Vidyo Network Configuration Guide Windows XP and Vista Introduction Vidyo is a new video conferencing system used in the latest Attend Anywhere professional networking, video collaboration & service delivery logistics management platform www.attendanywhere.com. The combination of Attend Anywhere and Vidyo provides a user driven high quality face to face communication solution via desktop PC or room based systems over existing Internet services. This higher quality service provides a much more natural conference experience than has been possible even with significant investment in traditional VC equipment and special communication channels. It enables people to exchange service delivery, attend education or meetings at the click of a button on their PC or to participate in groups from facilities that do not have traditional video conferencing equipment. System Description Design A unique feature of the system is its ability to scale the bandwidth used to provide the video streams. This is achieved by providing several channels starting with a base layer and then incremental channels of progressively increasing signal quality. Each connected client will negotiate to scale up to the highest quality available for its hardware and Internet connection capability. The presence of this additional information also allows much better error tolerance than traditional IP based video technology and is therefore significantly more tolerant of the inevitable fluctuations in Internet bandwidth availability. The solution is employs a system similar to many new social communications tools such a MSN or Skype by using a central web based Vidyo Portal to setup point to point or multipoint video calls. The portal provides instructions for the actual video signals to be directed to participants over IP networks by a centrally hosted Vidyo Router. Security The Vidyo system, whilst providing high resolution content presentation is NOT a file sharing or chat client that can be used to move information into or out of organizational networks, outside of normal controlled channels. Capabilities High quality at much lower cost than previously available solutions. Light weight, automatically installed desktop client software Utilizes new high quality, low cost, Web Cam hardware Extremely easy call setup. Up to 100 participants in a conference Desktop application or content presentation Single solution scales from basic to High Definition video quality. Vidyo Network Configuration Guide Page 1 of 5
System Requirements In order to deliver the best results, several requirements must be met. Conference Quality There are several technical factors that contribute to a successful high quality conference experience. These include the camera, PC performance and available bandwidth. The following table lists the grade of equipment and facilities required to achieve a certain level of quality. To get the best experience on a personal desktop or laptop based system the medium level is suggested. The high level is for meeting room based conferencing facilities or high quality consultation rooms. Equipment/Quality Basic Medium High Camera Interface USB 1.0 USB 2.0 Dedicated Video Capture Card Resolution 320 x 240 720p (800 x 400) 1080p (1200 x 600) Frame Rate 15fps 30fps 60fps Performance CPU > 3.0 GHz Single > 2.0 GHz Dual RAM 768MB 1 GB 2 GB Bandwidth Down 2.0 Mbps 4 Mbps 12 Mbps Up 256 Kbps 700Kbps 1.5 Mbps > 2.3 GHz Dual Other Hardware A USB attached, echo cancelling Microphone/Speaker unit can improve the conference experience. Supporting Software The following software should be installed before attempting to connect to the Vidyo system: A recent web browser including: Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 A recent Java Runtime Engine (1.5 or greater) and browser plug-in Web Cam drivers and supporting software, such as Logitech Quick Cam
Vidyo Desktop Client Automatic Installation/Upgrade Process Flow 1. Connect to attendanywhere.com and login using the username and password used to set up your account. 2. Click on Setup and test Vidyo in the right hand panel of the page. 3. After following the steps described click the link to go to the demonstration video room. Click on the Join Room Now button. 4. A pop up window will appear which is responsible for starting the Vidyo session 5. If Java is not installed, or is not the minimum version required, a prompt and link to install/update Java will appear at the top of the page. Follow the link to install the required Java runtime engine. Restart your browser and go step 1. 6. A Java applet then checks if the software is already installed and suitable for the version of the connected router. 7. If necessary the applet then downloads the Vidyo Desktop software from the portal. 8. If it is the first time install then the browser will prompt you to confirm that you wish to install and run the software. If provided, tick the box to confirm that you always trust this source of software. 9. If the software is already installed, but requires an upgrade to match the Vidyo router, the software will be updated silently if the user has previously decided to trust the software source. If not they will be prompted again to permit it. 10. If the software is already installed and up to date then the Java applet tests the connection availability to the router, If OK it then launches the Vidyo Desktop software. If no connection can be established an error is reported in the browser status bar. Details of this installation process and any errors can be seen by right clicking on the Java icon in the bottom right of your task bar and selecting Java Console. 11. On successful installation, the Vidyo Desktop software will be enabled for running at Windows start up by inclusion in a system Run registry key. Administrator or Power User access to the PC. In order to successfully install or upgrade the software on a Windows PC the user logged on must have sufficient access to create files in the Program Files directory and to create/modify system registry keys. This allow by the normal user in some IT environments. In other cases this is only allowed by users with Administrators or Power User equivalent security privileges. If this is not available then IT support staff will need to login to the PC to conduct the process described above. Troubleshooting The following known issues may be experienced: Issue On session start up Java does not prompt for an upgrade, but just hangs. Vidyo Desktop Client crashes. Solution Install later version of JRE, close browser and then try again. Find Vidyo Desktop process in Task Manager and end the process. Click on Join room now again.
Firewall Traversal Access to the following ports on the Vidyo router is required for the system to function correctly. Depending on your network design this may mean a modification to local PC based firewall rules and/or a change to your organizations Internet firewall. Port Protocol Use 80/443 TCP Client Installation and session initiation 10000 TCP Router connection 50000 TCP Media Connection 50000-51000 UDP Negotiated Media Ports All connections are currently made to vidyo.attendanywhere.com. Firewall rules can be limited to allowing access to this one host. Limiting the range of outgoing Media Ports used by the Vidyo Desktop Client. To limit the range of local media ports that the Vidyo Desktop software will use to communicate with the Vidyo Router: 1. Right click on the Vidyo Desktop Client icon in the right hand side of the Windows Task Bar at the bottom of the screen. 2. Select the Configuration option. A Configuration and Status window will appear as below. 3. Click on the Network Tab 4. For the Media Port Range enter <Start of port range number> to <End of port range number> 5. Click Save
Alternate Firewall Traversal Options From version 1.2 of the Vidyo software, there is a mechanism to determine that the media ports are unreachable and then revert to a TLS connection via port 443, which is almost always available. This style of connection is convenient and will allow participation without any special firewall configuration. Relying on this fall back, however, will degrade the quality of the video conference for the user. Effort should still be made to enable your network to provide the best quality conferencing experience as enhanced communication and training provision will contribute to the quality of patient care and to achieving better outcomes for the health system as a whole.