SWGFL Video Conferencing Service South West Grid for Learning Version 1.1 Author: Steve Cayley Ian White Date: February 2004 SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 1
SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 2
Introduction...4 Registering your Video Conferencing System...5 Adding your endpoint...6 Configuring your Endpoint...7 Testing...7 Test Conference...7 Making Calls...8 Registering External Endpoints...9 Appendix 1 Configuring Microsoft NetMeeting...10 Setting the Gatekeeper...11 SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 3
Introduction The purpose of this document is to provide information for schools on how to configure video conferencing systems to use the SWGfL Video Conferencing Service. This service has been updated to take advantage of the national standard for E164 numbering of endpoints, improve some aspects of security, offer multipoint facilities and an ISDN gateway. To use the service each video conferencing endpoint first needs to be registered. During this process an E164 number and H323 name is assigned for use by the system. The E164 number is like a telephone number and is used to call other systems. The national schema for education allows for up to 999 potential endpoints for each school. Schools are able to register their own video conferencing endpoints through the use of the SWGfL Video Conferencing Services web site. In addition this web site provides information of systems currently connected to the services as well as a directory of registered system. Facilities are provided for schools to register video conferencing endpoints at sites external to the grid. SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 4
Registering your Video Conferencing System To make a Video Conferencing call over the SWGfL the video conferencing system must be registered with the Video Conferencing Service. To register a system log on to the Video Conferencing Service http://vcs.swgfl.org.uk/admin and enter your username and password. A screen similar to the one shown below, lists video conferencing systems registered for your school, and video conferencing systems external to the SWGfL that are able to conference with your school. This screen is divided into two sections. The upper section is used to create, edit and delete endpoints (video conferencing systems) for your school. The lower section enables registrations of endpoints external to the SWGfL to be able to connected to the SWGfL gatekeeper and make a video conference call to your school. SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 5
Adding your endpoint Select Create New Endpoint and a screen with the form below is displayed. H323 ID: Comment E 164: IP Address Ex directory The H323 ID: is automatically prefixed with the school DfES number. The remainder of field can be used to describe your system This is a free text field to add more information for future reference Enter three digits to uniquely define the end point in the school. Note 1 is entered as 001. The 17 digit number generated will be used by other users to call this video conferencing system. Normally the Individual Address is selected and the IP address of the video conferencing system is entered in the space below. Institution IP ranges is used where DCHP is used to allocate IP addresses to video conferencing systems. The SWGfL strongly recommend that fixed IP addresses are used with all video conferencing systems Click on this box to prevent the details appearing the directory. Endpoint Type Select from the drop down menu the type of endpoint that best matches the Video Conferencing system Click on Create Endpoint to save the details. You will be prompted if any of the details are completed incorrectly, or conflicts with existing registrations. The IP Address, H323 name and E164 Number will be used in the configuration of the video conferencing system. SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 6
Configuring your Endpoint There is no standard interface for configuring video conferencing systems and therefore the following information is provided to hep with the configuration process for your systems, As more systems are used across the South West specific details will be published in the SWGfL Regional Portal. To use the videoconferencing system over the grid the information supplied to the video conferencing service during the registration needs to be added to the configuration of the system Gatekeeper The SWGfL Gatekeeper has an address of gatekeeper.swgfl.org.uk. Or use the IP Address 62.171.194.50 if your system will not accept the domain address. On a few systems the ports used for the gatekeeper are required and the IP address can be entered as 62.171.194.50:1719. H323 Name Normally the H323 Name can be entered in a defined field in the configuration. Do not forget to add the school DfES number prefix and underscore. For some systems the user name is used the H323 name in which case replace your name with the H323 Name E164 Number The full 17 digit E164 number is required. Testing Endpoint registration Connect your video conferencing system to your network switch or load the video conferencing software. Confirm that the system is registered with the SWGfL gatekeeper by visiting the video conferencing service web site http://vcs.swgfl.org.uk. Your system should appear in the top window with the E164 and H323 name displayed as enter during the registration process. If your system is not displayed, check that your entries for the gatekeeper, H323 name and E164 numbers are correct. Test Conference The SWGfL video conferencing service provides a test conference. This conference is a reflection of the video and audio being sent from your system. Call this conference E164 Number 00440213590001050. You should see the picture from your system and hear your voice, albeit with a slight delay. You can use this conference at any time to test your audio and video settings. Your system is now ready to use the service. SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 7
Making Calls Video conferencing call can only be made to systems that are currently on line and registered with the gatekeeper. Calls can be made using either the H323 name or the E164 number. To list the systems currently registered visit the web site http://vcs.swgfl.org.uk Available systems are displayed in one of three areas. The top area displays endpoints registered within the grid. This list can be filtered based upon Grid or Local LEA by using the links above. External endpoints for your school are displayed in the middle area.. The Resources area will display the grids managed service and any LEA support service for your school. SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 8
Registering External Endpoints Login to the admin section of the Video Conferencing Service Web site http://vcs,swgfl.org.uk/admin. Select Create New External Endpoint from the lower section of the main screen and a screen with the form below is displayed. H323 ID: Comment E 164: IP Address Ex directory The H323 ID: is automatically prefixed with X followed by your school s DfES number. The remainder of field can be used to describe the system This is a free text field to add more information for future reference Enter three digits to uniquely define the end point in the school. Note 1 is entered as 001. The 17 digit number generated will be used by other users to call this video conferencing system. The SWGfL strongly recommend fixed IP addresses. And therefore Individual Address is normally selected and the IP Address of the video conferencing endpoint is entered in the space below. Where a range of address may be used then select range of computers and enter the IP address and subnet mask to define the range of addresses. Check if you do not want the video conferencing system to appear in the main directory. Endpoint Type Select from the drop down menu the type of endpoint that best matches the Video Conferencing system. Valid For: Using the drop down list select the period that this registration will be available. Click on Create Endpoint to save the details. You will be prompted if any of the details are completed incorrectly, or conflicts with existing registrations. The IP Address, H323 name and E164 Number need to be given to the external site to enable configuration of their video conferencing endpoint. SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 9
Appendix 1 Configuring Microsoft NetMeeting Start NetMeeting. Click on Tools then Options Complete the user information. Next click on Bandwidth Settings Select Local Area Network and click on OK. SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 10
Setting the Gatekeeper Next select Advanced Calling Add the Gatekeeper address, use the H323 name as the Account name, and the E164 number as the Phone number. Click OK to save the details SWGfL Video Conferencing Service Page 11