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There are many forms of communication via IP, whether it is simple e-mail
and instant messaging or more complex communication, such as video
conferencing, Web conferencing with collaboration features, and H.323 or
SIP calling. These applications have their benefits but are usually
administered separately. In these cases, they have not been used to their
fullest potential. Meanwhile, scheduling and managing these applications
becomes lost in the shuffle. The Click to Meet framework attempts to
alleviate these management nightmares while also combining these
technologies so that they can perform together with utmost productivity.
INSTALLATION & CONFIGURATION
For better performance, TMC Labs decided to separate the Conference Server
(First Virtual’s software MCU product) and Click to Meet for Microsoft
Exchange on two different computers. The software installations only took
a few minutes and were very straightforward. We should note, however, that
these servers must be statically assigned to ensure that the servers
always maintain the same IP address and for the software to always be
correctly administered.
When the IP addresses were set, we logged into the Conference Server
and clicked Conferences. No error appeared, which confirmed that the MCU
was working properly. If there were problems or users wanted to use this
Web interface to administer their configurations, there are useful help
files available -- just click on the Help button. For any Click to Meet
configuration and usability issues via Exchange, the user can refer to the
detailed, well-organized online documentation, but there are no help files
on the Exchange Click to Meet screens themselves.
From there, we switched to the Click to Meet for Exchange server, which
integrated Click to Meet and Exchange with a few clean, well designed
interfaces. One of the screens is the Click to Meet Conferencing Provider
Properties, where we could check whether or not the MCU server was
running, as well as perform a test to ensure that the server settings were
configured successfully. Other settings include Web templates used for
customizing the look and feel of the video Web conferencing, enabling
instant messaging conferencing, and specifying a gatekeeper to employ (if
any), including the internal MCU gatekeeper for use with smaller
businesses.
Next, we set up the users that could be included when scheduling video
conferences. To do this, we simply brought up the active directory for
users and computers and added the users just like we would have done in a
normal Microsoft Exchange environment. From there, we looked at the
properties for our new users, which included a Click to Meet tab in
addition to the regular Exchange properties. Here, we made sure that the
user settings were correct, then we enabled instant messaging for most of
our users. Under the Click to Meet tab, we needed to enable the type of
video conferencing that the user was employing, whether it was an
endpoint, a room-based system, or a streaming server. A video conferencing
endpoint was enabled for anyone using an individual camera on his or her
computer and who could use Microsoft Outlook for scheduling video
conferences. The software used here could be either NetMeeting or the
video camera’s software. A room-based system is enabled for those types
of video conferencing systems and to call in NetMeeting clients
specifically as a participant in a video conference but without scheduling
capabilities. Streaming is enabled to allow conferences to be recorded for
later viewing for larger audience distribution. If Microsoft Encoder
Server is installed with the Click to Meet plug-in, streaming can be set
up and then viewed using Media Player or through a Web link.
The last part of the configuration involved setting up the resources
used for particular video conferences. When scheduling a conference, a
resource must be included so that the specific settings are known. From
the Exchange Conference Manager, we could set up the properties for each
resource we wanted. Some of the configurations here include choosing the
layout for the Click to Meet Web conference, audio codec being used (G.711
or G.723), video codec (H.261 or H.263), and choosing the resolution of
the videoconference (CIF, QCIF, and SQCIF). The resolution depends on
which video codec is used and if continuous presence is enabled or not.
Continuous presence always shows the last four speakers on the screen
during a video conference, so it must use the H.261 codec and QCIF
resolution. Voice-activated switching, which focuses on a single speaker
at any given time, can use any video codec and resolution. Also note:
Click to Meet accommodates the user with the lowest bandwidth in a
conference while still giving the maximum bandwidth for other users. In
this way, Click to Meet does not revert to the quality of the video of the
person with the lowest bandwidth.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
Setting up a conference is very similar to scheduling a regular calendar
item in Microsoft Outlook. We scheduled meetings directly from Outlook,
remembering to check the online meeting box and selecting Microsoft
Exchange Conference. When inviting attendees, we made sure to select the
appropriate conference resource. We also set up streaming as a user so
that streaming could be added to the conference. Think of it as a
moderator in a chat room -- the streaming is filming the conference behind
the scenes but still needs to be a “participant” in the conference.
After sending the calendar item, we received a message containing a
link associated with that meeting. When it was time for the meeting, we
could click on the link or click the Join Conference button on Microsoft
Exchange. After we did this, we were given a choice of what type of client
we wanted to use: CUSeeMe Web (Click to Meet’s client), NetMeeting,
H.323 end point, or streamed conference (if this is included in the
particular conference). We preferred the CUSeeMe Web client because we
could use a template that would best fit our needs while still having the
T.120 collaboration features available. The NetMeeting client also worked
well, except for the annoyance of having to accept the call twice every
time we joined a conference in this manner. It is also nice to be able to
include any H.323 end point into a conference even if the device has no
video component. For example, a person with an H.323 IP phone can join in
audibly. This is feasible through a gatekeeper. In addition, the next
release of Click to Meet, which may be out by the time you read this
review, will support SIP equipment, including instant messaging on Windows
XP. Instant messaging is supported on this version, but not for XP’s
latest SIP version.
During one video conference, we invited a CUSeeMe Web client, a
NetMeeting client, and a room-based system and streamed the call. This
type of conference connected easily, except for when the room-based system
was not ready. If this happened, we were forced to cancel the meeting and
then reschedule it. When the room-based system was up, we joined the
conference again, and all the systems were connected. If using the CUSeeMe
Web client, we had to make sure to turn on the microphone. Every time, we
first joined the conference, the microphone was off. We couldn’t find a
way to arrange the microphone default to be “on.” As for the quality
of the audio, there was some delay, but we could hear each other clearly,
using either the G.711 or the G.723 audio codec. The video quality
depended on what equipment we were using -- the conference room-based
system had the best quality while our old dinky USB camera had the worst
quality. Collaboration, including chat and white boarding, was
accomplished without a problem between NetMeeting and/or CUSeeMe clients.
We should also mention that it did take a few seconds for the video to
come up clearly.
CONCLUSION
Click to Meet for Exchange does what it advertises and does it with
minimal headaches. The most difficult part about administering this
version of Click to Meet is navigating through Exchange, but once you
overcome that initial hurdle (and a few other bumps learning the product),
this system could be of great benefit to those that are committed to video
conferencing. At this point, the video conferencing industry has come far
enough to seriously consider implementing it. With Click to Meet,
conferences can be held through almost any system and client over the
Internet or on a network and can be administered from one central
location. In addition, the software-based Conference Server has most of
the capabilities of its hardware MCU counterparts but costs less and
offers built-in T.120 collaboration. Overall, Click to Meet offers a
somewhat unique and flexible solution that could help revolutionize the
way companies do business.
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