323 video endpoint 29

38 Different video conferencing scenarios Video conferencing with a gatekeeper By registering the IP gateway with an H.323 gatekeeper and/or SIP registrar, callers from outside your network can call in and use the IP gateway to dial E.164 numbers to internal MCUs and endpoints, in a similar way to an internal phone system, rather than having to know the IP address of the destination. Figure 20: Video conferencing by using the IP Gateway with gatekeeper SIP registrar IP VCR MCU Operator SIP endpoints Internal IP network IP Phone H.323 video endpoints Port A IP Gateway Port B IP network H.323 Gatekeeper H.323 video endpoints Software IP endpoint SIP endpoints IP Phone Whether the IP gateway connects between the internet and the internal network or simply bridges between two internal networks, devices can be configured such that the participants on both sides of the IP gateway can use the same number to connect to their conference. (However, calls on the same network as the MCU will not go through the IP gateway.) Both SIP and H.323 endpoints (either on the internal network or on the public internet) can easily access the same conference. Participants on the same network as the MCU dial the gatekeeper/sip registered number for the conference that they require. Participants on the other side of the IP gateway can: dial the domain name or IP address followed by the registered conference ID select their conference from the auto attendant be transferred to the conference by the operator in the scenario described below where endpoints on both sides of the IP gateway use the same gatekeeper (that is the built-in gatekeeper on the IP gateway), simply dial the registered conference ID For more information, refer to Chapter 10 IP gateway administration. 30

39 Different video conferencing scenarios Using the built-in gatekeeper to connect two networks of H.323 endpoints If endpoints on separate networks either side of the IP gateway register with the built-in gatekeeper on the IP GW, when an endpoint dials an E.164 number the IP gateway is able to determine if the call is between networks, or is fully contained within one side. If the call is between two endpoints on the same network, the built-in gatekeeper behaves like a standard gatekeeper (and the call does not pass through the IP gateway), but if the call is between the internal and external networks then the built-in gatekeeper will transparently route the call through the IP Gateway, so that endpoints on either network will be equally easy to reach. Figure 21: Using the built-in gatekeeper in the IP Gateway SIP registrar IP VCR MCU Operator SIP endpoints Internal IP network IP Phone H.323 video endpoints Port A IP Gateway using built-in gatekeeper Port B IP network H.323 video endpoints Software IP endpoint SIP endpoints IP Phone 31

40 Different video conferencing scenarios 32

41 Chapter 5 First steps Introduction When your unit is delivered, it is activated and ready to be connected and used straight away. Follow the steps in the Getting Started Guide that comes with the unit. You may also like to work through the Tutorials which are available from Codian s web site. This provides step-by-step instructions for some of the most commonly used features. We suggest that you read the appropriate sections in this chapter for the MCU, IP VCR or ISDN gateway that you are working with and then go on to the chapter that covers other functionality for that specific product. Networking considerations When you connect your unit you need to consider whether to use DHCP or set a static IP address see the Getting Started Guide for the unit you are working with and the online help topic Configuring network settings. The default settings for the networking options will work in most situations. They should only be altered by administrators with networking experience. For example on the MCU or IP VCR: You should only need to set up Ethernet settings and routes if you are using both ports. See the Chapter 15 Using firewalls,and the online help topics Configuring network settings and Configuring IP routes settings. You should choose whether to use the in-built Video FirewallOption in the MCU/IP VCR and a third party firewall. See Chapter 15 Using firewalls 33

42 First steps SNMP We support the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) which allows you to use existing network management tools (such as HP OpenView monitor) to monitor Codian products. Units and blades receive and respond to SNMP requests and support several standard MIBs including: RFC 1213 (read-only) system Interface at IP icmp tcp udp snmp The following standard traps are also supported: Cold start Authentication failure To configure SNMP go to Network > SNMP. Note that the 'system up time' that appears in the trap is the time since SNMP was initialized (and therefore will differ from the Up time reported on the Status > General page). Quality of Service Codian products allow you to set values for Quality of Service (QoS) bits for audio and video data in the Network > QoS page but we recommend using the default values unless you have a specific reason to make a change. QoS is a term that refers to a network's ability to customize the treatment of specific classes of data. For example, QoS can be used to prioritize audio transmissions and video transmissions over HTTP traffic. These settings affect all audio and video packets to H.323 and SIP endpoints, and to streaming viewers. All other packets will be sent with a QoS of 0. QoS is set as a six-bit binary value that can be interpreted by networks as either Type of Service (ToS) or Differentiated Services (DiffServ). The online help provides more information about setting the QoS bits. 34

43 First steps Configuring user accounts By default when a unit or MSE blade is delivered there are two user accounts: admin and guest (see the online help topic System defined users ). These accounts are used to log in to the web interface: people wanting to stream a conference or select a conference from an auto attendant do not need to log in and therefore do not require a user account. Setting an administrator password When a unit or MSE blade is delivered the admin user account has no password. However, this is insecure and you should change the password to something meaningful to you (but that will not be guessed by another person) as soon as possible. Go to Users and click the admin link. See the online help topic Adding and updating users (MCU and IP VCR) or Updating users (ISDN gateway). The other features of the admin user cannot be changed; the admin user has full privileges. i You must be logged in as the admin user to be able to change another user's configuration or add new users. The guest user By default, anyone logging in to the web interface logs in with the guest user account which does not have a password. By changing the configuration of the guest user you can limit what they can do. You can: Enter a password for the guest user account Change their privilege level (MCU and IP VCR) see the next section Go to Users and click the guest link. See the online help topic Adding and updating users (MCU and IP VCR) or Updating users (ISDN gateway) Other user accounts and privilege levels On the MCU and IP VCR the administrator can set up additional user accounts for which there are a number of privilege levels to choose from (see the online help topic Privilege levels ): The IP VCR has 4 levels from viewing the recording list to full administrator rights The MCU has 7 levels from viewing the conference list to full administrator rights Whether you need to set up additional accounts depends on how you intend to use the unit or MSE blade: MCU: if you have users whose main task is to schedule and monitor conferences, you may want to set up user accounts for them with one of the "conference creation" privilege levels. See the online help topic, Conference ownership 35

44 First steps MCU: if you want to display a still photograph of a voice-only participant in a conference in one of the video panes, this participant must be set up as a user and his or her photograph uploaded. (The maximum number of photographs that can be stored depends on the type and model but is quite large. For example the Codian MCU 4220 supports 50 user photographs.) See the online help topic Adding and updating users IP VCR: if you have users who only need to stream recordings, they will need a user account at the lowest level IP VCR: if you have users who need to upload recordings, configure active connections or change settings, they will need a user account i The maximum number of user accounts on all Codian MCUs and IP VCRs is 200 user accounts. The maximum number of user accounts on the ISDN gateway is 10 and there are only two privilege levels: admin and list only (for the guest user that allows you to see basic details about active calls). MCU specific user fields A number of fields appear in the MCU Add User page only. These work together. It is possible to associate voice-only endpoints (via the E.164 phone number) with a user. If the user calls in from this number the MCU identifies the call as being from the user. If the following fields are then also configured for the user account, the MCU will know how to treat the call Associated video endpoint if this is an endpoint that you configured previously, then the MCU will call out to this video endpoint on receiving an audio-only call from the E.164 number. This allows the user to fully participant in a conference by talking and listening on the telephone but viewing the conference video on the configured video endpoint. Moreover, the audio and video streams are associated - for example, the volume that the participant talks with on the telephone is considered in the same way as other participants when the MCU decides who appears in the largest video pane. (There are different types of endpoint - go to Endpoints and see the online help topic Displaying endpoint list ) Upload bit map if you upload an static image after the user has been created, the MCU will display this picture of the user (instead of a video stream) if they are participating as an audio-only participant 36

45 First steps Port reservation (MCU only) The MCU has two types of ports: voice-only and video ports (that accept both video and audio). By default, port reservation is disabled and the MCU will allocate the most appropriate type of port to each endpoint until all the ports of that type are allocated. It will then allocate an audio-only port to an endpoint that can support both video and audio until all the ports on the MCU are in use and equally, if only video ports are available, it will allocate a video port to an audio-only device until all are in use. It is not possible to guarantee how many participants will be able to join a conference at any time because you cannot guarantee how many ports will be used by other conferences. However, if port reservation is enabled then this behavior changes. When you schedule a conference you must specify the number of audio-only and video ports to reserve. The MCU will not allow you to specify a number that would take the total port count during the conference to more than the MCU has. When you display the conference list the number of participants is displayed as A/B where A is the number of active participants and B is the configured limit. See the online help topic Displaying conference lists. Enabling port reservation prevents: the Create new conference option being displayed, even on auto attendants that are set up to have this option and therefore ad hoc conferences cannot be created when port reservation is enabled you creating a new auto attendant with this option users calling in to the MCU with an unknown E.164 number setting up a new conference, even if Create new conference has been set in the Conference settings page. See the online help topic Configuring global conference settings. In this case, the user is disconnected i We recommend that you do not change the setting while there are active conferences. If you enable port reservation, all ad hoc conferences are destroyed and their participants are disconnected. Also some participants of scheduled conferences may also be disconnected if the number of ports reserved for a conference is less than the number of active participants at the time you change mode. See the online help topic Reservation of MCU media ports. 37

46 First steps Port reservation is enabled on Settings > Conferences. See the online help topic Port reservation which explains the advantages and consequences of enabling port reservation. i VNC connections are video-only and therefore will never be allocated an audio-only port. Streaming requires one video port per conference but any number of viewers can stream the same conference on that port. When a participant connects to an auto attendant, a port is borrowed from the pool because the MCU does not know which conference to allocate the connection to until a conference is selected. This means that if that participant is using the last media port and another endpoint connects directly to a conference, the auto attendant link will be dropped. Even when port reservation is disabled, you can set a maximum for the number of video and audio-only participants in a conference. See the online help topic Adding and updating conferences. Configuring auto attendants When an endpoint connects to the MCU, IP VCR, ISDN GW, or IP GW the default auto attendant may be displayed with a menu of options and an audio prompt is heard (see the online help topic Using an auto attendant ). Whether the auto attendant is displayed depends on how the units or MSE blades are set up. Auto attendants on the MCU The Codian MCU can have many auto attendants (otherwise known as Interactive Voice Responses or IVRs) and menu structures can be setup by configuring multiple linked auto attendants. See the online help topic Adding and updating an auto attendant. By default, all active conferences are displayed on the default auto attendant - the auto attendant that the MCU is delivered with. Alternatively, you specify which conferences appear on a specific auto attendant. By default, the option Create a new conference is displayed on the default auto attendant so participants can create new ad hoc conferences when they dial in. This option can be turned off. It is not available if Media port reservation is enabled. See Port reservation (MCU only). When an auto attendant is displayed On the Settings > Conference page you can configure how the MCU will behave when it uses a prefix registered with a gatekeeper and an endpoint dials a number starting with that prefix. The options on this page are to set up a new conference, disconnect the call or display the default auto attendant. See the online help topic Configuring global conference settings. The default auto attendant is also displayed if an endpoint calls the IP address or H.323 ID of the unit / MSE blade, or if an endpoint dials a number assigned to it. 38

47 First steps All auto attendants can have a numeric ID assigned to them and when the number is registered with a gatekeeper, the auto attendant can be dialed directly (see the online help topic Adding and Updating an auto attendant ). In this way, you can provide an alternative number for your participants to dial so that they go directly to the specific auto attendant of your choice and only see the menu options you want them to. Setting a PIN for the auto attendant (MCU only) For security you can decide whether a PIN has to be entered before an auto attendant is displayed. Note that on the MCU each conference you see on the auto attendant may have its own conference PIN and the two uses of a PIN should not be confused. See the online help topic Adding and updating an auto attendant. Auto attendants on the IP VCR The IP VCR has only one auto attendant. The auto attendant is a menu of options from which you can record the session or select a previously stored recording to play back. Displaying the auto attendant is the default in Settings > Connections but you can change this to: automatically answer incoming calls and start recording disconnect the call like the MCU, auto attendants on the IP VCR can have telephone numbers assigned and be registered with a gatekeeper so they can be dialed directly. i Recordings can be registered with a gatekeeper. They can then be dialed directly by calling the number that has been registered (bypassing the auto attendant) and play back will start automatically. Customizing the auto attendant banner You can add a custom banner image to any auto attendant configured on the MCU 4200 Series, Media blade or IP VCR. Customization of auto attendant banners is not available on the MCU 4500 Series. The banner is the image at the top of the auto attendant menu page and the default is the Codian company logo. The image file must be in GIF or Windows BMP format with a maximum size of 352 x 64 pixels. If the image is smaller than 352 x 64 pixels so that the background color is seen, you may also want to change the background color. For the MCU, there can potentially be multiple auto attendants and each can have its own banner. On the IP VCR, whilst it is possible to have multiple auto attendants, each uses the same banner. Display the Banner page for the auto attendant you want to alter and see the online help topic Adding a custom banner for more information. To display the page: On the MCU go to Conferences > Auto attendants, select the auto attendant and click Banner On the IP VCR, go to Settings > Banner 39

48 First steps Auto attendants on the ISDN GW The ISDN GW has only one auto attendant. The auto attendant allows a caller to enter a number to which to be connected. If the call is from an IP endpoint, the caller should enter a phone number. If the call is from an ISDN endpoint, the caller should enter an IP address, (optionally followed by an extension number or phone number). You can use the dial plan to direct particular calls to the auto attendant. Auto attendants on the IP GW The IP GW has only one auto attendant. You can configure the auto attendant such that callers can dial a number, select to be transferred to the operator, and/or dial an IP address (see the online help topic: Configuring auto attendant settings ). You can use the dial plan to direct particular calls to the auto attendant. Localized MCUs If you prefer to work on a Codian MCU or IP VCR in a language other than English, Codian or a reseller can localize your unit or blade for the MSE by uploading a localization package. The web interface pages, online help pages and voice prompts will be displayed/played in your local language. The default files are not deleted and you can return to English at any time. See the online help topic Customization: more information. However, you can customize voice prompts yourself as described in the next section. Customizing voice prompts (MCU and IP VCR) By default the IP VCR and MCU includes English voice prompts spoken by a female American voice. You might wish to replace these prompts with your own in order to change the wording, language or accent used. Alternative prompts can be uploaded individually using the web interface (go to Settings > Customization). After the voice prompts have been uploaded you can create a resource package of them. You can then upload the resource package on to other units / MSE blades in one go. For detailed instructions and guidance on making good quality voice prompt recordings, display the online help topic Customizing the user interface. 40

49 First steps Communicating with the unit / blade To communicate with a unit or MSE blade you must have connected its ports and defined its IP address as described in the Getting Started Guide. There are a number of ways to do this: Serial port or console port see the Getting Started Guide Web interface: this is the main administrator interface for configuring and managing all the units / MSE blades. Simply open a web browser and type in the IP address FTP: FTP is not for everyday administration. If FTP connections have been enabled, then some functions, such as backing up configuration files are best achieved using FTP. The most common use of FTP is to upload/download recordings from the IP VCR Far End Camera Control (MCU, IP VCR, IP GW) can be used to: select an option from an auto attendant control the video layout during conferences (MCU only) pause and resume when playing back a recording (IP VCR only) DTMF tones (MCU, IP VCR, IP GW): these can be used to navigate the options on the auto attendant. Also, for the MCU DTMF can be used for changing layout with endpoints that have no Far End Camera Control capabilities Management API (MCU and IP VCR only): can be used by software applications to monitor and control the MCU or IP VCR 41

50 First steps 42

51 Chapter 6 MSE 8000 administration Introduction This chapter covers general administrator tasks specific to the MSE 8000 in particular, its Supervisor blade. Getting started with the MSE 8000 After you have completed the physical set up of the MSE 8000 using the instructions in the Safety Information Guide and the Getting Started Guide, you need to log in to the Supervisor blade s web interface to check the status of the hardware, set up users and configure the Supervisor blade. Log in to the web interface using the IP address you found or set when following the instructions in the Getting Started Guide. Then see the online help topic Getting Started with the MSE 8000 which describes the pages to access to configure the Supervisor blade. You can then configure the conferencing, streaming, recording and ISDN Gateway individual blades. You can do this via the Hardware > Blades page of the Supervisor web interface which displays an overview of the blades that have been fitted. You can then select an individual blade to work with or log in to each blade individually as normal using the blade s IP address. i Both the Supervisor blade s configuration and that of individual blades can be backed up automatically. You may like to configure this functionality before you configure the blades. See Backing up the configuration file on page

52 MSE 8000 administration Monitoring the MSE 8000 hardware status The Supervisor blade can be used to monitor the MSE 8000 hardware: Go to Hardware > Power supplies to view the voltages that the MSE 8000 is receiving on each of its power supplies. (The MSE 8000 can be operated with one or two power supplies, A and B. These feed power independently to every fan tray and blade. The MSE 8000 can be fully powered from either supply A or supply B. In the event of failure of either power supply, the MSE 8000 will continue to operate by drawing power from the other. Codian recommends that for full redundancy and maximum reliability, the power feeds should be connected to independent power sources - each capable of providing the full electrical load of the unit.) If the MSE 8000 is powered via AC to DC power shelves, and these are connected via the power shelf serial ports on the Supervisor's input/output panel on the rear of the MSE 8000 chassis, the Supervisor can also monitor the state of those power shelves. For more information, see the online help topic Configuring the power supply monitoring Go to Hardware > Fans trays to see the status of the upper and lower fan trays; you can also see the status by looking at the Fan LEDs on the chassis Go to Status > General and Status > Hardware to monitor to Supervisor blade itself Go to Hardware > Blades to see a summary of the status of the other blades; there is no need to log in to each blade directly Displaying the alarms status The Supervisor blade web interface allows you to see both an alarms summary and the detailed alarms log. Many of the entries are for information only for example removing a blade or fitting a fan will each cause an alarm event. For more information see the online help topics Displaying the alarm status and Displaying the alarm log. 44

53 Chapter 7 MCU administration Introduction This chapter covers general administrator tasks specific to the MCU and applies equally to the MCU 4200 Series, 4500 Series, and MSE 8420 (MSE media blade) unless specifically mentioned. Conferencing considerations MCU unit- or MSE media blade-wide settings are configured in Settings > Conferences. See the online help topic Configuring global conference settings. Settings for a new conferences are defined in the Conferences > Add new conference page. Also see the online help topic Adding and updating conferences. You can configure the settings of existing conferences by selecting the name of the conference on the Conference list page and choosing the Configuration tab. How participants access conferences There are a number of ways that a participant can join a conference: Participants can dial in to a conference or the MCU can dial out. See the online help topics Calling in to conferences and Being invited in to a conference When dialing in, they can dial a conference directly if you provide the conference details, or they can connect via an auto attendant. See Configuring auto attendants on page 38 Participants may be able to join a conference and participate fully, or they may be allowed to stream the conference only i.e. they can watch and listen but not contribute 45

54 MCU administration Types of conference Conferences can be set up when you need them (these are called ad hoc conferences) or can be scheduled to start at a particular time. They can have a specified duration or be set up to be permanent. Scheduled conferences can also be set up to repeat for example on a weekly or monthly basis. Conferences can appear in three categories on the web interface: Active conferences: conferences that are currently in progress Scheduled conferences: conferences that have a specified start time. They can be in progress or yet to start. Note that a scheduled conference can also be in the active conferences list Completed conferences: scheduled conferences that have finished and are not scheduled to repeat i You can reactivate a completed conference by displaying its properties and adding a new start date/time in the future. See the online help topic Displaying conference lists. Scheduled vs. ad hoc conferences Scheduled conferences are set up through the web interface and can start at a specified time or immediately. Ad hoc conferences are set up on the fly from the auto attendant, if the Create new conference option is displayed (you can hide this option go to Conferences > Auto attendant); the unit can be configured to set up an ad hoc conference on receiving a call to an unknown E.164 number (see the online help topic: Configuring global conference settings ). Ad hoc conferences always start immediately and finish when the last participant disconnects. See the online help topic Adding and updating conferences. Participants can dial in to scheduled conferences and the MCU can dial out to participants. In addition, scheduled conferences can be set up to automatically dial out to pre-configured endpoints when the conference starts see Pre-configuring endpoints later in this chapter. Participants can dial in to ad hoc conferences and the MCU can dial out while the ad hoc conference is active but you cannot pre-configure an ad hoc conference to dial out. Ad hoc conferences are not permitted if port reservation is enabled see Port reservation (MCU only) on page 37. Permanent vs. time limited conferences When you set up a scheduled conference you can select the Permanent check box or set the maximum duration. See the online help topic Adding and updating conferences. Permanent conferences are not recommended if you are using port reservation ( Port reservation (MCU only) on page 37) because they do not release their port allocation even when there are no participants. 46

55 MCU administration Stopping scheduled conferences early If a conference is scheduled for 2 hours but the participants have finished after an hour, you can stop the conference in two ways: You can disconnect all the participants see the online help topic Viewing conference participant list. The conference remains an active conference but with no active participants. If you are using port reservation see Port reservation (MCU only) then the ports remain allocated to the conference until the scheduled end time and are not available for other conferences until that time. You can end the conference by clicking End conference in the Conferences pages see the online help topic Viewing conference participant list. In this case, the conference is no longer active. If it was a repeating conference, the conference becomes a completed conference and then all future instances will not happen unless you display the conference properties and reschedule the conference to start at the next occurrence. The conference duration is also reduced and you may want to return this to its previous value if you are rescheduling the conference. Pre-configuring endpoints You can configure endpoint details on the MCU; see the online help topic Displaying the endpoint list. These endpoints are known as configured endpoints and can be called automatically when a conference starts; then they are said to be pre-configured for that conference. Pre-configured endpoints are designed to save you time and are useful when a participant takes part in one or more conferences regularly. For example, when the conference configuration is set up to call the preconfigured endpoints automatically, this saves you having to set up the details and manually dial each endpoint each time. When an endpoint dials in, a number of parameters including its E.164 number and IP address are checked. If the MCU matches these call-in parameters to an endpoint s configuration, it will use the Conferencing parameters in that definition, such as bandwidth and default family view. This allows you to restrict the bandwidth to certain endpoints or configure a preferred view. There are three types of endpoint: H.323, SIP and VNC and all can be configured and then added to a conference configuration as pre-configured endpoints. A VNC endpoint (Virtual Network Computing) enables you to have software applications such as a set of slides running on a remote computer added to a conference. Go to Endpoints and click Add H.323, Add SIP, or Add VNC as appropriate and see the online help topics Displaying the endpoint list, Configuring H.323 endpoints, Configuring SIP endpoints, and Configuring VNC endpoints. i A Codian IP VCR can also be configured as an H.323 endpoint and added as a participant in a conference. It might play back a recording or be configured to record a conference for later play back. For more information about using the IP VCR in this way, refer to the IP VCR's online help. 47

56 MCU administration Setting up and controlling conference layouts When a participant joins a conference the screen layout seen is determined by the combination of settings at a number of levels: The default view set for the MCU. Go to Settings > Conferences and select the Default view family. This can be overridden by the layout selected for a conference per individual participant. See the online help topic Customizing layout views The layout for all the participants of a conference in the conference s Custom layout page. See the online help topic Customizing layout views. If you use a conference custom layout you can choose whether to use pane placement. See Pane placement on page 49 below. The participant's custom layout settings. Go to Conferences and select a conference, then a participant and click Custom Layout. This overrides the conference and MCU settings. See the online help topic Selecting a custom participant view The participant's Display page. This shows the conference and participant custom layout selections as additional alternatives to the layout families. See the online help topic Customizing a participant's layout view. In addition you can select whether: the participant can change their view the participant can contribute H.239 content see Chapter 11 Using data to send normal or widescreen video format to the participant's endpoint The Custom layout pages for a conference and for a participant have the essentially the same layout selections. You can: Enable custom view layout Select a view Make all participants see this view now (this setting is a conference setting and not a setting for individual participants) Make all participants see this view when they join the conference i You can set a conference default for whether participants can change their layout, and this setting affects new participants (unless a participant is a pre-configured endpoint with a specific setting for Layout control via FECC / DTMF). Also see the online help topic Understanding how participants display in layout views. Who is shown in the largest pane By default the person talking the loudest in a conference is displayed in the largest pane. In layouts where there is one pane larger than the others, the view is voice controlled and the person displayed in the largest pane will change as different people speak however see Pane placement below. 48

57 MCU administration Same-sized panes If the conference layout is one where all panes are the same size and all participants are displayed, for example a 4x4 layout where there are 4 conference participants, the participants will remain static in those panes. Where there are more participants than panes and a previously undisplayed participant becomes the loudest participant, then that participant will appear in the place of the quietest displayed participant. In layouts with same-sized panes, there is no concept of focused participant. Make important The default behavior of giving the largest pane to the loudest participant can be overridden by making a participant Important by clicking the Make important icon. This gives them priority in the layout views. This is done in the participant list. By default, a crown icon appears in their pane, but this can be disabled on the Settings > Conferences page. Note that the concept of Important is valid in layouts with same-sized panes. You can also give a participant the focus in a conference by going to Conferences and selecting the name of the Conference and on the Participants tab, then selecting the name of the participant and making them the focused participant. However, giving a participant the focus in this way is overridden by making a participant important as described above. Pane placement If you have chosen a conference custom layout for a particular conference, if required, you can choose the participants individually for each pane in that layout, instead of relying on the MCU to decide which participant to display where. This is called pane placement. See the heading Using pane placement in the online help topic Customizing layout views. For each pane you can select a particular configured endpoint, the loudest speaker, the content channel, or you can decide to leave the pane blank. Content channel support When you set up a conference, you control whether the conference will support an H.239 content video channel. This is discussed in Chapter 11 Using data. Selecting a video size (4CIF feature key only) If you have the 4CIF feature key enabled (go to Settings > Upgrade to check) you can select a maximum and default video size for each conference. Go to Settings > Conference and see the online help topic Configuring global conference settings. You can then also select a preferred video size per H.323 endpoint to limit the video size sent or received to that which the endpoint supports (see the online help 49

58 MCU administration topic Configuring H.323 endpoints ). This setting takes precedence over the conference settings but is limited by the maximum video size set for the conference. i If you are using an H.323 gateway to connect to the endpoint, the video size is also limited by the maximum video size that can be sent through the gateway. See the online help topic Adding and updating gateways. Summary information icon Click the Summary information icon to display details about a conference that has been selected in the web interface. This information can be copied to the clipboard for convenience; for example to inform participants about conference details such as start time and instructions on how to view the conference using streaming. Conference security Codian provides a number of ways to make your conferences more secure, which you can implement if you wish. Encryption Conference calls to H.323 endpoints can be encrypted using the AES standard. You can disable the use of encryption, or you can enable it to be used where possible, or you can configure encryption to be required so that only encrypted participants can join a conference. For more information, see Chapter 12 Encryption. Conference PINs A conference can have two ID/PIN combinations: Numeric ID/PIN and Guest numeric ID/Guest PIN. Participants using the Numeric ID and PIN join the conference as chairperson participants; those joining with the Guest numeric ID/Guest PIN are guest participants. PINs are not mandatory with either numeric ID, nor do you have to use a Guest PIN if you use a PIN but there are some combinations that are not allowed - see the online help topic, Adding and updating conferences. i If you set a numeric ID or Guest numeric ID to register with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar, it is not mandatory to have a PIN or Guest PIN, but they do make the conference more secure. For information about registering with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar, see Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar 50

59 MCU administration Chairpersons vs. guests A conference does not properly start until the first chairperson joins. This means that guests will see 'Waiting for conference chairperson' and hear an audio prompt periodically. Streaming viewers will see a black screen/hear silence although mark-up and text chat will work. You can control whether the conference finishes or continues when the last chairperson leaves. Note that participants who are dragged and dropped in to the conference using the web interface are chairperson participants. For more information see the online help topic, Adding and updating conferences. Public and private conferences A public conference is visible on the default auto attendant and any other auto attendant set up to include it. It is also visible in the Conference list to any web interface user who has permission to display the list. In contrast, a private conference is only displayed on auto attendants set up to include it, and only the conference user and those with admin privileges can see it in the conference list. (Note that only users with admin privileges can choose which conferences are visible on a given auto attendant.) Conference ownership The person (user account) that sets up a scheduled conference is the conference owner initially. This can be changed by users with administrator privileges or conference ownership and full control. Being a conference owner allows control over the conference - the amount of control depends on the privilege level of the user s account. See the online help topic Conference ownership. Locking conferences The administrator and conference owner can both lock a conference. Both can still connect new endpoints and disconnect participants, but other participants cannot dial in or start to stream the conference. For more information, see the online help topic Viewing the conference participant list. Enabling the MCU for H.239 Before you can include a content channel in a conference you need to enable the MCU to do so. Go to Settings > H.239 and see the online help topic Configuring H.239 settings. Once you have enabled H.239 for the MCU, H.239 contributions will be allowed by default for a new conference; however, you can disable H.239 for any conference. H.239 will use a media port on the MCU if it is enabled for a conference and this is true whether it is used or not. For more information on the H.239 content channel see Chapter 11 Using data. 51

60 MCU administration Setting up a H.323 gateway The MCU has a gateway function which allows you to define the IP address of a gateway: for example you could set up a gateway definition called Record my conference and this would specify the IP address of an IP VCR. When you then call out from the MCU you can choose to use this pre-configured gateway definition and the call will be directed to the specified IP address. In this case the IP VCR acts as a gateway. See the explanation in Video conferencing using H.323 gateways on page 27. Reasons why you may want to use these gateway definitions include: To create a direct link to another unit / MSE blade without requiring a gatekeeper To cascade MCUs in a conference without a gatekeeper see the next section To save typing in the IP address each time Go to Gateways > Add H.323 gateway. See the online help topic Adding and updating gateways. The ability to define how to access a gateway should not to be confused with our ISDN gateway which is a protocol converter as well as a call director. However, the ISDN gateway can be configured as a gateway on the MCU. Cascading MCUs If you require a dial out scheduled conference with more than 40 participants, multiple MCUs can be cascaded together. This would use one port on each MCU for each cascade. For example, two 40-port MCUs cascaded together provide a total of 78 ports. Also some functionality would be lost between the cascade (such as the ability to choose the layout on the second MCU if you are connected to the first). It is possible to set up the MCUs so they can automatically cascade together as part of a scheduled conference: one can automatically dial the other, join a conference and set the correct layout to send between the units / MSE blades. For best results the cascaded MCU should be displayed in the largest pane. Load balancing MCUs Dial-in ad hoc conferences can be load balanced using a gatekeeper with a round robin mode. If you have two MCUs of the same size that are both registered with the same gatekeeper with the same MCU service prefix, then ad-hoc conferences will be assigned to one or other MCU, balancing the load between them. To do this, you must tick Register ad hoc conferences with gatekeeper and set Incoming calls to unknown E.164 to number to Create new ad hoc conference. See the online help topic Configuring Global Conference Settings. For more information about using a gatekeeper see Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar. 52

61 MCU administration Sending messages during a conference You can send messages to one participant in a conference or to all of them simultaneously. You can set the time for which the message will overlay each participant s view. To send a message to one participant: go to Conferences, select a participant and then click on the Send message tab. See the online help topic Sending a message to an individual participant To send a message to all participants, go to Conferences > Send message. See the online help topic Sending messages to all participants Using the MCU with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar You can configure the MCU to use a gatekeeper, which can make it easier for participants using an H.323 endpoint to join a conference using directory numbers rather than requiring them to know the IP address or host name of the MCU. See Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar. If you have SIP endpoints you may want to configure the MCU to use a SIP registrar, which can also make it easier for participants using these endpoints to join a conference using SIP URIs rather than requiring them to know the IP address or host name of the MCU. See Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar. Displaying conference and participant statistics You can display statistics for a conference which may be helpful when managing conferences (see the online help topic Displaying conference statistics ) or for an individual participant which shows the status of a participant s link (see the online help topic Displaying statistics for a participant ). 53

62 MCU administration 54

63 Chapter 8 IP VCR administration Introduction This chapter covers general administrator tasks that are unique to the IP VCR and applies to both the IP VCR 2200 Series and the MSE The IP VCR can record, store, and play back video streams. This chapter describes the different ways of creating recordings, the options regarding the storage and transfer of recordings, and the ways of playing back recordings. Making recordings The media streams that an IP VCR can record are: a conference on an MCU (including an H.239 content channel if there is one) a point-to-point call between two H.323 endpoints the media stream from an endpoint The methods by which you can create a recording are: Method 1: Call in to the IP VCR s auto attendant from your endpoint and select Record this session to record yourself; using this method, you will see the recording console and will be able to control when the recording starts and will be able to see what it is recording. Method 2: Configure a conference on an MCU where the MCU will call into the IP VCR s auto attendant (for more information, see the online help topic Automatically Recording a Conference on a Codian MCU ). One of the conference s participants, when they are ready, can then use Far End Camera Controls to navigate to that pane and select to Record this session. Note that this method requires at least one of the participants to have the recording console as a pane in their layout; however, all participants layouts can be controlled via the web interface of the MCU. Pane placement is described in the online help of the MCU. 55

64 IP VCR administration Method 3: Call out and record. The IP VCR, via its web interface, calls out to an endpoint (or to a conference on an MCU) and records its media streams; using this method, it will depend on the settings on the IP VCR as to whether or not the recording console is displayed. Method 4: Call in to the IP VCR after it has been configured to record incoming calls by default. The setting for the default incoming call action is in Settings > Connections; using this method, the recording console will not be displayed. This method can be used by an endpoint user who wants to record his own media stream. It can also be used by a conference on an MCU; in this way the IP VCR can be added to a conference as a participant that the MCU will call when the conference starts (and therefore the recording will begin simultaneously with the conference). If it is an endpoint that has called in using this method, the endpoint will display a blank screen; if it is an MCU that has called the IP VCR, one of the conference panes will be blank. Method 5: Call the H.323 registered recording ID that has been configured to trigger recording; using this method, the recording console will not be displayed. This method can be used either by an endpoint user who wants to record himself, or by a conference on an MCU. Method 6: Call from one H.323 endpoint to another through the IP VCR (a point-to-point call) via a prefix. This has the same effect as calling that endpoint directly, except that the IP VCR is also in the call and records both endpoints media streams; using this method, the recording console will not be displayed. Methods 1 and 2 play the recording console; method 5 can play the recording console by using a recording console ID instead of a recording ID. All methods can use H 323 or SIP, or with the addition of a Codian ISDN GW, via ISDN. The above six methods show that there are a number of different ways of recording media streams. The methods that involve the use of the recording console are known as interactive recordings; the methods that do not use the recording console are known as non-interactive because no feedback is sent to the user (that is, no endpoint user is watching a display of what is being recorded). The recording console The recording console is an interface that can be displayed by an endpoint to allow you to start and finish a recording on the IP VCR. It also displays what is being recorded during the recording, providing feedback to the user. When the recording console is used to control the creation of a recording, the recording is known as an interactive recording. Whether or not the recording console is used for a recording (and therefore, whether or not the IP VCR sends a video of what is being recorded) depends on how the recording was initiated and on the equipment being used. The recording console is especially useful if you are making a presentation and you want to see the view that your audience is seeing. See the online help topic Using the recording console. 56

65 IP VCR administration How the IP VCR handles incoming calls When the IP VCR receives an incoming call, it determines what it will do with that call depending on the current configuration of various settings. Incoming calls arrive in four possible ways: H.323 gatekeeper calls: the IP VCR registers numbers and prefixes with the gatekeeper which identify services that can then be accessed by endpoints. Examples of services are watching recordings, initiating recordings, and connecting to auto attendants Gateway calls: calls arrive directly from endpoints or a Codian MCU using a combination of the IP address of the IP VCR and the number of the service required i Some endpoints can directly dial IDs on the IP VCR by using a combination of the IP VCR s IP address and the ID. Refer to the endpoint manufacturer s documentation for more information. SIP calls: calls are addressed by <number>@<ip address>, or by numbers registered with the SIP registrar Calling direct by IP address: the IP VCR performs its configured default action (connect to autoattendant, record session, or disconnect caller) Regardless of the method used by the calling device, the IP VCR first checks whether the call is to a known or unknown number. A known number is an E.164 number or SIP URI that the IP VCR recognizes, for example: a numeric ID of a recording: each recording can be assigned a numeric ID. Any call to a recording s numeric ID will cause the IP VCR to play back that recording a recording ID: each folder can have a recording ID. Any call to a folder s recording ID will trigger the recording of that media stream (or streams) into that folder. Note that no video is displayed to the caller a recording console ID: each folder can have a recording console ID. Any call to a folder s recording console ID causes a recording console to be displayed to the user and the resulting recording will be placed in that folder an auto attendant ID: each folder can have an auto attendant ID. Any call to a folder s auto attendant causes that auto attendant to be displayed, allowing the caller to choose from recordings within that folder, access recordings in any sub folders of that folder and, depending on folder settings, make recordings into that folder a point-to-point incoming call prefix: if you have configured a point-to-point call incoming prefix for the H.323 gatekeeper, a H.323 endpoint user can dial another H.323 endpoint s E.164 number through the IP VCR causing the call to be recorded and placed in the root folder a number beginning with a service prefix: the IP VCR removes the prefix and checks whether the number then matches any ID configured on the IP VCR. See the online help topic Configuring 57

66 IP VCR administration Gatekeeper Settings. Using a service prefix is a good way of enabling users to access a large number of services. The IP VCR registers a single ID and any call beginning with that prefix will be routed to the IP VCR. Any numbers following the prefix can identify, for example, a recording, auto attendant, or recording console. However, note that for this method the calling endpoint must be registered with the same gatekeeper as the service prefix. See the online help topic Configuring gatekeeper settings An unknown number is an E.164 number or SIP URI that does not match any configured ID or prefix on the IP VCR. Calls to the IP address of the IP VCR are also treated as unknown. You configure the IP VCR to behave in one of three possible ways when it receives a call to an unknown number: Connect to auto attendant: users see the default auto attendant with the Record this session option. This displays the recording console Record session: recording starts immediately. The IP VCR s Connections page shows what is being recorded. The device that connected displays a blank screen for the connection with the IP VCR Disconnect caller: users may not call the IP VCR in this way; the call is terminated To select which action will happen, go to Settings > Connections and configure the Default incoming call action (see the online help topic Configuring global connection settings ). Recording settings You can set the default and maximum video resolution and the default connection bandwidth to and from the IP VCR. Go to Settings > Connections and see the online help topic Configuring global connection settings. We recommend that you do not change the advanced settings on this page unless you are an expert or told to do so by Codian technical support. There are additional settings in Settings > Recording such as whether recordings loop back to the beginning when they finish, and the layout to use for point-to-point calls. See the online help topic Configuring recording settings. One setting of importance on this page is the whether the video stream being recorded is always sent back to the endpoint. The IP VCR should not need to send video to an endpoint or MCU device that it is recording; however, some devices are programmed not to transmit video unless video is sent to them. In this case, you need to select this option so that the IP VCR can work with such systems. The IP VCR will then send a blank video stream if the recording console is not in use, or the video stream being recorded if it is. On the other hand if the IP VCR sends video to the far end during a conference, then it is possible that the video sent by the IP VCR becomes a blank pane in the conference in addition to the real participants in that conference. In this case, you would need to deselect this check box. i Currently you cannot record a conference on an MCU where the settings are such that encryption is required; you can record conferences where encryption is optional. 58

67 IP VCR administration Playing back recordings Recordings stored on the IP VCR or on an external storage system are stored as.codian files (a proprietary format that includes video and H.239 information). These recordings can be played back in the following ways: Call out and play. The IP VCR, via its web interface, calls out to a H.323 or SIP endpoint and plays back a recording to it Stream the recording to a user s desktop via a player application such as QuickTime Call in to the IP VCR s auto attendant and select the recording for play back Register the recording with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar and play it back by calling its registered gatekeeper ID or SIP extension Gateway calls addressed to the IP address of the IP VCR and a recording s numeric ID The auto attendant Depending on how a user has connected to the IP VCR, they might see an auto attendant. This is an interface that enables users to select from recordings to view and depending on the settings of the IP VCR, might also enable a user to record a session (initiating the recording console). Every folder on the IP VCR can have its own auto attendant enabling users to view only the recordings in that folder and to place recordings directly in that folder. Note that when a user accesses the recording console from an auto attendant, the user can return to the auto attendant; a user connecting directly to the recording console via an H.323 registered ID cannot then access an auto attendant. Transferring recordings Although you can make and view recordings with the IP VCR, you are not restricted to watching only recordings made with the IP VCR. You can upload recordings made elsewhere to the IP VCR and you can download recordings made on the Codian IP VCR. See the online help topic Transferring recordings. To upload a recording, go to Recordings and select Upload Recording. Recording file formats Recordings can be uploaded or downloaded in the.codian or MPEG 1 format file. Files in the.codian format transfer more quickly. MPEG1 files can be viewed on a PC using a package such as Quicktime. (Codian provides a command line utility to convert files in.codian format to MPEG 1 format. This is called the MPEG Converter. For more information, refer to MPEG Converter on page 60.) 59

68 IP VCR administration Transferring by re-recording You can also transfer a recording by using Call out and record, and then calling the recording to re-record. However, the new recording may not be of the same quality as the original. Downloading recordings Recordings can be download to a PC as an MPEG file, or downloaded as a.codian file and converted to an MPEG file using the MPEG Converter. They can then be played by any compatible MPEG player. The benefit of the MPEG Converter is that it reduces load on the unit and gives more control over the produced MPEG. For more information, refer to MPEG Converter on page 60.) Downloading recordings in the MPEG format is a slow process. The reason is that the recordings are transcoded from the.codian format to the MPEG format during the downloading process. For the purposes of backing up, the.codian format gives you the complete recorded data and you will therefore get a better quality playback when you re-upload them to your IP VCR. If you require MPEG files of your recordings, Codian recommends that you download the recordings in the.codian format and then use the MPEG Converter available from the Support area of the Codian web site. The MPEG Converter gives you greater control over the look of the final MPEG and can include the content channel. MPEG Converter The MPEG Converter converts Codian IP VCR recordings from their native.codian format into an MPEG-1 format. The recording can contain one or two video streams and a content channel. The MPEG Converter enables you to control how the streams appear in the resulting MPEG file: you can control the size and resolution of each individual stream in the encoded MPEG you can control the position and size of the streams in the encoded MPEG you can choose to disable a stream you can set a bitmap as a background image you can choose to encode only the audio or the video from a stream you can export the content channel as JPEG slides i The IP VCR provides an option to download a recording as an MPEG file. However, using that feature, the MPEG file will not include the content channel, nor can you control the look of the resulting MPEG file. To include a content channel in an MPEG file and to control the final look of the file, you must download the recording to a PC in the.codian format and use the MPEG Converter. The MPEG Converter is described in the Getting Started: MPEG Converter guide available from the documentation area of 60

69 IP VCR administration Storage on the IP VCR Recordings on the IP VCR are stored in folders. Folders are used to group stored recordings together in a convenient manner. By default, there is one folder on the IP VCR called Top-level folder. Any folder that you create will be a sub folder of that folder; each of these folders can have its own sub folders. You can create up to 50 folders on the IP VCR. For more information, see the online help topic Understanding the Folder List. Recordings on the IP VCR can also be stored externally by the use of an external Network File System (NFS). Any IP VCR folder (including the Top-level folder) can be configured to link to an external Network File System (NFS) location. External recordings are stored in the.codian file format. You can copy.codian files into the external location and they will be seen by any IP VCR folder linked to that external location. Multiple IP VCRs can have access to the same external location (or set of external locations). The recordings stored in the external location can be played back via the IP VCR in the usual ways, or downloaded onto a PC and converted using the MPEG converter application as described above. Each IP VCR folder that links to an external location has a separate Register external recordings with gatekeeper setting. When this is selected, each external recording retains its own H.323 gatekeeper registration option. If Register external recordings with gatekeeper is not selected then the recordings in this folder that are stored in the external location will not be accessible via the gatekeeper. For more information about external storage of recordings, see the online help topic Storing Recordings Externally. Displaying the connection status You can see the status of currently active connections on the Connections status page. Go to Connections. You see connection and endpoint information as well as a snapshot of the video being played or recorded. For playback and recording connections, information for just one endpoint is shown; for point-to-point recordings, you see information for both endpoints. Endpoint information is not available for connections that are streaming a recording. Enabling the IP VCR for H.239 Before you can record a content channel in a conference you need to enable the IP VCR to do so. Go to Settings > H.239 and see the online help topic Configuring H.239 settings. This page also lets you set the size (in pixels) of the H.239 window used when streaming. For more information on the H.239 content channel see Chapter 11 Using data. 61

70 IP VCR administration Configuring endpoints Configuring endpoints speeds up calling endpoints that you use frequently for playing back or recording. You can configure an H.323 or SIP endpoint on the IP VCR by going to Endpoints > Add H.323 /Add SIP. See the online help topics Displaying endpoint list and Configuring H.323 endpoints. Summary information icon To display details about a recording that has been selected in the web interface, click the Summary information icon (shown here on the left). This information describes how to view this recording using streaming with different media players. Setting up a H.323 gateway The IP VCR has a gateway function which allows you to define the IP address of a gateway: for example you could set up a gateway definition to call out to an endpoint you cannot call directly, for example, behind an IP PBX. When you call out to the endpoint and use the pre-defined gateway definition the IP PBX acts as the gateway and routes the call to the endpoint using the E.164 number. Go to Gateways > Add H.323 gateway. See the online help topic Adding and updating gateways. The gateway definitions should not to be confused with our ISDN gateway which is a protocol converter as well as a call director. Displaying IP VCR statistics In addition to displaying general and hardware status you can display information about recordings such as the number, total size and total length of stored recordings. You can also see how much disk space is left on the IP VCR for additional recordings. Go to Status > Recording and see the online help topic Displaying recording status. 62

71 Chapter 9 ISDN gateway administration Introduction This chapter covers general administrator tasks specific to the ISDN gateway and applies equally to the ISDN gateway 3200 Series and the MSE Installing the ISDN gateway You connect the ISDN gateway to your ISDN connection and to your Ethernet network. It is important that the ISDN gateway is installed correctly as described in the Getting Started Guide (supplied with the unit / MSE blade and also available on the Codian web site). The initial configuration, including IP settings, is also described in the Getting Started Guide. Establishing a connection with the ISDN network Before the ISDN gateway can establish a connection with the ISDN network, you need to configure the ISDN settings. Refer to the Getting Started Guide and the online help topics Configuring general ISDN settings and Configuring ISDN ports settings. Routing calls between IP and ISDN networks The default behavior of the ISDN gateway is to reject all calls. You must configure the ISDN gateway to route calls in the required way. This is achieved by creating a dial plan. The ISDN gateway uses the dial plan to determine how to route calls between IP and ISDN networks. When the ISDN gateway receives a request to initiate a new IP to ISDN or ISDN to IP call, it examines the called number (if available), and uses the dial plan to determine whether to reject the call, or find out which number should be called to initiate the outgoing part of the call, and check the allowed call bandwidth. It also determines the call type (video or telephone). There are a number of different ways in which you can use the dial plan. For example, you can use the dial plan to link specific bandwidths to certain prefixes, thereby enabling users to use the correct bandwidth for 63

72 ISDN gateway administration an IP to ISDN call. You can also use the dial plan to enable the ISDN gateway to join incoming ISDN calls to a conference on an MCU, a standalone endpoint, or any other H.323 destination. These dial plan configurations are explained in greater detail and with supporting examples in the online help: see the online help topics Understanding the dial plan, Example dial plan rules, and Dial plan syntax. Each dial plan comprises a set of rules. When the ISDN gateway receives a new incoming call, it checks the call against the appropriate dial plan starting at the top of the list of rules. It compares the called number (if available) to the condition of each rule in that dial plan until a match is found; when a match is found, no more rules are checked. The action of the matching rule is used to determine what should be done next; typically the outgoing part of the connection will be initiated, calling a number specified by the action, or the connection will be rejected and the incoming part terminated. If the call does not match the condition of any rule, then that call will be rejected. Because rules are checked in order and the first matching rule is used, place rules with specific conditions at the top of the list and place rules with general conditions (for example, Match any called number ) at the bottom of the list. It may take some experimentation to create the dial plan that you require. The ISDN gateway provides a facility so that you can test the dial plan to see how your set of rules acts on a particular number. See the online help topic Displaying and testing the dial plan. Basic call routing The simplest configuration is to create a dial plan that will: connect any IP to ISDN call that has been routed to the ISDN gateway to the number that the caller has dialed (using any free enabled port) connect any ISDN to IP call to the auto attendant of your MCU For more information about the above configuration, refer to the Getting Started Guide that accompanied the ISDN gateway (also available on the Codian web site). Advanced call routing There are a number of ways in which you can use the dial plan for advanced call routing: for joining ISDN calls to a conference on the MCU, for allocating bandwidth, and for specifying how IP telephone calls will be forwarded to the ISDN network. These configurations are described in basic detail in the sections below. Refer to the online help for further details, for example dial plans, and for dial plan syntax: see the online help topics Understanding the dial plan, Example dial plans, and Dial plan syntax. Joining ISDN calls to a conference on the MCU You can configure the dial plan to join calls to a particular conference on an MCU. Usually, part of the original dialed number will be the conference identifier. This is easiest when you have a range of DID/DDI numbers attached to your ISDN line, because you can use numbers from that range to connect incoming ISDN calls to different H.323 destinations. 64

73 ISDN gateway administration Allocating bandwidth for ISDN to IP calls You can configure the dial plan to limit the bandwidth available for incoming ISDN calls. This is useful where you want to limit the network resources available to individual calls. In this way, you can prevent any one call using the resources to the extent that other incoming calls are prevented. Allocating bandwidth for IP to ISDN calls You can configure the dial plan to limit the bandwidth available for calls to particular numbers, or to allocate more bandwidth to priority calls. As cost is an issue with calls to the ISDN network, you may want to provide users with a list of prefixes that they can use to control the bandwidth for the calls they make. In this way, rules enable users to select their own appropriate bandwidth for a call. Specifying voice-only IP telephone calls You can configure the dial plan to specify how IP telephone calls (that is voice-only calls) will be forwarded to the ISDN network. Refer to Using the ISDN gateway for voice-only calls on page 66. Setting up a gatekeeper Some administrators like to use a gatekeeper to simplify management of H.323 telephony. In the case of the ISDN gateway, the use of a gatekeeper can also simplify the management of the dial plan. You can configure the ISDN gateway to use an H.323 gatekeeper, which can make it easier for ISDN endpoint users to join conferences using directory numbers rather than requiring them to know the IP address or host name of the MCU. This is especially useful where there are endpoints which do not allow the dialing of IP addresses. Using an H.323 gatekeeper can also make it easier for IP endpoint users to connect to ISDN endpoints. To configure the ISDN gateway to use a gatekeeper, go to Settings > Gatekeeper and register your chosen service prefix. For more information about configuring the ISDN gateway to use a gatekeeper, refer to the online help topic Configuring gatekeeper settings. 65

74 ISDN gateway administration Using the ISDN gateway for voice-only calls The ISDN gateway can be used to forward voice-only IP calls to the ISDN network (the PSTN); likewise, it can be used to forward voice-only ISDN calls from the PSTN to IP telephones on the IP network. If you want to use the ISDN gateway to forward voice-only calls, there are two ways to configure this feature: globally (that is by configuring unit- or MSE blade-wide settings): either entirely as a voice-only gateway: where all IP calls and all ISDN calls are forwarded as voice-only calls or partly as a voice-only gateway: where incoming ISDN video-conferencing calls are allowed, but outgoing ISDN calls are voice only (or vice-versa) dial plan configuration: where particular calls (ingoing and outgoing) are allowed to be videoconferencing calls, and where particular calls are restricted to voice-only IP to ISDN calls IP endpoints sometimes do not allow the caller to specify the type of call being made. For example, a caller may want to make a telephone call (that is, voice only), but are unable to specify that this is a telephone call. To overcome this problem, if required, the ISDN gateway can extract the voice part of the call and forward it to the ISDN network as a voice-only call. For IP to ISDN calls, if the ISDN gateway receives a videoconferencing call that has been restricted to being a voice-only call (due to the settings on the ISDN gateway), the unit or MSE blade will forward it as a voice-only call (the call will not be dropped). (If the IP endpoint does allow call type to be specified, an IP telephone call will always be placed as such.) ISDN to IP calls ISDN endpoints usually allow a caller to specify the type of call being made. This is important, because with ISDN calls the voice part of the call cannot be separated from the video part. Therefore, if the ISDN gateway receives a video-conferencing call and the dial plan restricts the ISDN gateway to voice-only calls, the call will be dropped. Voice-only telephone calls will always be accepted by the ISDN gateway. For more information, refer to Using the ISDN gateway for Voice-Only Calls. 66

75 ISDN gateway administration Monitoring calls The ISDN gateway provides details about call activity and port activity: To display the basic settings for active and recently completed calls, go to ISDN > ISDN calls. The ISDN Calls List is displayed. You can disconnect active calls and delete completed calls from the list. See the online help topic Displaying ISDN calls list To display detailed call information for active calls, go to ISDN > ISDN Calls and click more for the call about which you want more information. See the online help topic Displaying detailed call information To display port activity for each ISDN channel on an ISDN port-by-port basis, go to ISDN > ISDN ports. See the online help topic Displaying ports utilization 67

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77 Chapter 10 IP gateway administration Introduction This chapter covers general administrator tasks specific to the IP gateway and applies to the IP GW 3500 series. Installing the IP gateway The IP gateway connects to your internal IP network to the internet or a second IP network. This means that you need to configure both Ethernet ports on your IP gateway: connect Port A to your local network and connect Port B to a second subnet or the internet depending on your application of the IP GW. Figure 22: Using the IP GW between two IP networks H.323 Gatekeeper MCU SIP endpoint Internal IP network Software IP endpoint Port A IP Gateway Port B IP network H.323 video endpoint SIP endpoint IP Phone IP Phone H.323 video endpoint Operator The initial configuration is described in detail in the Getting Started Guide that accompanied the unit. 69

78 IP gateway administration The auto attendant The auto attendant is an interface that callers can access directly by dialing the IP address or E.164 number (if configured on a gatekeeper) of the IP gateway. The auto attendant: Displays names of those endpoints that have been configured to display in the auto attendant. This allows callers to connect to an endpoint without having to know its address Can allow callers to: - dial E.164 numbers - be connected to the operator - dial IP addresses Note that the behavior of the auto attendant is also affected by the settings for failed calls. For example, the action for calls that fail after a caller has dialed from the auto attendant and the auto attendant timeout setting. To configure the auto attendant, go to Settings > Auto attendant. For more information, refer to the online help topics: Configuring auto attendant settings, Configuring failed call settings, Understanding the dial plan, and Configuring endpoints. Using an operator The operator is a person who can put calls through on the IP gateway. You can: use the dial plan to automatically connect calls to the operator allow callers to directly dial the operator have the operator as an option on the auto attendant The operator connects calls one by one as calls reach the top of the operator's call queue (displayed in the operator s web page). The operator can put calls through to configured endpoints that have been given names, or to any other endpoint by manually entering its IP address or E.164 number. Note that when the operator is absent, the IP gateway transfers calls forwarded to the operator to the auto attendant or disconnects it, depending on the configured action on the Settings > Failed calls page. To configure an operator, go to Settings > Operator. For more information, refer to the online help topics: Understanding operator features and Configuring operator settings. 70

79 IP gateway administration Routing calls between IP networks The default behavior of the IP gateway is to reject all calls. You must configure the IP gateway to route calls in the required way by creating a dial plan. When the IP gateway receives a request to initiate a new call, it examines the called number (if available), and uses the dial plan to determine whether to reject the call, or find out which number should be called to initiate the outgoing part of the call, and to check whether or not the call should be connected to the operator or auto attendant. The dial plan is actually divided into two; a dial plan for calls arriving on Port A and a dial plan for calls arriving on Port B. The behavior of the two dial plans is identical. Each dial plan comprises a set of rules. When the IP gateway receives a new incoming call, it checks the call against the appropriate dial plan starting at the top of the list of rules. It compares the called number (if available) to the condition of each rule in that dial plan until a match is found; when a match is found, no more rules are checked. The action of the matching rule is used to determine what should be done next. If the call does not match the condition of any rule, then that call is rejected. Because rules are checked in order and the first matching rule is used, place rules with specific conditions at the top of the list and place rules with general conditions (for example, Match any called number ) at the bottom of the list. It may take some experimentation to create the dial plan that you require. The IP gateway provides a test facility so that you can see how your set of rules acts on a particular number. See the online help topic Displaying and testing the dial plan. Basic call routing The simplest configuration is to create a dial plan that will: forward outside calls with a particular prefix to the operator who can connect the call connect outside calls with a different prefix to the auto attendant allow internal callers to directly call any endpoint on their network Go to Dial plan and see the supporting examples in the online help topics; Understanding the dial plan, Adding and updating dial plan rules, Example dial plan rules, and Dial plan syntax. 71

80 IP gateway administration Setting up a gatekeeper or SIP registrar Some administrators like to use a gatekeeper to simplify management of H.323 telephony. In the case of the ISDN gateway, the use of a gatekeeper can also simplify the management of the dial plan. This can be an external gatekeeper or its own built-in gatekeeper. If you have SIP endpoints, using a SIP registrar can make it easier for callers to make their call. To configure the use of an H.323 gatekeeper, go to Settings > Gatekeeper To configure the use of a SIP registrar, go to Settings > SIP For more information refer to the online help topics: Configuring gatekeeper settings and Configuring SIP settings. Using the IP gateway without a gatekeeper or SIP registrar Where there is no gatekeeper, IP addresses can be used as well as E.164 numbers. You can configure a list of endpoints by associating their IP addresses with a name and other details. For more information, refer to the online help topic: Configuring endpoints. You can configure the auto attendant to display a list of these endpoints so that callers can choose who their calls are connected to. For example, callers can dial in to the IP gateway by using its IP address or domain name. In the auto attendant, callers can either select the endpoint to connect to or dial an internal or external IP address. Similarly, callers can connect to the operator who can either select from the list of configured endpoints, or enter the IP address of the endpoint to which the caller wants to be transferred. Monitoring calls The IP gateway provides details about active calls: go to Calls; to display the Calls List. See the online help topic Displaying the calls list. You can display further details of active calls by clicking the Caller name (see the online help topic Displaying Call Statistics ). 72

81 IP gateway administration How to dial the IP gateway Dialing by IP address and E.164 number Depending on the configuration of your unit, you can allow callers to dial a combination of an IP address or domain name and E.164 number. Dialing a combination of an IP address and E.164 number can connect the caller to the auto attendant or the operator; it could also connect the caller directly to an endpoint, a video conference on an MCU, or to another service on the network. SIP: On SIP phones to dial a combination of IP address/domain name and E.164 number, you will use the following syntax: <xxxx>@<ip address/domain name of IP gateway> For example, to dial 4545 on a IP gateway with an IP address of , you will dial: 4545@ Tandberg endpoints (H.323 and SIP): Tandberg endpoints allow you to use the SIP format to dial a combination of IP address/domain name and E.164 number. You will use the following syntax: <xxxx>@<ip address/domain name of IP gateway> For example, to dial 4545 on a IP gateway with an IP address of , you will dial: 4545@ H.323: Refer to your endpoint documentation for information about how to dial a combination of E.164 number and IP address/domain name. On some endpoints, you can use the following syntax: <IP address/domain name>##<number> For example, to dial 4545 on a IP gateway with a domain name of operator.uk.codian.com, you will dial: operator.uk.codian.com##4545 Using the auto attendant Note that you can use either Far End Camera Control (FECC) or Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) tones to navigate the auto attendant. FECC is the default mechanism for navigating the auto attendant; to enable DTMF, on connecting to the auto attendant immediately press ## (that is, press the pound/hash key twice). Use the navigation keys to scroll through menu options: for FECC, enable FECC on your endpoint and use the up, down, left, and right keys for DTMF tones, use the number keys 2, 8, 4, and 6 for up, down, left and right respectively DTMF tones are particularly useful for SIP endpoints that do not have FECC functionality. Callers might be able to select in the auto attendant the person's endpoint to whom they want to talk. They might also be able to select to have their calls transferred to the operator. 73

82 IP gateway administration Dialing in the auto attendant Depending on the configuration of your unit, callers might be allowed to dial E.164 numbers in the auto attendant: they will dial a number and press #. They might be allowed to dial IP addresses in the auto attendant. If so, use the key pad to enter the address, replacing the dots with stars (asterisks). When they enter the third star of an IP address, the IP gateway will recognize that an IP address is being entered and automatically convert the stars to dots. They must press # (pound/hash) when they have finished typing the IP address. Callers can dial extensions in the following way: enter the IP address (replacing dots with stars), and append the IP address with two stars (asterisks) followed by the extension number and then press # (pound/hash). For example to to dial extension 654 on , dial: 10*2*11*12**654# Note that in this way, callers can connect to conferences on an MCU. For example, by dialing the IP address of the MCU followed by the ID of a conference on that MCU. For example to dial into conference with ID: 1234 on MCU with IP address: , dial: 10*12*136*12**1234# Using the auto attendant from an audio-only phone When you dial the auto attendant from an audio-only IP phone, you will hear the audio-prompts: If you know the extension you require, dial the numbers and press # (pound/hash key) If you want to be transferred to the operator, press * (star/asterisk key) Clearly, you will not be able to select from any of the other options that the same auto attendant offers to audio-visual endpoints (that is, you will not be able to select from the directory of endpoints that might be displayed on the auto attendant). 74

83 Chapter 11 Using data Introduction For each conference you can use an additional video channel known as the content channel which uses the H.239 protocol. Typically the content is high resolution, but with a low frame rate for example, for showing a slide presentation. When this feature is used there may be three media streams between the MCU and each H.323 endpoint: the main video (the normal multi-pane view), audio and the H.239 video content (the content channel). There are a number of differences between the main video and the content channel see the online help topic H.239 (content channel video) support. The most important of these is that there can be only one content channel per conference. Therefore if one endpoint is contributing the content channel, another endpoint cannot start to contribute data until the first one stops. This content channel feature encompasses: Sourcing the content channel from a H.323 endpoint's H.239 video stream or a VNC connection H.239 video streams sent from the MCU to viewing H.323 endpoints Streaming the content channel to users' desktop machines Allowing graphical and textual "markup" of the content channel* Text chat between conference participants* i * These features require web conferencing feature key to be installed. See Using additional options (features keys) on page 103. i When H.239 content channel video is enabled for a conference, it uses one media port per conference. This is true whether H.239 content is contributed to the conference or not. 75

84 Using data Configuring content channel support The content channel support is controlled at three levels see the online help topic H.239 (content channel video) support : Unit-wide: MCU-wide. Go to Settings > H.239 and see the online help topic Configuring H.239 settings IP VCR-wide. Go to Settings > H.239 and see the online help topic Configuring H.239 settings The ISDN gateway will pass a content channel without configuration, however if you experience network problems you can fine tune the H.239 codecs allowed. See the online help topic Configuring general ISDN settings Per conference for scheduled conferences (MCU only) in the Conference configuration page (or Add conference page if this is a new conference). Select Enabled for the H.239 content channel video field to allow the conference to use a content channel. Then set the H.239 contribution from endpoints field appropriately depending on whether you want to allow video endpoints to contribute the content channel or only the MCU (for example to send the desktop display from a VNC endpoint). See the online help topic Adding and updating conferences Per participant for scheduled and ad hoc conferences (MCU only). Even if the conference default was to enable H.239 from endpoints, while a conference is active you can disable the content channel for a particular endpoint by displaying the participants for the conference and clicking on the name to display the settings. See the online help topic Customizing a participant s layout view. Equally if a pre-configured endpoint's configuration has Use conference default for it's H.239 video contribution setting, then this setting has precedence. See the online help topic Configuring H.323 endpoints PC-based streaming of the content channel As well as the H.239 content, the MCU generates a version of the content channel video in a Codianproprietary format. This is used to stream the content channel video to PCs, H.323 endpoints that do not support H.239 and SIP endpoints. It also allows additional functionality not available via the H.239 protocol if the web conferencing option has been enabled: Markup: overlaying the content channel video with graphics and text. Text chat between those streaming the content channel video and other conference participants. See the online help topic H.239 (content channel video) support. i If you are streaming a recording back to a web browser, Java must be installed. 76

85 Using data Using the main video channel as the content channel In addition to supporting the H.239 protocol, the MCU allows a participant's main video channel to also be used for the content stream. (This is essentially what happens for VNC connections.) Whether this happens or not is controlled by two icons that are displayed to the left of the preview in the row for an active participant in a conference. Go to Conferences and select the conference to see the participants. See the online help topic H.239 (content channel video) support for details about each icon. Recording the content channel in a conference The IP VCR has to have H.239 enabled to record the content channel. Go to Settings > H.239 and see the online help topic Configuring H.239 settings. You can also set the size at which the H.239 window will be displayed when you're watching it in a web page. The content channel video stream will always be scaled to the size you specify. If H.239 is enabled, then the IP VCR records any H.239 in any connections, and it plays the H.239 channel back from any recordings that have it in. (If H.239 is enabled and you are using the Recording console, the H.239 video is indicated by a "H.239" icon on the right of the screen.) If H.239 is disabled, then the IP VCR only records the main video stream; however if you are recording a conference from an MCU and the MCU has included H.239 data as part of the main video stream, it will be recorded. When you play back the recording, the H.239 data is seen in one of the video panes. 77

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87 Chapter 12 Encryption Introduction (MCU only) Conferences on the MCU can be encrypted if you have the encryption feature key enabled on your MCU unit or blade. Feature keys for the MCU are available from your reseller. The encryption technology that the MCU uses is Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as part of the H.235 standard. The H.235 standard addresses security and encryption for H.323 devices. Video, audio and content are all encrypted in encrypted conferences. Encryption has to be enabled unit- or blade-wide in the Settings > Encryption page, and you can then set the default behavior for new scheduled conferences to be required or optional. In this page you can also force ad hoc conferences to use encryption. Note that, irrespective of the default, when you add or update a conference configuration you can change the default settings for encryption. In a conference for which encryption is required, only endpoints that support AES encryption can join the conference. However, if encryption is optional, the MCU will advertise its ability to use AES encryption and will encrypt the call if the endpoint supports AES encryption also. However, the conference can comprise a mixture of encrypted and unencrypted calls, and an in-view icon shows all the participants that the conference is insecure. You cannot include SIP endpoints in conferences that require encryption. Equally, currently you cannot record a conference for which encryption is required using the IP VCR, but you can record ones for which is it optional. (Other Codian products, including the IP VCR, will support encryption in future releases.) You can stream conferences regardless of whether they are encrypted or not; if you want to disallow streaming for a conference, you can disable it in the conference configuration. 79

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89 Chapter 13 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar Introduction This chapter covers both H.323 gatekeepers and SIP registrars. It also describes the built-in H.323 gatekeeper that is available on MCU, IP VCR, and IP GW units and blades. Why use an H.323 gatekeeper You can use an H.323 gatekeeper with an MCU, IP VCR, IP GW, or ISDN gateway. An H.323 gatekeeper allows you to: Dial endpoints using directory numbers (E.164 number) or names as well as IP addresses. Equally, endpoints can dial directly into conferences or recordings using directory numbers Use service prefixes to aid routing of calls Balance the load of a conference (However, if you do not want to use a gatekeeper because of the cost, the initial setting up which can be complicated or because you want to keep the items of equipment to a minimum, you can use the built-in gatekeeper provided with Codian MCUs, IP VCRs, and IP GWs). In addition, even without a gatekeeper, you can still cater for most video conferencing requirements.) Why use a SIP registrar SIP endpoints cannot use an H.323 gatekeeper but a SIP registrar provides similar functionality. You can use a SIP registrar with the MCU, the IP VCR, and the IP GW. Go to Settings > SIP to configure the registrar. A SIP registrar allows you to register: An MCU, an IP VCR, or an IP GW An auto attendant on an MCU. Note that you must configure the auto attendant s Numeric ID with the SIP registrar before the MCU can register that ID A conference on an MCU allowing participants to dial directly to the conference. Note that for SIP, unlike H.323, the conference must be configured on the SIP registrar before the MCU can register it A SIP endpoint on either an MCU, IP VCR, or IP GW 81

90 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar Internally stored recordings on an IP VCR if the IP VCR is configured on the SIP registrar i The Microsoft LCS registrar needs to be configured to recognise the unit s IP address and treat it as authenticated. For more information, see the FAQs. Registering a unit or blade with an H.323 gatekeeper If you are intending to use a unit or MSE blade with an H.323 gatekeeper, go to Settings > Gatekeeper to enable gatekeeper usage. Then identify both the gatekeeper to be used and the ID by which your unit / MSE blade will be known to the gatekeeper. Many but not all of the fields are the same irrespective of unit or blade type. See the online help topic Displaying gatekeeper settings (MCU and IP VCR) or Configuring gatekeeper settings (IP GW and ISDN GW). i Each unit / MSE blade can only register with one gatekeeper. If this is the in-built gatekeeper, see The built-in gatekeeper (MCU, IP VCR, IP GW) later in this chapter. Registration types An MCU or IP VCR can be registered with an H.323 gatekeeper as one of a number of types. Getting the type correct is important and depends on the unit or MSE blade and gatekeeper you are using, and whether you want to use a service prefix. See the online help topic Displaying gatekeeper settings. Service and dial plan prefixes Service prefixes (MCU and IP VCR) and dial plan prefixes (ISDN GW and IP GW) have the same purpose. They enable you to specify a prefix which is registered with the gatekeeper. Any calls to numbers beginning with that prefix are routed to the Codian unit / MSE blade. See the online help topic Displaying gatekeeper settings (MCU and IP VCR), Making calls to the ISDN gateway (ISDN GW), Getting Started with the IP gateway (IP GW). Point-to-point call prefixes (IP VCR) If you want to make a point-to-point call between two H.323 endpoints on an IP VCR you must specify an incoming prefix for these calls. See the online help topic Displaying gatekeeper settings. The outgoing prefix is optional. When making point-to-point calls through the IP VCR, the incoming prefix is stripped from the dialed number and the outgoing prefix added (if it exists) before the outgoing part of the call is attempted. 82

91 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar MCU Registrations, Prefixes and Conference IDs This section explains the way in which the MCU behaves in the areas of conference gatekeeper registrations, conference IDs, and the connection of incoming calls to conferences based on called party number, including how it is affected by the Prefix for MCU registrations and the MCU Service Prefix fields in the Gatekeeper Settings page. Conference Creation This section provides the resulting conference ID, gatekeeper registration, and SIP registration depending on the way a conference is created. In the following: SP: the MCU Service Prefix LP: the locally applied Prefix for MCU registrations For scheduled conferences created via the web interface: The conference ID is as specified by the user The gatekeeper registered directory number (E.164 number) is LP + conference ID For ad hoc conference created using the auto-attendant: The conference ID is as specified by the user The gatekeeper registered directory number (E.164 number) is LP +conference ID For ad hoc conference created by dialing in to unrecognized E.164 number: The conference ID is the dialed number, after stripping the SP if it begins with it The gatekeeper registered directory number (E.164 number) is the dialed number (with nothing stripped) Dial-in conference matching When a participant dials in, the called party number (CPN) is compared with all active conference IDs, and the participant is connected to the first conference which matches using the following algorithm: 1 The CPN is compared with the IDs of each conference in turn 2 If the CPN begins with the SP, the SP is stripped and the resulting number is compared with each conference in turn 3 If the CPN begins with the LP, the LP is stripped and the resulting number is compared with each conference in turn 83

92 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar Registering conferences, recordings, and other IDs with a gatekeeper (MCU and IP VCR) You can register individual conferences (MCUs) and recordings (IP VCR) with a gatekeeper. Then people can dial the registered number and get straight to their conference or recording. See the online help topics Adding and updating conferences and Viewing and updating recording details. On the IP VCR, you can also register Recording IDs and Recording console IDs. Each folder on the IP VCR can have its own Recording ID and/or Recording console ID (and an auto attendant ID). A Recording ID enables a new recording to be placed directly into a particular folder; this is different to a recording s numeric ID which identifies a recording. A Recording console ID enables a recording to be made via the recording console directly into a particular folder. Registering auto attendants with the gatekeeper (MCU and IP VCR) If you are using a gatekeeper with either the MCU or IP VCR, you may want to register the auto attendants with the gatekeeper. The MCU can have a number of auto attendants and each one can be registered separately with its own unique number. Go to Conferences > Auto attendant and select the auto attendant to register or click Add new auto attendant. Enter the number for the auto attendant in the H.323 gatekeeper ID field. See the online help topic Adding and updating an auto attendant. The IP VCR can have an number of auto attendants that allow you to select a recording to play back or start recording. Each one can be registered separately with a gatekeeper. Auto attendant gatekeeper IDs are a feature of folders on the IP VCR. Any folder can have its own auto attendant. See the online help topic Adding and updating folders. i You do not need to register auto attendants with the gatekeeper. If you don t, you can still get to the default auto attendant by dialing the unit or MSE blade s IP address, and you can display the other auto attendants by adding them to the main auto attendant s menu. 84

93 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar The built-in gatekeeper (MCU, IP VCR, IP GW) If you are using an H.323 gatekeeper with the MCU, IP VCR, or IP GW, this can be the built-in gatekeeper. Up to 25 devices can be registered without a feature key and the unit would count as one of these registrations. Feature keys can be purchased to increase this number. Enabling the gatekeeper To use the gatekeeper requires three steps: 1 Open a port for the gatekeeper in the Network > Services page. (Ports are not open by default for security reasons.) 2 Enable the built-in gatekeeper in the Gatekeeper page. 3 Configure the unit to use the gatekeeper. See the online help topic, Configuring gatekeeper settings. 85

94 Using a gatekeeper or SIP registrar 86

95 Chapter 14 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR) Introduction Both the MCU and the IP VCR support streaming on RealPlayer, QuickTime or Windows Media Player via web browsers or standalone applications. Streaming participants can watch and listen to a conference but not take active part in it. Equally, browsers can connect to the IP VCR and play back a recording while it is being made or after it has completed. Configuring streaming Both the MCU and the IP VCR support unicast streaming (a direct connection to one browser) and multicast streaming (transmitting a single copy to more than one browser simultaneously) - see below. See the online help topics Using streaming to view conferences (MCU) or Using streaming to view recordings (IP VCR) that explain the options streaming viewers can select. This includes the bandwidth and viewer to be used. Unicast and multicast streaming on the IP VCR Streaming of a completed recording on the IP VCR is always unicast; that is each browser selects a recording to watch independently. Two or more browsers can select and play back the same recording simultaneously but each one will occupy one port. You can stream a recording while it is being made (a live recording) and this can be in either unicast or multicast mode, so long as the multicast check box has been selected in the Settings > Recording page for the streaming recording video bit rate setting you have selected. i See the see the section Streaming with Windows Media Player later in this chapter. 87

96 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR) Multicast streaming on the MCU You can set up the MCU to provide unicast streaming, multicast streaming or both. If you set the MCU up for multicast streaming (or both unicast and multicast), there are a number of options you may want to set, such as the Media transmit IP address range. In general the defaults will work, but if you want to change them go to Settings > Streaming and see the online help topic Configuring streaming settings. Each conference also has a setting for streaming which is only applicable if the MCU as a whole has streaming enabled. If both the MCU and the conference have been set up for multicast streaming then the conference will be streamed at the rates set up in the Settings > Streaming page.. i You can set up to two codec and bit rate combinations for streaming and you need to be sure that the settings you pick do not flood the network when multicast streaming is used. Typically, when two streaming rates are used, one is set up as a low bit rate combination and the other is configured to use a higher bit rate. This enables those users with a low bandwidth connection to achieve useful streaming while at the same time allowing those with a high bandwidth link to take advantage of enhanced video. i See the section Streaming with Windows Media Player later in chapter. Streaming ad hoc conferences Ad hoc conferences cannot be streamed in multicast mode, but if the MCU has streaming enabled, you can also enable unicast streaming for ad hoc conferences in the Streaming page. Go to Settings > Streaming and see the online help topic Configuring streaming settings. Streaming with Windows Media Player Every person who will stream a conference or recording using Windows Media Player has to download the Codian WMP codec application the first time they want to stream. This is available from every MCU and IP VCR: you see the link click here to download the codec if Windows Media Player is unable to process the media stream. Note that you need to restart the browser after installation completes. You can only use unicast streaming with Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player version 11 only supports the HTTP protocol; it no longer supports MMS over UDP or MMS over TCP. When configuring the protocol for Windows Media Player on the Settings > Streaming page, select HTTP. (Although if you do select auto negotiation, streaming will still take place: auto negotiation attempts to open the most efficient connection, and will switch protocols if unable to do so. In the case of Windows Media Player version 11, auto negotiation might try other protocols but will resort to HTTP.) 88

97 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR) Port allocation when streaming Streaming a conference uses one video port of your MCU's port allocation however many participants are streaming: only one video port is used per conference whatever the combination of bit rates etc. Therefore streaming is affected by port reservation see Port reservation (MCU only) on page 37. Content channel streaming From v1.4, the content channel can now be seen by streaming viewers, even if the MCU does not have the optional web conferencing feature key (see the next section). However, without the feature key the content channel appears as another pane in the view, rather than as a separate (big) window within users' web browsers. With the feature key installed, when playing back a recording or viewing a conference that includes a content channel on a browser, the user can choose whether to include the content channel. To see the content channel, java must be installed and H.239 enabled. Go to Settings > H.239. See the online help topic Configuring H.239 Settings. With the feature key installed, when streaming a conference or recording, display the advanced settings to define the content size and bandwidth of the H.239 display sent. (For higher quality content channels e.g x 768, choose Large or Extra large for the content size.) See the online help topic Using streaming to view conferences (MCU) or Using streaming to view recordings (IP VCR). (For more information about the content channel see Chapter 11 Using data.) Web conferencing option (MCU only) The web conferencing option allows streaming viewers to take part in H.239-enabled conferences. If there is no H.239 channel in the conference being viewed, or the View content channel checkbox is not selected, only the standard embedded player showing the conference will be seen when the conference is streamed. When the web conferencing option has been purchased and an H.239-enabled conference is streamed with the View content channel checkbox selected, the window has a number of areas as shown below. 89

98 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR) Figure 23: Web conferencing window areas The participant list shows the sign-in names of all Web Conferencing participants, but not participants who are connected via normal H.323 endpoints. Text can be typed into the field above the Clear mark-up button. Other Web Conferencing participants will see it in the box immediately above it; H.323 participants will see it in the lower left-hand corner of their main video screens. It is also possible to annotate (mark up) H.239 content, both by drawing and by typing on it. Text and drawing color can be selected from the drop-down menus at the bottom of the screen. To draw on the content, click and drag the mouse along the line you wish to draw. All conference participants viewing H.239 will see your drawing. To enter text on the content, click where you want the text to start and commence typing. All conference participants viewing H.239 will see your comments. To clear all the drawing and text on the content channel, click the Clear mark-up button. This will remove all the mark-up, not just one participant's. i A sign-in name is required for Web Conferencing and if you log in to the web interface this the name that is used. However, if you stream from the Stream a conference page you will not use one and you will appear as unnamed in the participant list. Equally, when you send a message there will be no name and other participants will not know who the message is from. Customizing streaming By looking at the source code of the web browser page you can: display the conference or recording in your own web page (and then change where parts of the page appear if you wish by amending the code). To do this, copy and paste the code between the following lines: 90

99 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR) <!-- To embed the player in your own custom webpage, begin copying below this line --> <!-- Stop copying above this line. You can now paste the copied code into your own webpage --> watch the conference or recording in a standalone viewer by copying the url of the conference s web stream. This will have the format rtsp://<ip address>/<internal parameter><conference or recording name> As well as finding this url in the source code it can be displayed in an information page on the MCU and IP VCR. The information page is opened by clicking the Summary information displayed when you select a conference or recording in the web interface. icon which is 91

100 Streaming (MCU and IP VCR) 92

101 Chapter 15 Using firewalls Introduction This chapter describes the Codian Video Firewall Option and how it is implemented. It also provides some information that you might require if you are using Codian products in conjunction with third-party firewalls. The Codian Video Firewall Option If you have video conferencing users outside of your company network, Codian recommends that you use the Codian Video Ffirewall Option. Such users can include: conference participants streaming conference viewers users uploading or downloading files to the IP VCR using either FTP or HTTP The Codian Video Firewall Option allows hosts (video conferencing endpoints, PCs, laptops, IP telephones, etc.) on both local and public networks to connect to the MCU or IP VCR, without any traffic from either network being able to enter the other network. This provides full video conferencing functionality to local and public hosts while maintaining complete network security. The Codian Video Firewall Option is available on all MCUs and IP VCRs if you have the feature key and have activated it. You can either purchase your MCU or IP VCR with the feature pre-enabled or purchase the activation key from your reseller later. Port functionality in the Video Firewall In its default state, Port B is disabled on the MCU and IP VCR. The activation of the Video Firewall Option allows Port B to be enabled. In a typical deployment of the Video Firewall Option, Port A is connected to the local network and Port B is connected to the Internet. (This is because Port B cannot use DHCP; therefore as DHCP is often required on the local network, it is usually Port A that is connected to the local network.) Figure 24 shows a typical deployment of the Video Firewall Option. 93

102 Using firewalls Figure 24: The Video Firewall Option Port A MCU/ IP VCR Port B IP endpoint Company LAN Internet Router IP endpoint The MCU or IP VCR does not behave as a router, bridge, or switch; no packets can ever pass between the unit or MSE blade s two network ports (Port A and Port B). Routing between ports is permanently disabled. The system does not forward packets between ports. All control and media connections are bound to specific physical ports. Media is not forwarded from one port to the other. In the case of conference participants, the media from each participant is terminated at the port, and used to create the conference video. The conference video is then encoded for each participant and sent out from the appropriate port. The exception is the IP VCR making a point-to-point recording in which one endpoint is reached through port A and the other is reached through port B. In this case media packets are forwarded between the two ports. Even in this case no network packets are forwarded, just the media. The following services can be disabled on Ports A and B: HTTP H.323 (incoming) Incoming SIP Streaming (Windows Media Player) Streaming (other) FTP Typically, in a Video Firewall Option configuration, you configure the default gateway preference as the port connected to the Internet (Port B). You must create static routes to the other interface (that is, Port A: the local network). This is described below. 94

103 Using firewalls Configuring the Video Firewall Option To configure the Video Firewall Option takes a number of steps. 1 First activate the Video Firewall Option. (This step is not necessary if you purchased your unit / MSE blade with the feature already activated.) Go to Settings > Upgrade and see the online help topic Upgrading the firmware. 2 Then configure Port B (assuming that you will use Port A to connect to the local network and Port B to connect to the Internet; that is the typical configuration. However, you can connect Port A to the Internet and Port B to the local network but note that you cannot use DHCP to acquire an IP address on Port B). Go to Settings > Network B and see the online help topic Configuring network settings. 3 Configure IP routes. Go to Settings > Routes. Select which port will be the default gateway and the port for DNS preference. For traffic which will not go to the default gateway (typically local traffic), create static routes. See the online help topic Configuring IP Routing Settings. Example Video Firewall Option configuration Figure 25 below shows an example configuration for a Video Firewall Option solution. The example settings are shown in Table 1.! The settings in this example are provided as an illustration only. DO NOT USE this exact configuration. 95

104 Using firewalls Figure 25: An example configuration of the Video Firewall Option Port A MCU/ IP VCR Port B IP endpoint Company LAN Internet Firewall IP endpoint Table 1: Example configuration for the Video Firewall Option solution Field Example setting Settings > Network B Port enabled Yes Host name my-mcu IP configuration Manual (default) IP address Subnet mask Default gateway Name server (DNS) Secondary name server Not set Domain name (DNS suffix) codian.com 96

105 Using firewalls Table 1: Example configuration for the Video Firewall Option solution (Continued) Field Example setting Settings > Routes Default gateway preference Name server (DNS) preference IP address / mask length Route Port B Port B / 24 Port A Working with third party firewalls If you do not use the Codian Video Firewall Option and you have video conferencing users outside of your company network, you might have your MCU and/or IP VCR behind a third-party firewall. Figure 26 shows how your network might look. Figure 26: MCU/IP VCR behind third-party firewall IP endpoint MCU/ IP VCR Company LAN Router Internet IP endpoint If you are using the MCU/IP VCR behind a third-party firewall, there are a number of issues of which you should be aware: H.323 protocol connections use a number of different ports, your firewall must be H.323 aware for these connections to be successful 97

106 Using firewalls Some firewalls have a H.323 timeout setting. You must ensure that this is sufficient for the conferences that will be taking place Users on the other side of the firewall will not be able to view streaming conferences in the Codian web conferencing applet i If you have video conferencing users outside of your company network, Codian recommends that you upgrade to the Video Firewall Option. 98

107 Chapter 16 Call detail records (MCU & ISDN GW) Introduction The MCU and ISDN gateway can generate Call Detail Records (CDRs) which can be used for auditing and billing purposes. Configuring call detail records When enabled on the CDR log page: on the MCU: records are generated whenever a conference starts or finishes, and when participants join and leave conferences on the ISDN GW: records are generated whenever a call starts or finishes i To log CDRs there must be a 256 Mb compact flash card in the compact flash card slot. The MCU and ISDN gateway do not store CDRs internally. If there is no compact flash card present, and you have enabled CDR logging, errors will appear in the event log. To display the CDR log page, go to Events > CDR log. On this page you can: Set the logging parameters View the contents of the log Download the log as an XML file. (This can be useful because you can only read the compact flash card contents on the device from which they were written. However you can also connect to the MCU or ISDN gateway via ftp and download the log file that way) For more information see the online help topic Working with call detail records. 99

108 Call detail records (MCU & ISDN GW) 100

109 Chapter 17 General housekeeping Introduction There are a number of tasks that you may need to perform from time to time. These are described in this chapter. Setting the system time You can change the system time on all the Codian units. Go to Settings > Time and see the online help topic Displaying and resetting system time. i Codian units do not adjust for Daylight Saving Time automatically. Network Time Protocol Codian supports either NTP or SNTP, to allow units and blades to synchronize their clock with an NTP server. To specify an NTP server, go to Settings > Time and enter the address or hostname, and the offset from UTC. There is no support for daylight saving time. The NTP feature has been tested with several public NTP servers and also with a Cisco router. System status and event logging You can display the system status on all the units and MSE blades. There are two pages common to all units / MSE blades: General status which shows details such as a unit s IP address and software version. Go to Status > General and see the online help topic Displaying general status Health which shows hardware details such as whether the fans are working correctly. Go to Status > Health and the online help topic Displaying hardware health status In addition each unit / MSE blade type has a specific status page: 101

110 General housekeeping the Conference status page in the MCU displays the status of active and completed conferences. See the online help topic Displaying conference status the Recording status page shows information about stored recordings and recordings being played back. See the online help topic Displaying recording status the ISDN status page shows the status and the ISDN ports. See the online help topic Displaying ISDN status Each unit / MSE blade also keeps event logs for troubleshooting purposes and their contents can be displayed on a number of pages as explained in the online help topic Working with event logs. However, the event logs are not for everyday administration and you are advised not to change any log settings except on the advice of Codian technical support. Upgrading software versions From time to time you may need to upgrade the version of software running on your unit or MSE blade. The current version that you are running is displayed in the General Status page. Newer versions can be downloaded from the Codian web site. This can be done either through the web interface or by using FTP. In general FTP is more reliable than using the Web interface for upgrades. Instructions for both methods are provided in the Release note for a particular version but if you are using the web interface also see the online help topic Upgrading the firmware (MCU and IP VCR) or Upgrading the ISDN gateway. The configuration of a unit or MSE blade (for example user accounts) persists during an upgrade. The progress of the upgrade can be monitored through the serial port. i Before upgrading make sure that the unit / MSE blade is not in use. Anyone using the unit / MSE blade at the time of the upgrade may experience poor performance and loss of connectivity If you are using FTP, make sure that the FTP service is enabled on the Network > Services page With a fast network connection the total time to upload, upgrade and restart the unit / MSE blade is approximately 6 minutes 102

111 General housekeeping Using additional options (features keys) All units and MSE blades require activation before most of the features can be used. New units and new MSE blades are already activated but if you want to activate an optional feature subsequently such as the Video Firewall Option on the MCU, you will need to activate the appropriate feature key for that feature. (Feature keys are alphanumeric codes specific to a unit or MSE blade that allow you to use certain advanced features.) The process for activating a unit / MSE blade or enabling an advanced feature is the same and uses the Settings > Upgrade page. See the online help topic Upgrading the firmware (MCU and VCR) or Upgrading the ISDN gateway. You may need to contact Codian or your reseller to obtain an appropriate activation feature key. Backing up the configuration file Backing up a Codian unit You can back up and restore the configuration of your unit. You may want to take a backup as a security measure and the same process can be used to transfer a configuration from one unit to another one of the same type. However, before doing this, be sure to keep a copy of the original feature keys from the unit whose configuration is being replaced because each unit requires unique feature keys (see the previous section). To find the feature keys go to Settings > Upgrade. FTP is required - make sure that the FTP service is enabled on the Network > Services page. Instructions on how to back up and restore are in the FAQs on the Codian web site and in the online help topic Backing up and restoring the configuration. Automatic backups on MSE blades The configuration of all the MSE blades, including the Supervisor blade, can be backed up automatically every 5 minutes. Backups are made to the compact flash card on the Supervisor blade. If there is no compact flash card, backups cannot occur. In addition you can perform a manual backup (known as a master backup) at any time, and we recommend that you do so every time you make significant configuration changes. See the online help topics, Backing up the Supervisor blade and Individual blade backup configuration. 103

112 General housekeeping Shutting down a unit or blade Codian units and MSE blades are designed to run continuously and therefore do not have an on/off power switch. However, from time to time, you may need to shut down the unit / MSE blade and restart it. The most common reason for this is to upgrade the software version as described earlier in this chapter. You should also shut down the IP VCR or ISDN gateway before intentionally removing power. Shutting down the MCU disconnects all conference participants, and allows the MCU to ensure that all data (such as Call Detail Records) is stored correctly Shutting down the IP VCR stops all recording and play back Shutting down the ISDN gateway disconnects all active calls To shut down a unit or MSE blade, go to Settings > Shutdown and see the online help topic Shutting down and restarting. Recovering the admin password/resetting to factory defaults If you have lost the administrator password to your unit then you won't be able to connect in by FTP to retrieve its configuration or activation keys. You can remove all the configuration, resetting to the default values (including passwords) but having done this, you will have to reconfigure your unit from scratch. See the FAQ, How do I recover the administrator password of my Codian unit? For the MCU and IP VCR, from release 2.1, there is a command available on the serial console across all MCU and IP VCR devices called "reset_password" which, with no additional parameters supplied, will reset the system-created administrator account back to the user name "admin" and no configured password. This preserves the rest of the unit s configuration. When the '-all' parameter is used, all user accounts are reset to have no password. 104

113 Index Symbols.codian file format for recordings 59 Numerics 4CIF feature key 49 A Activating optional features 103 Active conferences 46 Ad hoc conferences 46 streaming 88 Admin user account 35 setting a password 35 Advanced Encryption Standard 79 AES 79 Auto attendant 38 customizing the banner 39 on IP VCR 58 setting a PIN 39 B Backing up a configuration file 103 Built-in gatekeeper 85 C Call Detail Records 99 configuring 99 Completed conferences 46 Conferences active conferences 46 ad hoc conferences 46 advantages of pre-configured endpoints 47 completed conferences 46 conference layouts 48 conference ownership 51 conference PINS 49 conference types 46 configuring the content channel 76 content channel support 49 displaying conference statistics 53 how participants access conferences 45 registering with a gatekeeper 84 scheduled conferences 46 scheduled vs. ad hoc 46 sending messages during 53 stopping scheduled conferences early 47 video size in a conference 49 Conferencing considerations on the MCU 45 Connection status on IP VCR 61 Console port 41 Content channel configuring 76 MCU sharing data with endpoints 17 recording on the IP VCR 77 streaming 76, 89 support 49 support on IP VCR 61 support on MCU 51 using markup 76 Customizing localizing the web interface and online help 40 streaming 90 the auto attendant banner 39 voice prompts 40 D DHCP 33 Dial plan using with IP GW 71 Dial plan for ISDN gateway 63 Dial plan prefixes 82 DTMF tones 41 E E , 62 Encryption 79 Endpoints 5, 6 enabling/disabling the content channel 76 pre-configured 47, 62 VNC 20, 77 Ethernet 105

114 settings and routes 33 Event logs 102 F Far End Camera Control 41 Feature keys 103 4CIF 49 video firewall 93 Firewall configuring the Video Firewall Option 95 third party firewalls 97 video conferencing using a firewall and H.323 gateway scenario 28 Video Firewall Option 93 FTP 99, 102 to communicate with Codian units 41 G Gatekeeper 6 built-in 85 dial plan prefixes 82 registering a unit with the gatekeeper 82 registering an auto attendant 84 registering conferences and recordings 84 registration types for MCU and IP VCR 82 service prefixes 82 using with IP gateway 70, 72 using with ISDN gateway 65 video conferencing with a gatekeeper scenario 23 with MCU 53 Gateway, see ISDN GW 3200 series or H.323 gateway Guest user account 35 H H.239 protocol 7, 75 defining whether a conference will support H IP VCR recording data (the content channel) scenario 20 ISDN and IP endpoints sharing data 21 markup 90 MCU sharing data with endpoints scenario 17 on IP VCR 61 on MCU 51 recording the content channel on the IP VCR 77 streaming the content channel 76 web conferencing option 89 H.323 Gatekeeper why use a gatekeeper 81 H.323 gatekeeper, see Gatekeeper H.323 gateway 6, 52 on IP VCR 62 video conferencing scenario 27 H.323 protocol 5, 7 H.323 terminal 6 I IP GW 13, 69 auto attendant behaviour 38 Calls list 72 dial plan 71 failed calls settings 70 monitoring calls 72 setting up the auto attendant 70 using with a gatekeeper 72 IP PBX 62 IP VCR 2200 series 11 benefits and features 11 auto attendant behaviour 38 auto-attendant ID 57 backing up a configuration file 103 built-in gateway function 6, 27, 62 built-in video firewall 93 call handling 57 configuring streaming 87 configuring the content channel 76 connection status 61 customizing the auto attendant banner 39 data (content channel) support 61 default connection bandwidth 58 file formats for recordings

115 localizing voice prompts 40 making recordings 55 MPEG Converter 60 numeric ID 57 point to point prefix 57 point-to-point call scenario 23 point-to-point calls 82 Port B 93 pre-configured endpoints 62 recording a conference scenario 20 recording console 56 recording console ID 57, 84 recording data (content channel) scenario 20 recording ID 57, 84 recording or playing back with a gatekeeper 25 recording statistics 62 recording the content channel 77 registering a recording with a gatekeeper 84 registering an auto attendant with a gatekeeper 84 service prefix 57 shutting down 104 software firewall feature 28 transferring recordings 59 upgrading software version 102 video size 58 ISDN GW 6, 63, series 12 benefits and features 12 models in the series 12 active calls statistics 67 auto attendant behaviour 38 backing up a configuration file 103 conferencing with ISDN and IP endpoints, gatekeeper scenario 25 connecting to the ISDN network 63 displaying port activity 67 ISDN and IP endpoints communicating scenario 21 ISDN calls list 67 ISDN status page 102 monitoring calls 67 routing calls 63 shutting down 104 upgrading software version 102 using with a gatekeeper 65 voice-only calls 66 L Layouts when viewing conferences 48 Localized MCU units 40 Localizing localization package 40 M Markup over the content channel 76 MCU series 10 benefits and features 10 models in the series series 9 associating audio-only endpoints with a user account 36 associating video endpoint with a user account 36 auto attendant behaviour 38 backing up a configuration file 103 built-in gateway function 6, 27, 52 built-in video firewall 93 call detail records 99 cascading MCUs 52 conferencing considerations 45 configuring call detail records 99 configuring streaming 87, 88 configuring the content channel 76 customizing the auto attendant banner 39 data (content channel) support 51 firewall 28 load balancing MCUs 52 localized units 40 localizng voice prompts 40 MCU hosting conference between ISDN and IP endpoints 22 MCU streaming to a web browser scenario

116 MCU with three endpoints scenario 16 port allocation for streaming 89 Port B 93 port reservation 37 registering a conference with a gatekeeper 84 registering an auto attendant with a gatekeeper 84 sharing data with endpoints scenario 17 shutting down 104 streaming the content channel 76 upgrading software version 102 using with a gatekeeper 53 video conferencing with a gatekeeper scenario 25 Messaging 76 during a conference 53 MPEG 1 format file 59 MPEG Converter 60 MSE 8000 series 13 Multicast streaming 87 Multipoint Conference Unit, see MCU N Networking considerations 33 NTP 101 O Operator using with IP GW 70 Ownership of conferences 51 P Pane placement 49 Participants displaying participant statistics 53 Permanent vs. time limited conferences 46 PIN conference PIN 50 Point-to-point calls 82 Port allocation streaming 89 Port B on MCU and IP VCR 93 Port reservation 37 ad hoc conferences not allowed 46 consequences of enabling 37 enabling 38 Pre-configured endpoints advantages of 47 on IP VCR 62 PRIs 12 Privilege levels 35 PSTN telephones 6 Q Quality of Service (QoS) 34 R RealPlayer 87 Recordings displaying recording statistics 62 file formats 59 looping back after play back 58 making recordings 55 recording settings 58 registering with a gatekeeper 84 reservation 37, 38 S Scheduled conferences 46 consequences of stopping early 47 vs ad hoc conferences 46 Serial port 41 Service prefixes 82 Session Initialization Protocol, see SIP Shutting down a unit 104 SIP 6 Microsoft LCS registrar 82 not with encryption 79 proxy server 7 SIP registrar 6, 53 user agent 6 why use a SIP registrar 81 SIP registrar using with IP GW 72 SNMP 34 Static IP address

117 Statistics displaying conference and participant statistics 53 for IP gateway 72 for ISDN gateway 67 Status conference status 102 general status 101 hardware health page 101 ISDN status page 102 recording status 102 Streaming 87 ad hoc conferences 88 content channel 89 MCU streaming to a web browser scenario 17 multicast 87, 88 unicast 87 Windows Media Player 88 Summary information icon 91 System time 101 T Text chat 76 Transferring recordings 59 U Unicast streaming 87 Upgrading 102 User accounts 35 adding user accounts 35 associating audio-only endpoint with a user account on the Codian MCU 36 associating video endpoint with a user account on the Codian MCU 36 configuring 35 maximum number 36 setting the admin password 35 V Video conferencing overview diagram 15 Video conferencing scenario IP VCR recording a conference 20 IP VCR recording data (the content channel) scenario 20 IP VCR recording or playing back scenario 19 ISDN and IP endpoints communicating 21 MCU hosting a conference between ISDN and IP endpoints 22 MCU sharing data with endpoints 17 MCU streaming to a web browser 17 MCU with three endpoints 16 point-to-point call 23 video conferencing using a firewall and H.323 gateway 28 video conferencing with a gatekeeper scenario 23 video conferencing with ISDN and IP endpoints using a gatekeeper 26 Video Firewall Option 93 configuring 95 Video size 49 on IP VCR 58 VNC endpoints 20, 77 W Web conferencing option 89 Web interface 41 upgrading a unit 102 Windows Media Player