TANDBERG MSE 8510, MCU 4500 User Manual

Codian MCU 4500 Series

Codian MSE 8510 Series

Online help (printable format)

Software version 2.4(1)

TANDBERG Philip Pedersens vei 20 1366 Lysaker Norway Telephone: +47 67 125 125 Telefax: +47 67 125 234 Video: +47 67 117 777 E-mail: tandberg@tandberg.com

1 2 3 4 5

The Codian MCU web interface is used for administering the MCU device, managing conferences, users, and predefined endpoints. You can also perform many conference-related tasks using the web interface that you cannot otherwise do.

When connecting to the Codian MCU web interface, you must log in so that the MCU can associate the session with your configured user and a set of access privileges. The MCU has a set of configured users, and each user has an ID and password that are used for logging in.

1. Using a web browser, enter the host name or IP address of the MCU.

2. Click the link on the top right of the screen.

3. To log in as the administrator, click the button and enter your assigned User name and Password.

The main menu appears, restricting the available options based on your access privileges. Administrators have full access; standard users can create new conferences and manage their profiles; guest users typically can access publicly available conferences.

Depending on how your system administrator has configured the MCU and conferences on it, you might be able to join conferences by simply dialing a phone number.

Your system administrator may have configured the MCU to allow you to use your video endpoint to directly dial the conference by dialing a phone number. You will be required to enter the conference ID, and PIN if required. Or you may be able to dial by IP address and connect to the auto attendant. See Using an auto attendant for details.

Note that some video endpoints require that you activate the keypad before dialing. For example, you might need to press the # key.

If your phone system allows calls to the MCU, you may use your regular phone to join conferences as an audio-only contributor. You must enter the conference ID (and PIN, if required).

If your regular phone number is linked to your video endpoint, then when you use your phone to join a conference, the video portion of the conference will automatically appear on your video endpoint's screen. You can continue to use your regular phone for the audio portion of the conference. To do this, the video endpoint must be configured as that user's associated video endpoint. For more information, refer to Adding and updating users.

The advantages to this method are that you are able to use the same method and phone to make video calls as you do traditional audio calls. You also may have improved audio signaling. However, this method requires significant configuration and setup from the system administrator. Your company's network may not have all the components available to support this method.

When in a conference using an audio-only phone, pressing *6 mutes your phone such that you will not be contributing audio to the conference; pressing *6 again unmutes you phone.

Audio-only conference participants can show a recording from a Codian IP VCR as their video contribution. To do this:

1. Either register the MCU and the IP VCR with the gatekeeper or add the IP VCR as an H.323 gateway.

2. Go to > and add the recording as an H.323 endpoint: i. Set the address as the recording number.

ii. If you are using a gatekeeper, leave the other fields at their default settings; if the IP VCR is set up

as an H.323 gateway, choose the VCR from the H.323 gateway list and leave all other settings as default.

3. Go to > and set up the user using Adding and updating users for more information and

setting the associated video endpoint as the IP VCR recording.

Your system administrator may have set up an auto attendant for you to use to join conferences. An auto attendant presents you with a series of menus from which you can choose a conference to join.

For further information about accessing conferences (including the use of DTMF tones), refer to the document "Accessing Conferences", available in the Documentation area of the web site.

There are typically two ways to call an auto attendant using your video endpoint. Your system administrator should provide you with information about which method you should use:

Enter the IP address or host name of the MCU device Dial using a standard E.164 phone number

When you successfully connect to the MCU, the main menu displays on your video screen, and you should also hear the audio instructions.

Navigate the auto attendant using the Far-End Camera Controls (FECC) on your video endpoint. Use the up and down controls to highlight the option or item you require; use right to make your selection. To return to a previous menu from a sub-menu, use left.

You can jump to the end of the menu when at the start by using the up control; similarly, you will loop back to the start if you are at the end and use the down control. Note that there is a scroll bar in the bottom right of the video display to indicate where you are in the auto attendant menu. From anywhere in the menu, you can jump to the first entry with #2 and to the last entry with #8.

By default, the number keys on your endpoint are used to join a conference by dialing its numeric ID, followed by a '#'. If a conference has both a Numeric ID and a Guest numeric ID set, you may enter either ID, and will join the conference as either a chairperson or guest as appropriate. As you start to enter a numeric ID, the sequence you have typed will be shown at the base of the auto attendant screen. You may cancel the numeric ID entry (for instance to correct an error) by pressing '*'.

If you have connected to the auto attendant using an endpoint that has no FECC capability (for example many SIP endpoints), you can use the number keys on your endpoint to navigate the menus; this is called "DTMF navigation mode". DTMF navigation mode enables you to use the number keys: 2, 4, 6, and 8 in the place of up, left, right, and down respectively.

To enter DTMF navigation mode:

on connecting to the auto attendant, press the pound (hash) key twice as follows:

## The message "DTMF menu navigation enabled" appears briefly at the bottom of the auto attendant display.

To exit DTMF navigation mode:

press the pound (hash) key twice as follows:

## The message "DTMF menu navigation disabled" appears briefly at the bottom of the auto attendant display.

When in DTMF navigation mode, you will not be able to use the number keys to enter the numeric ID of a conference.

Typically, you will have these options:

This option enables you to start a new conference that takes place immediately (an "ad hoc" conference). When creating this conference, you'll need to add a conference ID and optional PIN (to restrict access to the conference). Other participants are then free to join the conference as they would any other, for example by using the auto attendant, or by calling in directly (see Calling into conferences).

As the system administrator, you can disable this option so it is not available on an auto attendant.

All permanent conferences or conferences scheduled to take place (at this time) display here, listed by the conference name. Your system administrator can limit the conferences that display here. So, if you do not see the conference you want to join, verify the conference name, start time, and finally verify that your system administrator has enabled the conference here.

Your system administrator may allow this auto attendant to access additional auto attendants, giving you access to additional conferences.

After you join a conference, the in-conference controls and features are the same regardless of how you joined the conference (see Using in-conference features).

When you want to leave a conference, you can either simply hang up, or if you joined the conference from an auto attendant and want to return to the auto attendant:

if you are using FECC, press zoom out. The zoom out menu is displayed; choose if you are using DTMF tones, press 7. The zoom out menu is displayed. Press 8 to navigate down through

the options and 6 to select

The streaming interface enables you to enter the ID of a conference and view it in a web browser on your PC. You do

A name by which you will be identified should you use the text chat facility.

Note that text chat will not be available unless the MCU has the Web conferencing feature key

The numeric ID that uniquely identifies the conference you want to stream.

If the conference that you want to stream is protected by a PIN, enter it here.

Select the streaming rate you prefer to use.

There are usually two configured options for streaming rate from which you can choose.

When enabled, multicast will be used when streaming this conference.

This option is not available if the streaming rate specifies that Windows Media Player will be used.

When enabled, the MCU's streaming page will attempt to access the multicast meadi stream for the chosen conference. Note that if the streaming page fails to stream the conference, you can return to the this page and uncheck this option; doing so will cause the MCU to attempt to stream the conference using unicast.

Check this option to stream the audio and video.

If you uncheck this option, then neither the audio nor video will play.

Choose a size (resolution) for the video.

This option affects the size of the media player when it opens.

Check this option to stream the content channel.

If you uncheck this option, the content channel will not play. Unchecking this option also disables text chat.

Note that text chat will not be available unless the MCU has the Web conferencing feature key; and that without the Web conferencing feature key, this option is grayed out.

Choose a size for the content channel.

not have to have a user account on the MCU to be able to do this.

If you do need to log in to the MCU, use the link on the top right of the screen.

The Codian MCU supports streaming, which involves sending conference media (audio and video) to a remote

The configured options for streaming video.

The two options available here have been configured on the > page.

If multicast is enabled for the selected streaming rate on the > page and you select Prefer multicast, then multicast will be used when streaming this conference.

Multicast streaming allows an unlimited number of viewers to watch a conference on a MCU. Note that you cannot use Windows Media Player to stream in multicast mode on the MCU.

Check this option to stream the audio and video.

If you uncheck this option, then neither the audio nor video will play.

Choose a size (resolution) for the video.

This option affects the size of the media player when it opens.

Check this option to stream the content channel.

If you uncheck this option, the content channel will not play. Unchecking this option also disables text chat. Note that text chat will not be available unless you have the Web conferencing feature key; and that without the Web conferencing feature key, this option is grayed out.

Choose a size (resolution) for the content channel.

This option affects the size of the media player when it opens.

computer, allowing the user to watch and listen to a conference. The media flows in just one direction, so it is not possible to actually contribute to a conference via streaming.

The streaming video may be delayed by approximately 4-10 seconds compared to the real-time video.

To view an active conference using streaming:

1. Go to and click next to the conference name.

2. Choose the Streaming rate. Refer to the table below for tips.

3. If you want to display and choose advanced streaming settings, click the link. Choose the settings you

require, referring to the table below for tips.

4. Click to display the conference.

After you join a conference, you can control many conference features directly from your video endpoint. (For information about in-conference features using the web interface, see Controlling in-conference features).

Controlling conference views Understanding participants status Using far-end camera controls Understanding in-conference status icons The zoom out menu The conference welcome message

For further information about accessing conferences (including the use of DTMF tones), refer to the document "Accessing Conferences", available in the Documentation area of the web site.

Your video endpoint typically has navigation keys, such as up/down and left/right (on a keyboard or remote control), that allow you to control the camera viewing angles. When connected to a conference, you can also use these controls to scroll through participants and conference layout formats (see Understanding how participants

display in layout views).

When you join a conference, you will have a set of available layout options from which you can choose to display the conference participants. Typically you can choose from two primary groupings of layouts:

— in these formats, all conference participants display in the same size pane on the video

screen and thus have the same level of focus or importance. For example, a conference with four participants might display each in a pane sized to be a quarter (1/4) the size of your video screen.

— in these formats, conference participants display in various pane sizes on the video

screen depending on their ―importance‖. For example, a layout might display the participant who is speaking

in a pane larger than the other conference participants. Or, you might choose to focus on a particular participant (see Selecting participants)

To switch among available conference views:

1. Change the camera control to ―far‖.

2. Use the up/down navigation keys to toggle through the available format options.

3. Refer to the table below for assistance interpreting the icons that appear on-screen.

You are scrolling up through the layout views.

You are scrolling down through the layout views.

You have stopped scrolling through the layout views.

You are scrolling through the participant list in a counter-clockwise direction.

You are scrolling through the participant list in a clockwise direction.

Speaking participant has the focus.

When viewing a conference with variable-size panes (see Variable-size panes), you can choose which participant to display in the larger panes on the video screen; when viewing a conference with equal-sized panes, you can choose which participant displays in the top left pane. You do this by selecting the participant following these steps:

1. Change the camera control to ―far‖.

2. Choose a layout view.

3. Use the left/right navigation keys to scroll through the focused participants.

4. Refer to the table below for assistance interpreting the icons that appear on-screen.

During the conference, various icons might appear in the pane of specific participants. Refer to the table below for

This participant has been given priority in the layout views.

A participant is made "important" using controls on the MCU web pages.

The audio quality from this participant is poor.

The audio quality from this participant is good.

The video quality from this participant is poor.

The video quality from this participant is good.

You are now controlling the viewing angle of the far-end video camera.

You are moving the remote far-end camera down.

You are moving the far-end video camera up.

You are moving the far-end video camera to the left.

You are moving the far-end video camera to the right.

You are zooming in with the far-end video camera.

You are zooming out with the far-end video camera.

assistance interpreting these icons.

While in a conference, you might need to change the camera settings for one of the conference participants. For example, if you want to zoom in on a particular speaker in a large group, or if you cannot see the speaker. To do this:

1. Change the camera control to ―far‖.

2. Select the largest displayed participant pane.

3. Press Zoom. The far-end camera control icon appears, and you can now control the far-end camera.

4. Refer to the table below for assistance interpreting the icons that appear on-screen.

During the conference, various icons might appear in top left of the conference display. The appearance of these icons

There are both encrypted and unencrypted participants in this conference or there are streaming viewers of this encrypted conference.

This conference is being recorded.

There are audio-only participants in this conference. The number of audio-only participants is displayed next to the icon.

There are streaming participants in this conference.

is controlled on the page (refer to Configuring global conference settings). Refer to the table below for assistance interpreting these icons.

The zoom out menu provides access to a number of in-conference options. Access the following options by pressing zoom out if you are using FECC, or 7 on a DTMF keyboard (on an endpoint that does not have an FECC channel):

widescreen mode (whether this option is available or not depends on the

setting on the page and on the capabilities of the endpoint)

borders mute audio mute video clear text chat (this option only appears if there is text chat on the screen) return to auto attendant (this option only appears if the participant joined the conference from the auto

attendant)

You can configure a welcome message on the MCU and a duration for that message. Participants joining a conference on the MCU will see the message displayed at the bottom of their endpoint's display. After the configured message duration has elapsed, the message will be removed.

The controls are on the page (refer to Configuring global

conference settings).

The welcome message will only be displayed to streaming viewers if the duration is configured as permanent.

If you change the welcome message when there are active participants, any participants’ currently displayed welcome messages will only change if the new message is configured as .

Depending on how your video endpoint is configured, an incoming video call might come through to your regular phone or to your video endpoint (see Calling into conferences for a brief description of the difference). Note that even if a video call arrives on your regular phone, the video portion of the call will appear on your associated video endpoint (if one is configured).

As with any other type of incoming call, you can choose to answer the call or not.

The default behavior of the Codian MCU is to display the "loudest" participants in the most prominent layout panes. If there are more contributors than there are panes available, then the "quietest" participants are not shown.

However, different styles of layout introduce slight subtleties to this behavior, and in addition there are a few ways in which participants or conference administrators may change the system used for pane assignment. In particular, you may want to set the pane placement for a conference yourself.

In this section:

Big panes vs. small panes Participants viewing themselves Changing view focus "Important" participants "Important" participants combined with view focus Clipped panes Video streams vs. fixed bitmap images Muted participants H.243 floor control

This layout can be seen as the most traditional video-conferencing view. Each participant is displayed in the same sized pane as the other participants. If there are more than four participants, the four most significant (the four loudest) are displayed, with one pane each.

By contrast, these example layouts have some larger panes, and the participants shown in those panes are seen as more significant than the other contributors. When allocating participants to panes, the MCU always fills the largest panes first. If there are more participants than panes then there will never be empty big panes and non-empty small panes.

To reduce the number of view changes when different participants speak (for example, when people change from being active speakers to inactive contributors), the MCU duplicates participant views for layouts with more than four small panes. For the three example layouts shown above, the participant(s) shown in the large pane(s) of the first two layouts will be duplicated in the surrounding small panes. However, the four small panes of the third layout will show different participants to those displayed in the three big panes. This reduces the impact of audio volume changes on the composed layout while not needlessly wasting view space. However, it is possible to configure the MCU not to duplicate participant views in this way if so desired (see Configuring global conference settings).

When considering which participants to show in which panes, a participant's self view has the lowest priority. This has two main implications:

When choosing participants to display, the MCU considers the viewer last. This prevents the participant who is the active speaker from seeing only themselves. In this case, while everyone else will see the active speaker, the active speaker will see the previous active speaker in their biggest view pane.

When the MCU is required to choose a layout from a view family, it does so based on the number of video contributors to the conference. However, when calculating the number of video contributors for a particular view, the MCU does not consider any video stream being received from the viewer.

Thus, with five participants in a conference and everyone seeing the standard equal-sized view family (2x2, 3x3 or 4x4), each of the five contributing participants will always see the 2x2 view with themselves excluded. However, streaming viewers will see the conference display using the 3x3 view with five panes in use.

You may configure the MCU never to show participants their own video stream in small panes (see Configuring

global conference settings). If this is the case, then participants viewing layouts with some panes larger than others

will never see their own video stream in any of the small panes, even if there are free slots. They may still appear in large panes, for example if the view focus is manually changed to show their video.

Using the tilt (up and down) Far End Camera Controls on a connected video endpoint causes the view to change, cycling through the available families and then the conference-wide or per-participant custom layouts (if enabled).

In addition, the pan (left and right) Far End Camera Controls on a connected video endpoint can be used to focus the view on a particular participant, as opposed to the MCU allocating participants to panes based solely on the volume of the audio being received from them.

To reduce the disruption of the view when cycling through conference participants, there is a short delay after selecting a new focused participant before the rest of the view layout reverts to the "correct" arrangement of participants in panes.

For each conference, one active participant can be set as "important". This means that the MCU considers this participant first when deciding which contributors to show in which layout panes, rather than their position in the list being set by how loudly they are speaking. See the Control setting in the conference participant list.

Both "Changing view focus" and "Important participants" above involve a single specific participant being shown in the biggest pane available, even if that participant is not currently the loudest speaker. This causes a potential conflict, which is resolved dependant on the type of layout.

In this type of view (a layout in which all panes are of equal size), the focused participant is shown in the first pane, the one at the top left. The important participant is shown in the "next" pane, normally the one immediately to the right of the first pane.

This type of layout displays a single big pane and several small panes. If the view focus has been changed (for instance with left and right Far End Camera Control operations), then the big pane shows the selected participant. If a conference participant has been set to "important" then its video stream is shown in the big pane.

However, if a participant has been set to "important" and the view is focused on a (different) specific participant, the focused participant is shown in the big pane, and the "important" participant is shown in one of the small panes.

If the view has been focused on a participant and the same participant is also set as "important" then that participant is shown in the big pane.

These layouts have two large panes and several smaller ones. If the view focus has been changed (for instance with left and right Far End Camera Control operations), then the upper or left large pane shows the focused participant. If a participant has been set to "important" then that video stream appears in the lower or right large pane.

If the same participant is focused and "important", that video stream appears in the upper or left pane.

For these layouts, if the view has been focused on a particular participant, that participant appears in the upper or left large pane. If a participant has been selected as "important", that participant will be shown in the lower or right large pane.

In layouts with three large panes, even if the view is focused on a specific participant and another has been set to "important", one large pane remains. This pane displays the "loudest" remaining participant.

The majority of the conference layouts defined by the Codian MCU, for example:

have in common that all of their panes, whether big or small, have the same aspect ratio as the view itself. That is, the panes' widths and heights are in the same proportion as the width and height of the encompassing view.

By comparison, there are some defined conference layouts, for example:

in which this aspect ratio preservation does not occur. In these cases, the MCU scales the participant video stream according to the larger dimension of the pane.

For example, in the layout to the left, the size of the top left pane is one half of the view width and two thirds of the view height. Because two thirds is greater than one half, the MCU scales the participant video stream to two thirds of its size and thus a small amount of the left and right of the original image will not appear in the final composed layout.

For video conference participants, the image that displays in the layout view pane is either the live video stream (if viewing from the video endpoint) or a captured video image from the current video stream (if viewing from the web interface).

However, audio-only participants do not have any associated video to display. Instead, you can assign a fixed image (in bitmap format) to a specific participant. When the participant joins a conference as an audio-only participant, this image appears in the layout pane. To enable this feature, the participant must be added as a user to the MCU, have an associated E.164 telephone, and have a designated image file uploaded. See Adding and updating users.

Participants who have had their audio muted from the web interface do not contribute audio to the conference. Additionally, muted participants are not considered when the MCU calculates the loudest speakers to display in the largest panes, even if the participant had previously been in one of those positions.

Note that other participants will not have an indication that a participant has been muted. They simply will no longer hear that participant speaking.

Participants who have had their video muted from the web interface do not contribute video to the conference. They will continue to contribute audio as normal, unless it is muted separately.

Some H.323 endpoints support a feature known as floor and chair control that is encompassed by the H.243 protocol. This is not currently supported by SIP.

The MCU supports the following H.243 features:

a participant can "take the floor" in a conference. On "taking the floor" their video contribution is sent to all

conference participants as a "1 x 1 view" (full-screen view). If the active floor (temporarily or permanently) has no video channel established to the MCU then endpoints will see their "normal" continuous presence view; if there is a video channel from the active floor participant, everyone will see that video, and this will override any view family or custom layout setting

a participant can "take the chair". On "taking the chair", a participant can:

o nominate a "broadcaster"; that is, they can choose which participant's video will be sent to all other

participants in "1 x 1 view" (full-screen view)

o decide to disconnect any other participant(s)

Note that the ability of a participant to "take the chair" is affected by how they joined the conference. A participant who joined the conference as a guest will not be able to "take the chair".

an endpoint can receive the names of the other endpoints in the same conference. Different endpoints act on

this in different ways.

Whether or not these features are supported in a conference depends on the individual conference settings ( ) and the global "H.243 floor and chair control setting" ( ). Refer to Adding and updating conferences and Global conference settings.

Where a conference supports floor and chair control, or floor control only:

the MCU will advertise the ability to handle H.243 when establishing (and receiving) H.323 connections any H.243-capable endpoint can request the floor, and all endpoints (be they chairperson or guest) will be

granted it as long as no other endpoint in that conference has already done so

Where the conference supports floor and chair control:

any H.243-capable endpoint can request the chair, and any participant who has joined the conference as a

chairperson will be granted it as long as no other endpoint in that conference has already done so

If an active participant in a conference has taken the chair or the floor, it is indicated in the status column of the

page.

If you change the "Floor and chair control" for a conference currently taking place, there will be no immediate effect. That is, an existing floor or chair participant will not have that status removed.

For ad hoc conferences, you can alter the "Floor and chair control" setting, which is "Allow floor control only" by default, through that conference's configuration page when it is active.

The Conference List displays information about active, scheduled, and completed conferences. To access this list,

Displays the conference streaming page. This option is not necessarily available for every conference; some users do not have access to other user's conferences. Some conferences may require a PIN to access this feature.

See Using streaming to view conferences for more information.

The name of the conference, which is either the name entered when the conference was scheduled, or, in the case of certain specialized types of conferences, a name chosen automatically by the MCU when created.

Specialized conference types are described below in Description.

Click the conference name to display detailed information about the conference and participants.

Additional information about the conference, which can assist users joining conferences.

You can add the description when scheduling a conference. If you do not add a description or the conference has not been scheduled in advance, the Description displays one of the following:

The conference has been scheduled in advance using the MCU web interface, but the owner has not entered a description.

The conference was created dynamically during an auto attendant session and will end when the last participant using the auto attendant exits the conference.

This type of conference indicates that a participant is currently connected to the auto attendant and navigating the menus.

The configured owner of the conference.

See Conference ownership for additional information.

choose .

Review this information for explanations about the details that display:

Active conferences Scheduled conferences Completed conferences

Active conferences are currently in progress. The following information is displayed for each conference:

The status of a conference with respect to its H.323 gatekeeper and/or SIP registration. Depending on the conference settings, there is a maximum of four registrations for each conference: H.323 numeric ID, H.323 guest numeric ID, SIP numeric ID, and SIP guest numeric ID. The Registration field will show failed if any of the registrations has not completed successfully.

This conference is not configured to be registered with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar; because of this, there is no applicable registration status to show

This conference is in the process of registering with the gatekeeper or SIP registrar

At least one of the registrations for this conference has failed

All IDs associated with this conference have been registered successfully with the gatekeeper / SIP registrar

One or more of the IDs associated with this conference has been configured to be registered with the gatekeeper or SIP registrar, but that registration has not been attempted due to another setting taking precedence. This might occur if either of the H.323 gatekeeper usage or ID registration for scheduled conferences options on the page is set to Disabled

Note that when there is a problem with the registration, the status is a link to the conference's

Statistics page.

If the MCU can connect to an H.323 gatekeeper, each numeric ID (for both chairperson and guest privileges) for a conference can be registered with that gatekeeper as a different directory number. This allows H.323 users to dial directly into a particular conference (with the correct privileges) instead of connecting first to the MCU's auto attendant and navigating the menu system.

Likewise, if the MCU can connect to a SIP registrar, each conference can be registered with that registrar using either (or both) Numeric ID and Guest ID. This allows SIP users to dial directly into a particular conference (with the correct privileges) instead of connecting first to the MCU's auto attendant and navigating the menu system. Note that for SIP, unlike H.323, the conferences must be configured on the SIP registrar before the MCU can register them.

There is a maximum of four registrations for each conference: H.323 numeric ID, H.323 guest numeric ID, SIP numeric ID, and SIP guest numeric ID. To view further details about the registrations for a conference, click the conference name and then the Statistics tab to view the conference's Statistics page.

For tips on configuring gatekeepers, see

Configuring gatekeeper settings.

For tips on configuring SIP registrars, see

Configuring SIP settings.

For more information about configuring conferences (and chairperson and guest IDs and PINs), refer to Adding and updating conferences.

The number of currently active contributors to the conference. This value does not include streaming viewers or any other endpoints that are viewing only and not contributing any media to the conference.

If a limit on the number of participants has been set for the conference, the participants value is shown as , where is the number of active participants and is the configured limit. If it has not been possible to reserve all of the required

If a conference is protected by a PIN, the number of participants is hidden until the PIN is entered. In this case, the Participants value displays as <PIN required>.

ports for a conference (for instance because of a configuration error), this value will display in red as an error indication.

When the conference began. If the conference started before today, the date also displays.

How long the conference still has to run. If the conference does not have a limited duration, this column displays as <forever>.

Scheduled conferences are either in progress or are yet to start. You can review this list and make some changes to it:

The name of the conference chosen when the conference was scheduled.

Click the conference name to display detailed information about the configuration of the conference and, if it is currently active, its participants.

The number that you can dial to join the conference.

Whether a PIN is required to join the conference.

The configured owner of the conference.

See Conference ownership for additional information.

Whether a conference is:

The conference's configured start time has not yet arrived.

The conference is running and is available for video conferencing endpoints to join. A scheduled conference in this state will also appear in the Active conferences list.

The conference is not currently running, but has been previously active and is now waiting to be re-activated when the time of its next repetition is reached.

There is no explicit status for "finished" – when a conference is not in progress and is not scheduled to become active again then it is moved to the Completed conferences list.

When the conference began. If the conference started before today, the date also displays.

When the conference will end.

To remove a scheduled conference, select the conference via its associated checkbox and click

To schedule a new conference, click (see Adding and updating conferences).

The MCU supports up to 200 scheduled conferences.

Completed conferences have finished and are not scheduled to repeat.

The name of the conference chosen when the conference was scheduled.

Click the conference name to display detailed information about the configuration of the conference.

The configured owner of the conference.

See Conference ownership for additional information.

When the conference began. If the conference started before today, the date also displays.

When the conference ended.

To remove specific conferences from the list, select the conferences via their associated checkboxes and click

To remove all conferences from the list, click .

The information required to add or update a conference is nearly identical. Refer to these topics for details:

Adding a conference Updating a conference Adding configured endpoints Using IDs and PINs

To add a conference:

1. Go to .

2. Complete the fields referring to the table below for the most appropriate settings for the conference.

3. Click to add the conference and return to the Conference List. The recently added

conference appears either in the Active or Scheduled Conferences depending on its scheduled start time.

Ad hoc conferences (if you allow them) are added by users in the auto attendant.

To update an existing conference:

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click the tab.

3. Edit the fields referring to the table below for the most appropriate settings for the conference.

4. Click to add the conference and return to the Conference List. The updated conference

appears either in the Active or Scheduled Conferences depending on its scheduled start time.

The following settings can also be updated for ad hoc conferences:

PIN Layout control via FECC/DTMF Streaming Encryption Floor and chair control Mute on join

See the table below for more information:

The name that users will see on auto attendant screens and on the MCU's web interface.

Conference names must be unique; conferences cannot share names.

Only scheduled conferences have a configurable Name; ad hoc conferences do not have one.

Additional information about the conference, which can assist users joining conferences.

Use the description to provide more detailed information about the conference than the name alone conveys.

This is an optional field for scheduled conferences; ad hoc conferences cannot be given a description.

The unique identifier used for dialing in to the conference (as a chairperson participant) using an auto attendant or through an H.323 gatekeeper or SIP registrar. This number can also be used to stream the conference from the Streaming-only interface. For more information about chairpersons and guests, refer to Using IDs and

PINs.

When connected to an auto attendant, participants can join a conference by typing its numeric identifier.

If you plan to allow audio-only participants, then you will need to enter either a Numeric ID or a Guest numeric ID.

If H.323 gatekeeper registration is enabled for a conference, the MCU attempts to register the conference with an E.164 telephone number, which is comprised of the Registration prefix and the numeric identifier.

If SIP registration is enabled for a conference, then the Numeric ID is registered with the SIP registrar.

Conferences that are simultaneously active must not share a Numeric ID. For example, a conference on a Tuesday and a conference on a Thursday can share a Numeric ID, whereas two permanent conferences cannot share a Numeric ID. The same number can be used for the Guest numeric ID, if there are two different PINs. Additionally, because the numeric identifier is used in gatekeeper registration, conferences and auto attendants cannot share a numeric identifier value.

For more information, refer to Using IDs and

PINs.

For ad hoc conferences created via the auto attendant, the number allocated by the conference creator becomes the Numeric ID. If ad hoc conferences are registered with the gatekeeper (and for this to work, the Register ad hoc conferences with gatekeeper control must be

enabled on the page), participants can dial in using this number. Note that the actual number that participants will dial depends on whether prefixes are used in the

page.

For an active ad hoc conference, you cannot configure the Numeric ID.

Provides a level of security to conference access.

If a conference has a PIN set, users cannot join the conference or change its configuration without entering the correct PIN. Depending on the conference settings, it may be possible for participants to join a conference as a chairperson (using the Numeric ID and PIN), or as a guest (using the Guest numeric ID and Guest PIN).

For an ad hoc conference, you can configure a PIN while the conference is running.

The unique identifier used for dialing in to the conference (as a guest participant) using an auto attendant or through an H.323 gatekeeper or SIP registrar. This number can also be used to stream the conference from the Streaming-only interface. For more information about chairpersons and guests, refer to Using IDs and PINs.

When connected to an auto attendant, participants can join a conference by typing its Guest numeric ID.

If you plan to allow audio-only participants, then you will need to enter either a Numeric ID or a Guest numeric ID.

If H.323 gatekeeper registration is enabled for a conference, and you have entered a Guest numeric ID, the MCU attempts to register the conference with an E.164 telephone number, which is comprised of the Registration prefix and the Guest numeric ID.

If SIP registration is enabled for a conference, and you have entered a Guest numeric ID, then the Guest numeric ID is registered with the SIP registrar.

For more information, refer to Using IDs and

PINs.

Ad hoc conferences cannot be configured with Guest numeric IDs or PINs.

Provides secure access to conferences for guest participants.

If a conference has a PIN set, users cannot join the conference or change its configuration without entering the correct PIN. Participants joining as guests have restricted privileges. For more information, refer to Using IDs and PINs.

Ad hoc conferences cannot be configured with Guest numeric IDs or PINs.

Enables the MCU to attempt to register the Numeric ID and/or Guest numeric ID with the configured H.323 gatekeeper and/or SIP registrar.

This setting applies to both the Numeric ID and Guest numeric ID (if you have set both). For more information, refer to Using IDs and PINs.

For ad hoc conferences, whether or not they are registered with the gatekeeper depends on the Register ad hoc conferences with gatekeeper setting on the page.

Controls what happens to the conference when the last participant with chairperson status leaves the conference. The options are:

: this is the

default option. When the last participant with chairperson status leaves the conference, all other participants will be disconnected

: all participants may

continue the conference until the last one disconnects

This setting applies to scheduled conferences that include guest participants (that is, those who have joined the conference using the Guest numeric ID (and PIN if one was set).

Controls "Floor and chair control" settings for this conference. The options are:

: the

use of floor and chair controls is not allowed in this conference

: only floor

control is allowed in this conference; chair control is not allowed. Any participant can 'take the floor' so long as no other participant has currently 'taken the floor'

: both floor

and chair control are allowed in this conference. Any participant can take the floor, and any chairperson participant can take the chair so long as no other participant has currently done so

Some H.323 endpoints support a feature known as floor and chair control that is encompassed by the H.243 protocol. For more information, refer to H.243 floor and chair control.

If you change the "Floor and chair control" setting for a scheduled conference currently taking place, there will be no immediate effect. That is, an existing floor or chair participant will not have that status removed.

If the unit-wide "Floor and chair control" setting on the Global conference settings page is set to Disabled, it will not be possible to use floor or chair control operations in any conference.

The owner of the conference, usually the user ID of the user account that the person who scheduled the conference logged in with.

You may or may not be able to change the conference owner, depending on your privilege level. See Conference ownership for additional information.

This setting does not apply to ad hoc conferences.

Indicates the visibility of the conference on the auto attendant and the web interface. The options are:

: the conference will be listed in

the auto attendant and be visible to all users of the web interface

: the conference will not be listed

in any auto attendant except for auto attendants specifically set to show it. The conference will also only be visible in the web interface to the conference owner and to the admin user

For private conferences not visible on an auto attendant, participants will still be able to join the conference if they know the PIN.

Note that only admin users can choose which conferences are visible on a given auto attendant.

This setting is only available for schedules conferences. For ad hoc conferences, whether or not they are listed on the auto attendant depends on the settings of that auto attendant. For more information, refer to Adding and updating an

auto attendant.

The encryption setting for this conference, if you have the encryption feature key enabled.

If encryption is enabled unit-wide (through the

> page), you can set one of:

: encryption must be used for

this conference

: encryption is optional for this

conference

This setting is grayed-out if encryption is disabled on the > page.

Note that to be able to use encryption, the Encryption feature key must be present on the MCU.

Prevents or permits conference participants changing their view layout or focused participant using Far-End Camera Controls or DTMF tones.

You may wish to prevent participants from changing their view layout in a managed conference, or classroom environment.

This is a per-conference option, but FECC/DTMF layout control may still be enabled or disabled on a per-participant basis using the web interface.

When calling out to endpoints, the endpoints' layout control configuration overrides this setting, and therefore it applies only to endpoints which connect to the conference via an auto attendant or by dialing in directly.

Indicates when the MCU should invite any preconfigured endpoints into a conference. The options are:

Pre-configured participants will be called as soon as the conference starts.

Pre-configured endpoints will only be called after at least one other participant joins the conference.

Select which option fits your requirements best. Calling pre-configured endpoints at the start of the conference is most appropriate for repeating conferences with a particular start time.

Calling pre-configured endpoints when at least one other participant is present is most appropriate for permanent conferences; such conferences are typically un-attended for much of the time, and it may only be useful to invite pre-configured endpoints when others are present.

This setting only applies to scheduled conferences.

Select to initially mute audio and/or video from all participants when they join the conference.

If you select to mute audio on join, when a participant dials-in to a conference, he will not be able to contribute audio to the conference. If you select to mute video on join, when a participant dials-in to a conference, he will not be able to contribute video to the conference. You can mute both audio and video if required.

This can be altered during the course of the conference by going to and clicking on the name of a conference and altering a participant's settings. For more information about altering a participant's settings during a conference, refer to Viewing the conference

participant list.

Note that for pre-configured participants and for participants to whom the MCU dials out, the Initial video status and Initial audio status settings will be used to determine whether or not audio and video contributions are muted. For more information about dialing out to participants, refer to Adding participants. For more information about pre-configured participants, refer to Configuring an H.323 endpoint and

Configuring a SIP endpoint

For an ad hoc conference, you can configure the Mute on join setting while the conference is active.

Individually allow unicast and multicast streaming access to conferences.

See Configuring streaming settings for additional information.

If Enabled, this conference is able to support an additional video stream, sent potentially to all connected endpoints, intended for showing content video.

This content video is typically high resolution, low frame rate data such as a presentation formed of a set of slides. Such presentation data can be sourced by:

an endpoint specifically contributing a

separate content video stream,

the MCU being configured to use an

endpoint's main video stream as the conference's content channel,

a dedicated VNC connection, or user-generated markup data (the

markup is normally, though not always, used in conjunction with content video or VNC data).

See Configuring content settings for additional information on MCU-wide content configuration parameters.

For ad hoc conferences, whether or not content channel video is allowed is controlled by the Content for ad hoc conferences setting on the

page.

Whether, by default, endpoints are permitted to contribute the content channel for a conference through the mechanism of opening a content video channel.

There can only be one endpoint contributing content video at any one time, and the MCU arbitrates between them. Therefore, even with this parameter set to Enabled, the ability of the endpoint to contribute content video will be affected by other endpoints' behavior.

If this setting is Disabled, it is still possible to enable content contribution on a per-endpoint basis when the conference is active. Similarly, it is possible to disable content contribution from specific endpoints, either while they are connected or via their configuration. For more information about endpoint configuration, refer to Configuring H.323 endpoints and/or

Configuring SIP endpoints.

This setting only applies to scheduled conferences.

When the MCU is not in port reservation mode, this parameter sets a limit on the number of endpoints which can connect to the conference as video participants.

A participant counts (as a single unit) towards the video limit whether the MCU is sending a video stream to that participant or a video stream is being received.

If you do not want to limit the number of participants who can join this conference and use video, leave this field blank.

This field is only shown if the MCU is not in port reservation mode.

This field only applies to scheduled conferences.

When the MCU is not in port reservation mode, this parameter sets a limit on the number of endpoints which can connect to the conference as audio-only participants.

A participant counts (as a single unit) towards the audio limit whether the MCU is sending an audio stream to that participant or an audio stream is being received.

If you do not want to limit the number of participants who can join this conference to use just audio, leave this field blank.

This field is only shown if the MCU is not in port reservation mode.

This field only applies to scheduled conferences.

In port reservation mode, this parameter specifies the number of video ports to reserve.

A participant counts (as a single unit) towards the video reservation value whether the MCU is sending a video stream to that participant or a video stream is being received.

This value is both a reservation and a limit; the MCU guarantees that this many video participants can connect to the conference, but no more than this will be able to join.

This field is only shown if the MCU is in port reservation mode.

In port reservation mode, this parameter specifies the number of audio-only ports to reserve.

A participant counts (as a single unit) towards the audio reservation value whether the MCU is sending an audio stream to that participant or an audio stream is being received.

This value is both a reservation and a limit; the MCU guarantees that this many audio-only participants can connect to the conference, but no more that this will be able to join.

This field is only shown if the MCU is in port reservation mode.

The time at which the conference will begin.

The date on which the conference will begin.

Sets the conference start time to the current time on the MCU.

The current time on the MCU is determined by the settings in the page, which can only be modified by the administrator. See

Displaying general status for additional

information.

Allows you to retain a conference and its settings for an infinite period of time.

Limits the duration of the conference for one instance of the conference.

These fields are not available or necessary for conferences set to permanent.

Which days and / or weeks the conference repetitions will occur.

The repetitions will always start at the same time of day: the conference's configured Start time (see above), and will last for the same amount of time: the configured Maximum duration.

The start date is taken into account when determining when the first repetition should occur. For instance, if the start date is a Wednesday and the conference is scheduled to repeat every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday then it will occur only on Wednesday in the first week and on all three specified days in subsequent weeks.

If a conference is set to repeat, its repetitions can be configured to go on forever, stop after a certain date, or to occur only a certain number of times.

The first activation of a conference counts as a "repetition", so configuring a conference to repeat but terminate after 1 repetition is equivalent to it not repeating at all.

You can choose to pre-configure endpoints to be part of a conference. These endpoints will be automatically invited into the conference by the MCU. This is useful if you regularly invite the same participants into a conference. To select which previously configured endpoints will be pre-configured for this conference, press

. (This button may also show a number in parentheses to indicate the number of participants that are

currently pre-configured). Refer to Adding participants for more details.

There are two types of conference participant: chairperson and guest. IDs and PINs allow participants to connect to conferences as the correct participant type.

Chairperson participants use Numeric ID and optionally, PIN; guest participants use Guest numeric ID and optionally, Guest PIN.

A conference will not begin until the first chairperson joins. This means that guests will see a black screen/hear silence with on screen text 'Waiting for conference chairperson' and an audio prompt after five seconds and then every minute thereafter. Streaming viewers will see a black screen/hear silence although mark-up and text chat will work.

setting). The two options are:

You can control the behavior when the last chairperson leaves the conference (that is the When only guests remain

all participants are disconnected (default) all participants may continue the conference until the last one disconnects (take no action)

If you set both Numeric ID and PIN, you must set either:

both Guest numeric ID and Guest PIN

neither Guest numeric ID nor Guest PIN

If you use a Guest PIN, you must use a PIN. If you use a Guest numeric ID, you must use a Numeric ID.

Note that for a conference Numeric ID and Guest numeric ID can be the same only if the two PINs are different; likewise, both PINs can be the same if the IDs are different.

Note that participants dragged and dropped into a conference on the web interface will be chairperson participants.

Where no IDs or PINs are configured for a conference, all participants will be chairpersons regardless of how they join.

Both Numeric ID and Guest numeric ID can be registered with an H.323 gatekeeper and/or SIP registrar to enable participants to dial in to conferences directly and as the correct participant type. The Numeric ID registration setting applies to both IDs.

Audio-only participants can be guest or chairperson participants by connecting to a conference using either a Guest or Chairperson ID. In the case of an audio-only guest, if no chairperson has yet joined the conference, they will hear an audio prompt informing them of that. The conference will start when the first chairperson joins.

Each scheduled conference (i.e. conferences that are configured via the web interface with a start time and,

Users with these privilege levels are able to create and own conferences, and are able to exercise full control of all conferences.

Users with these privilege levels are able to create and own conferences. They have full control of conferences they own, and limited control of conferences owned by other users.

Users with these privilege levels are able to create and own conferences. They have full control of conferences they own, but no control of conferences owned by other users.

Users with these privilege levels are not able to own conferences or change any conference's configuration.

optionally, a duration and repetition) has an associated owner. This owner is the ID of a configured user, and normally corresponds to the user who scheduled the conference.

Conference ownership affects only web interface control of conferences - in particular, it plays no part in validating video conferencing endpoints' attempts to join conferences when they connect to the MCU via H.323. Restricting conference entry in this situation is accomplished via conference (or auto attendant) PINs, as before.

The actual implications of conference ownership depend on the privilege of the user; specifically:

As described above, a user privilege level confers a certain level of control over a conference, with that level of

This level of control permits the following operations:

With full conference control, a user is able to disconnect participants, connect new participants to the conference, and end the conference whenever they want to.

A user with full conference control can view and modify any aspect of the conference's configuration. This includes the start time, end time, or repetition characteristics, whether streaming is enabled, and which endpoints are preconfigured as participants.

When the conference is in progress, a user with full control is permitted to send a text message to all connected participants' video displays and change the

Conference custom layout.

Additionally, full control includes all of the operations covered by limited control, detailed below.

This level of control permits the following operations:

The participant list shows the names of the endpoints currently connected to the conference, a summary of that endpoint's status and, if they are a video participant, a thumbnail preview image of the video stream they are supplying. Thumbnail previews are shown by default, but you can configure the user interface not to show them. The setting that controls this is the Show video thumbnail images option on the page. Note that the MCU will not show thumbnail previews on the participant list page if encryption is required for a conference. However, thumbnail previews will be shown for conferences where encryption is optional and there are encrypted participants.

Via the participant list, it is also possible to mute (or stop muting) individual endpoints' audio, change the conference's "important" participant, and enable or disable the participants' ability to affect their own layouts via Far-End Camera Control or DTMF tones.

This includes being able to choose what view layout (or family) is used for constructing the conference view being sent to a participant, changing the

control possibly depending on whether that user is the conference owner or not. These conference control levels have the following meaning:

Participant custom layout, and whether to send widescreen or standard format

video to that endpoint.

The web interface can be used to send control commands (e.g. pan and tilt) to a remote participant's camera.

Waveforms of audio channels being sent to, and received from, the participant can be viewed, audio gain applied, and participant audio can be muted if required.

Textual messages can be sent to an individual participant, and will appear on their displays.

This allows details of the media streams being sent to, and received from, participants to be viewed, plus endpoint-specific characteristics to be examined.

This means that none of the above operations are possible. Depending on the specific privilege level, either the list of scheduled conferences will not be shown to the user, or the list will be shown but conferences over which the user has no control will be presented as names rather than hyperlinks.

A user whose privilege level is either conference creation and full control or administrator is also able to change the owner of a conference. A conference owner can be changed to either a user with conference creation rights or to "none", signifying that no user should be considered the owner of that conference. Also, when scheduling new conferences, users with these privileges are able to choose which owner is initially associated with the conference.

If a user account is deleted, any conferences owned by that user have their owner reset to "none".

The MCU is able, if required, to allocate its available media ports in advance to specific conferences. This means that it is able to guarantee that a certain number of participants will be able to join that conference, irrespective of how many other people are using the MCU for other conferences at the same time.

There are three types of media ports available on the MCU, , , and

For information about the number and type of ports provided by each MCU model, refer to MCU port matrix.

The term video port refers to a port that can be used by a video-conferencing endpoint for a call. Thus, a video port includes both video audio streams (bidirectionally) and so the number of video ports available represents the number of "normal" video calls that the MCU is able to maintain simultaneously.

In general, each endpoint in a conference is able to use either a video port or an audio-only port, though normally the MCU will assign video ports to video-capable devices and audio-only ports to audio-only devices.

If a video-capable device joins a conference which has just audio-only ports available, the MCU will assign it an audioonly port – that participant will be able to listen to other people and contribute their own audio to the conference but the MCU will not transmit video to it (and will not use any video received from it). If an audio-only device such as a simple telephone joins a conference which has just video ports available, the MCU will assign it a video port, which includes audio capability. The video capability of that allocation will not be used, but the audio device will be able to participate as normal in the conference. The exception to this is VNC - because this is a video-only protocol, the MCU does not permit VNC connections to use audio-only ports.

Streaming a conference requires use of a or a . Where streaming and content channel ports are provided, streaming viewers and conferences' content channel (H.239 or BFCP) video allocations will use the streaming and content channel ports rather than the available video ports; where streaming and content channel ports are not provided, streaming viewers and content channel allocations will use available video ports.

If a streaming and content channel port or a video port is unavailable (or not allocated in advance when the MCU is in Reserved mode), it will not be possible to stream that conference. If a video port has been allocated for streaming a conference, any number of streaming viewers will be able to view that conference via streaming, at any combination of available bit rates.

The total number of media ports available depends on the MCU model; refer to the product datasheets available on the web site, or to MCU port matrix for more information.

How MCU media ports are allocated, and which options and settings are available, is controlled by the Media port reservation setting on the Conference settings page.

This is the mode that the unit runs in when the Media port reservation setting is configured as , and is the mode that the MCU uses by default. With this scheme, you can specify a maximum value for the number of video and audio-only ports each conference is allowed to use on the Conference configuration page. These limits are optional, and by default there is no configured limit.

The configured limits are strictly maximum values; in particular, setting such a limit does not guarantee that that many participants will be able to join the conference. It is perfectly possible to set these values such that the sum of the configured limits across all active conferences exceeds the total number of ports available on the MCU.

This is the mode that the unit runs in when the Media port reservation setting is configured as . With this scheme, each conference must be configured with a number of video ports to reserve and a number of audio-only ports to reserve. These values differ from the maximum port values set in Unreserved mode in a number of ways:

As well as being maximum values (i.e. enforcing limits on the number of conference participants), port reservation values also guarantee that that many endpoints are able to participate in the conference.

In unreserved mode, it is not necessary to specify a number of video or audio-only ports for a conference. In reserved mode, however, every conference must have configured reservations for both video and audio-only ports.

Port reservations guarantee that a certain number of participants will be able to join a conference; because of this, the MCU will not permit these reservations to be configured such that the total number of reserved ports at any given time exceeds the total number of ports available. See Clashing reservations for additional information.

In order to honor configured port reservations, the MCU must ensure that at any given time the number of reserved ports does not exceed the total media capacity. This entails some level of clash detection when conferences are scheduled or their configuration changed.

Two conferences are considered to clash if they can ever be active simultaneously. When validating a conference schedule, the MCU looks at the maximum number of ports reserved by other conferences which can be active at the same time, and checks that the number of ports requested by the conference being added or changed is guaranteed to be available. If, for instance, the MCU has 20 video ports available in total, it will not be possible to set up two conferences which require 15 video ports each if they are scheduled such that they ever overlap.

In the simple case of conferences which start at specific times and end at specific times (or, indeed, are permanent), it is easy to see whether they clash. The more complex cases involve repetition, and it is important to bear in mind that

port reservations are only permitted when the MCU can guarantee them for repetition of a conference. As an example, a conference scheduled to run from 08:00 to 10:00 on the second Monday of each month will be deemed to clash with a conference configured to run from 09:00 to 09:30 every Monday, even though the former will only really clash with the latter every fourth or fifth week.

In general, to make best use of the available MCU media ports, conferences should not be scheduled for longer than they are needed, and repetitions should be limited, either by end date or number, wherever possible.

Because port reservations are mandatory in every active conference must have configured values for the number of video ports and the number of audio-only ports to reserve for it. In turn this means that every active conference must be configured, and therefore ad hoc conferences are not permitted when in .

This affects the operation of the MCU in the following ways:

In reserved mode, the Create new conference option will not be shown on video auto attendant menus, even for auto attendants configured to display this option.

When configuring new or existing auto attendants via the web interface, the Creation of new conferences parameter will not be available.

This setting on the Conference settings page also offers a Create new conference option. This is not available in reserved mode and becomes equivalent to the Disconnect caller option.

If a participant calls in to the MCU and connects to an auto attendant, the MCU does not know which conference they will join until they make a selection from the auto attendant menu.

In Unreserved mode, the auto attendant connection allocates a media port from those not currently in use. If all of the media ports are in use, the endpoint's connection will be dropped by the MCU.

In Reserved mode, the auto attendant connection effectively "borrows" a media port from those not currently in use. However, this borrowed media port has a lower priority than a media port used by a conference participant, and if the auto attendant connection "borrows" the last remaining media port, then that connection will be dropped if another endpoint connects directly to a conference and requires a reserved media port.

In general, changing port reservation mode when there are active connections is not recommended. The effects of changing mode include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Any ad hoc conferences in progress will be destroyed when changing to port reservation mode and their participants dropped because ad hoc conferences are not permitted in port reservation mode.

Participants in a scheduled conference may be disconnected. For each conference, the maximum port usage values (for unreserved mode) and the ports to reserve (for reserved mode) are configured and stored separately. Therefore when changing port reservation mode, it is possible that there are more active participants than allowed in the particular mode. In this case, participants are disconnected to reduce the number to that allowed.

The Codian MCU supports an additional video channel known as the content channel for each conference. This feature encompasses:

H.239 video streams sent from the MCU to viewing H.323 endpoints Sourcing the content channel from a H.323 endpoint's H.239 video stream, a SIP endpoint supporting

content using BFCP, or a VNC connection

Showing the content as part of the main video channel, where an endpoint cannot, for whatever reason,

receive the content channel as an additional video channel. That is, the participant will see the content as a pane in the conference layout.

Streaming the content channel to users' desktop machines as a pane in the conference view Streaming the content channel to users' desktop machines as a separate window (where markup and text

chat can also be used)

Allowing graphical and textual "markup" of the content channel

(*)

Text chat between conference participants

(*)

- these features require the web conferencing feature key.

The H.239 protocol allow the MCU to support an additional video stream to or from each connected endpoint. Therefore, there are potentially three media streams between each endpoint and the MCU: audio, main video and content video.

SIP endpoints will always receive the content as part of the main video channel. That is, SIP endpoints will not receive the content channel as a separate video channel, but will see the content as a pane in the main video channel.

The main video is the normal multi-pane conference view showing participants' video streams composed within the selected layout. The differences between the content channel video and the main video are:

Each participant in a conference can normally select their own individual main video layout (e.g. a 2 x 2 grid of other participants, one large focused pane plus eight smaller panes) and they are free to change this layout as many times as desired while they are connected to the conference. By comparison the content channel video always shows just a single video stream, "full screen", and each viewing endpoint will see the same stream. The stream which constitutes the content channel can change any number of times during the conference, but there can be at most one contributing stream at any given moment.

Each participant's main video stream is encoded independently; this means that each endpoint can be receiving its main video stream at a different bit rate, codec, or resolution to that being sent to other participants. However, there is a single content video stream per-conference: the MCU sends the same bit rate and resolution to all endpoints receiving content. The bit rate and resolution used is chosen to maximize the number of viewers - for instance the resolution might be reduced if a new endpoint joins the conference and its content receive capabilities are more limited than those of the other participants. Note that in conferences

that use encryption, the MCU can send encrypted and unencrypted content to different participants in the same conference (albeit with the same encryption key for every participant receiving encrypted content).

The range of bit rates, resolutions and frame rates available to the MCU for sending the content channel via H.239 to H.323 video conferencing endpoints is potentially as wide as that for the main video channel. However, in general, the main video channel is used for motion video (i.e. high frame rate streams) and the content channel for less dynamic video such as an accompanying presentation - typically high resolution, low frame rate. However, the MCU allows flexibility in terms of nominating which of the available streams forms the content channel, as well as allowing control over which endpoints are permitted to start contributing content video.

For the main video channel, a video conferencing endpoint would normally be both contributing (sending) a video stream to the MCU and receiving a video stream from it. However the content channel works differently in that an endpoint can either be sending content video or receiving content video, but not both. A given endpoint may switch between being the contributor and a viewer during the conference, but it will never be both simultaneously.

For H.323 endpoints, depending on the specific endpoint and how it is configured, the content video stream may be displayed on a separate screen, or the endpoint may show the main video and the content video streams side by side on the same screen.

Irrespective of its content receive capability, an endpoint may or may not be able to contribute the content channel typically, for this to be possible it will either need a second camera or some other video input such as a VCR or "video in" connection.

Some H.323 endpoints may have no support for the H.239 protocol and the MCU does not send the content channel video to SIP endpoints. However, it is still possible for such endpoints to display the content channel - the MCU is able to show the content channel within a normal view pane in the same way as it displays other conference participants. This ability is controlled by the unit-wide Display content in normal video channel setting (see Configuring

content settings).

As described above, a conference's content channel as sent to the set of receiving endpoints has a single source. There are several possible content channel sources:

This is the most conventional content channel behavior - a H.323 conference participant opens a H.239 channel to the MCU and contributes a video stream, such as that supplied by a second camera or an attached PC. Because there can be at most one content channel source, the H.323 endpoint needs to make a request to the MCU, and have that request accepted, before actual content channel contribution can start. If the conference already has an active content channel (for example, another endpoint is contributing H.239 video), the new request will be rejected by the MCU - it will be necessary to wait for the active contributor to cease sending H.239 video before the new endpoint is able to start.

BFCP (Binary Floor Control Protocol) is a protocol that allows for an additional video channel (known as the

content channel) alongside the main video channel in a video-conferencing call that uses SIP. A SIP conference participant opens a BFCP channel to the MCU and contributes a video stream, such as that supplied by a second camera or an attached PC. Because there can be at most one content channel source, the SIP endpoint needs to make a request to the MCU, and have that request accepted, before actual content channel contribution can start. If the conference already has an active content channel (for example, another endpoint is contributing content video), the new request will be rejected by the MCU - it will be necessary to wait for the active contributor to cease sending content video before the new endpoint is able to start. Note that the MCU does not send the content channel to SIP endpoints as a separate video channel, but can show the content channel within a normal view pane in the same way as it displays other conference participants. This ability is controlled by the unit-wide Display content in normal video channel setting (see Configuring content settings).

A VNC connection is one where the MCU has made a connection to a remote device (normally a desktop PC) and is receiving a video stream from that device - this is typically used for including a slide-based presentation in a conference. By default, if a conference is configured with content channel support and a VNC "participant" is added to that conference, the MCU will attempt to use the VNC video as the content channel. This is normally the desired behavior; however, there are a couple of caveats:

o If there is a video conferencing endpoint actively contributing content video then it will not be

possible to immediately switch over to using the VNC video instead - the switch over will occur when the participant closes its content channel.

o With more than one active VNC connection in a conference, the first will be used as the content

channel source, and subsequent connections will be shown in main video layout panes, just as if the conference had no content channel facility. If the currently active VNC connection is either disconnected or its use as the content channel disabled, another VNC video stream will start to be used as the content channel.

It is also possible for the MCU to use a endpoint's main video channel as the conference's content channel. This has the same caveats as the use of a VNC connection for the content channel, as described above.

Whichever of the content channel sources mentioned above is active, the MCU provides the facility for users to add markup to the video channel. This markup consists of an additional video overlay on to which graphics may be drawn and text added - content channel viewers see the content channel source video plus this overlay. The overlay can be cleared later leaving the source video unaltered.

At the unit-wide level, the MCU can be configured to disallow the use of conference content channels completely. If the content channel facility is enabled, the MCU can be separately configured not to allow textual or graphical markup of the content, and whether to make text chat visible to connected endpoints.

You can choose to enable encryption on the MCU. When encryption is used, the content channel will be encrypted.

For more information on these configuration parameters, see Configuring content settings and Configuring

encryption settings.

Assuming that content is enabled on the MCU unit-wide, each scheduled conference can be independently configured to allow content channel operations or not. If enabled, this has an impact on the conference's port usage - if disabled, then all attempts by participants in that conference to open a content channel to the MCU will be unsuccessful.

If the MCU is configured to allow encryption, each individual conference can be configured to either require encryption or to optionally use encryption. The MCU can send either encrypted or unencrypted content to different participants in a conference depending on the capabilities of those participants' endpoints.

For more information on the conference configuration parameters relevant to the content channel, see Adding and

updating conferences.

Content contribution refers to the ability of video conferencing devices to contribute the content channel video for a conference via the mechanism of opening a separate video channel, distinct from its main video stream. Specifically, this section does not deal with the use of content by the MCU when sending content channels to viewing devices or the use of other protocols such as VNC to supply the content channel video for a conference.

For a conference configured with content channel video enabled, each endpoint in that conference is either permitted or prohibited from being able to contribute content video. H.239 is the protocol used by H.323 video conferencing endpoints to supply or receive content channel video; BFCP is the protocol used by SIP video conferencing endpoints to supply content channel video. Other content channel source configurations, such as the use of a VNC connection, do not depend on any H.239 or BFCP contribution parameters.

Remember that what is termed Content contribution is more precisely described as the ability to contributing content channel video via H.239/BFCP. The nature of the H.239 and BFCP protocols used between the MCU and endpoints is such that once an endpoint has successfully become the content source for a conference, the MCU is not then able to force that endpoint to stop contributing the content channel video.

While an endpoint is supplying the content channel for a conference, it is considered to be holding the virtual content token for the conference - this token must be relinquished before either another endpoint can start contributing video via H.239 or BFCP or a content channel source such as VNC become active. This token is normally released via a specific endpoint operation (e.g. a "stop content " option) or by that endpoint leaving the conference.

By default, participants' ability to contribute content video (technically, as above, to contributing H.239 or BFCP video) is determined by the per-conference Content contribution from endpoints setting ( >

The per-conference default Content contribution from endpoints setting can be overridden by individual endpoints' configuration. If such an endpoint's Content contribution setting is <use conference default> then the endpoint's ability to contribute content channel video will be determined initially from the conference setting. If the endpoint setting is <enabled> or <disabled> then this will override the conference setting and that endpoint will either always be prevented from using content, or always permitted (assuming the conference of which it is part is configured with content channel support). As well as being part of each endpoint's configuration, the Content contribution setting can also be specified when calling out to an endpoint by address.

Irrespective of per-conference or per-endpoint configuration parameters, if a conference is configured to allow content channel operations then it is possible to explicitly enable or disable individual conference participants' ability to use content via the web browser interface (assuming a user login with full conference control).

To change the content contribution setting for an active conference participant via the web interface, first navigate to that participant's page (go to and click the conference you want and then click on the name of the participant whose settings you want to change). If the conference has content enabled and the endpoint in question has content capabilities, you should be able to use one of the following controls:

allow participant to contribute content video

do not allow participant to contribute content video

If an endpoint's ability to contribute content video has been explicitly enabled or disabled via this mechanism, that enablement or disablement will take precedence over any current or future conference or participant configuration,

even if the endpoint later moves to a different conference.

In addition to supporting the H.239 and BFCP protocols by which endpoints in a conference can supply the content channel video, the MCU also allows a participant's main video channel to be used for the content stream. This is essentially what happens by default for VNC connections in a conference configured to allow content channel video.

As detailed above, it is not possible to force an endpoint that has started to contribute content video to relinquish the virtual token that it holds. Thus, if an endpoint's main video channel is configured to be the content channel source, this will only take effect if no other endpoint is supplying the content channel video stream (whether by H.239, BFCP, or through use of its main video stream).

To control the use of a participant's main video as the conference content channel source, these following controls are displayed on the per-conference participant list (next to the preview image of the video stream to which they relate):

use this participant's main video stream as the content channel

(this is set by default for VNC connections)

stop using this participant's main video stream as the content channel

(revert to more conventional content channel behavior such as H.239)

If more than one participant's main video channel is configured to provide the content channel, then all but the active (normally, first) one will be marked with the status:

You might also see this warning if there is more than one VNC connection in a conference, because, when establishing a new VNC connection, the MCU will automatically configure its main (in fact, sole) video channel to be used as the content channel source if possible. To choose between multiple potential main video channels as the content source for the conference, ensure that you use the disablement control:

on all but the source you wish to use for this.

As well as the content stream (used for sending to H.323 endpoints), the MCU also generates a Codian proprietary format version of the content channel video which can be viewed in conjunction with PC-based video streaming. This ensures that, if desired, all participants and viewers for a conference are able to access all of its associated media.

Content channel streaming also allows participants using H.323 video conferencing endpoints without H.239 capability, or SIP endpoints to view a high resolution version of the content channel. Content channel streaming also provides some features not available via the H.239 protocol:

"Markup" is the overlaying of graphics and text onto the content channel video; this could be used, for instance, to draw attention to a specific element of a presentation slide. Markup can only be performed through the content channel streaming interface, and is accomplished via the simple mechanism of clicking and dragging with the mouse, with extra controls for changing the drawing color or clearing the markup when its usefulness has passed.

Content channel markup also has the following characteristics:

All content streaming viewers have equal markup capabilities. This means that either all viewers are able to

perform markup on the content channel video (or clear it), or all are unable to do so - it is not possible to restrict markup to just a subset of active viewers.

The video markup, although it can only be edited by streaming viewers, will be seen by content channel

streaming viewers, by participants connected via H.323 endpoints that are receiving the content channel, and by any participants that are viewing the content as part of their main video.

Video markup is normally used as an overlay to content channel video as supplied by a H.239, BFCP, or

VNC connection. However, for a conference with content channel operations enabled, it is also possible to form a content channel comprising just the markup applied to an otherwise blank video stream. This can be accomplished simply by starting to stream the conference's content channel and performing the usual markup operations on the (empty) content channel displayed. Adding markup to such a blank channel "activates" it, and will cause a video channel to be opened to those H.323 conference endpoints which have H.239 capabilities.

The ability of content channel streaming viewers to perform markup is governed by the unit-wide Markup of content channel video setting on the page.

In parallel with, though in many senses independently of, content channel streaming, the MCU also provides a mechanism for those streaming a conference's content channel to communicate with other conference participants via text messages. Beneath the window showing the content channel video, streaming viewers are able to type messages that will be sent to all other streaming viewers, as well as see messages that other users type.

In order that users contributing text messages can be identified, each content streaming viewer has an associated user ID, and this ID is pre-pended to each message when it is sent out to other viewers' displays. If the content channel streaming has been initiated via the streaming-only interface, each user is required to supply a Sign-in name before streaming starts, and this sign-in is used as their text chat identifier. If streaming has been initiated via the Stream control on the MCU conference list, the user's web interface login ID will be used as their text chat identifier.

The text chat facility provided via web browser-based content streaming is two-way in that any content channel streaming viewer is able to both contribute text and see all messages typed by other viewers. Although there is no mechanism by which endpoints are able to contribute text chat messages, the MCU is able to display the most recent text messages within endpoints' main video channels. This is intended to be of use when a presenter is connected to an MCU conference via a video endpoint and wishes to field questions raised by (content channel) streaming viewers. In this situation, the text typed by content channel streaming viewers is overlaid on the normal, multi-pane, conference layout, though restricted to approximately the lowest 1/3 of the screen.

For streaming viewers to have the option of contributing and/or reading text messages, the View content channel option must be selected. This option is one of the available to users when they select to stream a conference.

The display of text chat in endpoints' views is governed by the unit-wide Content channel text chat option which is an

setting on the page. The text chat facility itself, and display of typed text to all

content channel streaming viewers' windows, cannot be disabled.

Some of the above content channel features require the MCU to have been configured with the feature key. The following features are only available with the Web conferencing key:

Streaming the content channel to users' desktop machines as a separate window (rather than as a pane in the

conference view)

Markup of content channel video Text chat

If the MCU is operating in reserved mode, enabling content for a conference does not use a video port; instead, content uses one of the additional 'Streaming and content' ports provided by your MCU. A single 'Streaming and content' port is needed for all content channel operations, irrespective of how many viewers there are; for example, a conference involving five video endpoints (one of which is contributing a content stream and the other four viewing it) will require five video ports and one 'Streaming and content' port - Video ports to reserve should be set to 5, and Content channel video set to "Enabled" in this specific example.

In reserved mode, a conference with content enabled will require a 'Streaming and content' port for content operations even if no current participants are actively making use of content.

For more information about the number and types of ports provided by your MCU, refer to MCU port matrix.

If the MCU is operating in unreserved mode, enabling content for a conference works in a similar way to streaming in that it will require a port to be allocated when content channel operations are first attempted for that conference. For instance, this could be when a participant opens a content channel or a user starts viewing the content channel via their web browser. When the port is no longer needed for the conference's content channel (e.g. when the last remaining participant disconnects) the port will be released for use by future participants or conferences.

The streaming of the content channel is performed using the port allocated for content rather than the port allocated for streaming. This means that it is possible to stream the content channel (for example, to use the video markup feature) for conferences which do not have streaming enabled. Enabling both streaming and content for a conference will mean that two additional ports will be required for that conference, over and above the video and audio-only ports used by endpoints participating in that conference.

See port reservation for more information.

All of the above-mentioned features, for instance content video streams between the MCU and video conferencing endpoints, markup of content channel video and text chat, are available for use with both scheduled and ad hoc conferences.

However, whereas for scheduled conferences the availability of content is determined by a per-conference configuration setting, for ad hoc conferences it is only possible to enable or disable content on a device-wide basis. This is accomplished via the Content for ad hoc conferences option on the Content settings web page — if this is "Enabled" then any ad hoc conference on the MCU may use content; if "Disabled" then none may do so.

In software versions prior to 1.4(1), it was not possible to use content channel features (including the H.239 protocol between the MCU and H.323 video conferencing endpoints) with ad hoc conferences. It remains the case that ad hoc conferences are not permitted when operating in reserved mode.

You can control many conference features from the MCU web browser:

Adding participants Viewing the participants list Customizing layout views Displaying conference statistics Sending messages to all participants

You can add a participant to a conference in two ways: either as a "one-off" participant in to an active conference now or by adding their endpoint to the conference configuration, in which case the endpoint will be called every time the conference occurs. Their endpoint must be pre-configured for you to be able to do this, see Adding pre-configured

participants.

To call an endpoint immediately you can either put in their endpoint details or select a pre-configured endpoint and call out. Their endpoint can be an H.323, SIP or VNC endpoint. Refer to the first three links below for details:

Adding an H.323 participant Adding a SIP participant Adding a VNC participant Adding pre-configured participants

Note that participants called by the MCU will have chairperson privileges. For more information about chairperson and guest privileges, refer to Adding a conference.

To call a participant with an H.323 endpoint in to an active conference:

1. Go to to display the Conference List.

2. Click a Conference name and then click .

o To add a new endpoint (one that you have not added as a configured endpoint):

i. Select the radio button and do one of the following:

 For , enter the IP address, E.164 number, or H.323 alias of the

participant's endpoint.

 For , enter the number configured on an H.323 gateway for the

participant and select the from the drop down list. For more information about configuring H.323 gateways, refer to Adding and updating

gateways

 For , enter an H.323 gateway and E.164 number in the form <gateway

address>!<E.164 number>. This allows to you make a call via a H.323 gateway

that has not been pre-configured on the MCU.

ii. For information about other conference settings, refer to Configuring H.323 endpoints

iii. Click .

o To invite an existing (configured) H.323 endpoint, scroll down to the Endpoints section, select the

check box next to the endpoint name and click .

To call a participant with a SIP endpoint in to an active conference:

1. Go to to display the Conference List.

2. Click a Conference name and then click .

o To add an new endpoint (one that you have not added as a configured endpoint):

i. Select the radio button and do one of the following:

 For , enter the IP address, or SIP URI of the participant's endpoint (in

the format 1234@codian.com)

 For , enter the number registered with the SIP registrar and check

(ensuring that you have configured a SIP registrar on the >

page)

ii. For information about other conference settings, refer to Configuring SIP endpoints

iii. Click .

o To invite an existing (configured) SIP participant, scroll down to the Endpoints section, select the

check box next to the SIP endpoint name and click .

To call a VNC endpoint in to an active conference:

1. Go to to display the Conference List.

2. Click a Conference name and then click .

o To invite a new VNC endpoint:

i. Enter the host name or IP address of the VNC host and the VNC server password for the

computer you are adding.

ii. Enable if you want the participant to be disconnected from the

conference if another participant disconnects and only participants configured to be automatically disconnected remain in the conference.

iii. Click .

o To invite an existing (configured) VNC endpoint, scroll down to the Endpoints section, click next

to the VNC endpoint name and click .

You can choose participants whose endpoints have been configured previously to be part of a scheduled conference. These participants will be automatically invited into the conference by the MCU every time the conference runs. This is useful if you regularly invite the same participants into a conference.

The MCU will attempt to call pre-configured endpoints every minute for the first 5 minutes and then every 5 minutes until 20 minutes into the conference, at which point it will stop trying.

To add previously configured endpoints to a conference:

1. Go to to display the Conference List.

2. Click a Conference name and then click the tab.

3. Click the button. The pre-configured participants page will be displayed. This

page lists all the endpoints that have been configured on the MCU (see Configuring an H.323 endpoint and

Configuring a SIP endpoint).

4. Select which endpoints you would like to add as pre-configured participants in this conference.

5. Press .

6. Make any other changes you require to the conference configuration, then press . (If you

do not press , you will lose the selections of configured endpoints made in the previous steps.)

You can select custom layouts to use for all conference participants. To use this option:

Whether a custom layout can be used for this participant.

When you click a new layout from the Available layouts, is automatically chosen with the most recent layout selected.

New participants joining this conference will view the conference with this custom layout rather than one of the default views (see Customizing a

participant's layout display).

To force all participants to use this layout, click

If a participant has chosen to use a custom conference layout (see Customizing a participant's

layout display), their view will automatically

update and switch to the new view. Displays all the conference layouts that are

available. Click a layout to select it and make it available.

You can only select one custom layout at a time.

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click the tab.

3. Click on the layout you want to use from those shown in the Available layouts. There are different numbers of

panes and pane configurations to choose from. The chosen layout is displayed enlarged to the left in the Conference custom layout section of the page and the

radio button is selected.

4. If you want to select the participants who appear in a pane manually rather than letting the MCU make the

most appropriate selection, click . See Using pane placement below.

5. To have all participants see this layout when they join the conference click

6. If you also want all participants to see this view now, click .

The following table explains the details that display.

To have more control over which participant appears in which pane, you can use the Pane placement function. Pane placement works on a per conference basis.

Pane placement works on the selected custom layout in the page - see Customizing layout

views. The chosen custom layout is shown with the panes numbered. The largest (and therefore most important)

panes have the lowest numbers. Because the largest number of panes in any custom layout is 20, there are twenty drop down lists, one per pane. If the number of panes in the chosen layout is less than this, a gray line separates the panes that are used from those that do not apply to this layout.

The first time you open the pane placement page for a conference all the panes are set to <default>. The MCU decides which participant will appear in panes with this setting. See Understanding how participants display in layout

views for more information.

For each pane you can select an alternative setting:

<blank>: no participant appears in this pane <rolling>: this pane shows conference participants, automatically changing at the configured "Pane rolling

interval" frequency from the page. All participants contributing video are shown in rolling panes except for any participants explicitly placed in other panes

<loudest speaker>: the participant who is speaking the loudest at any time appears in this pane <content>: this pane is reserved for the content channel (see Ccontent channel video support). If the

content channel is not used in this conference, this pane will be blank.

<name>: the name of each pre-configured endpoint in this conference, and (if the conference is active) the

names of all active participants whose endpoints were not pre-configured is displayed in the lists. If you select a specific participant (endpoint), that participant appears in this pane at all times.

To use pane placement:

1. Click .

2. For each pane that you want to control, select an entry from the drop down list.

3. For panes that you no longer want to control individually, select <default>

4. Click .

5. To return to the Custom layout page, click

When you use pane placement, bear in mind that:

Pane placement only applies to conference custom layouts. If they are disabled so is pane placement. You can mix panes set to <default> with panes that have other settings Any panes that you configure keep their setting even if you change the custom layout view. Therefore if you

configure all the panes in the 20 pane layout and then move to one with only five panes, panes 1 to 5 will have the same settings as before. Panes 6 to 20 will also keep their settings, it is just that they are not used. Therefore if you subsequently move to a layout with say 10 panes, all ten panes have their settings preconfigured. This does mean that if you have participants who need to be seen at all times, you should configure them in the lower numbered panes

You must set up pane placement for each conference that you want to use it with You can set up pane placement before a conference starts and configure pre-configured endpoints in to

particular panes. However you can only configure active participants whose endpoints are not preconfigured when the conference is running

Pane placement persists over conference repetitions. If you set pane placement once, the same placements

are ready to be used when the conference next repeats

If you select a particular participant for a pane and they are disconnected for any reason, that pane appears

blank

After you set up pane placement, you can still change the layout for individual participants - and they can

change their layout using the far end camera controls unless you disable this for each participant individually. See Customizing a participant's layout display.

The left and right controls on a participant's far end camera control, used to select a focused participant,

have no effect when pane placement is in use

Potentially, when pane placement is in use, a participant may appear in two panes at the same time. This

happens for example if a pane is configured to show a particular participant and another pane is configured to show the loudest speaker; each time that participant is the loudest speaker, he will appear in both panes.

There is a setting on the MCU's page to control this behavior called Loudest speaker pane placement behavior

When the conference started.

When the conference will complete. This will be the time at which the maximum duration of the conference will have elapsed. This setting displays as <permanent> if it has been configured to last forever.

The duration of this conference.

The status of a conference with respect to its H.323 gatekeeper and/or SIP registrations. The possible states are:

This conference is not configured to be registered with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar; because of this, there is no applicable registration status to show.

The conference has been registered successfully with the gatekeeper or SIP registrar and can be contacted using the number indicated.

This conference is in the process of registering with the gatekeeper or SIP registrar.

The conference is in the process of unregistering with the gatekeeper or SIP registrar. This might occur if:

o Gatekeeper registration has been turned off (either for that conference only

or for the entire MCU)

o The configured gatekeeper has just been changed and the MCU is in the

process of unregistering from the previous gatekeeper before registering its conferences with the new one.

If the MCU fails to register a conference with the gatekeeper or SIP registrar, it enters these states temporarily before re-attempting the registration.

This ID has been specifically configured to be registered with the gatekeeper or SIP registrar, but some other configuration has overridden this, causing the registration to not be attempted. This state might occur if either of the H.323 gatekeeper usage or ID registration for scheduled conferences options on the page is set to Disabled.

The conference is configured to register with a gatekeeper or SIP registrar, but has not had a numeric identifier set.

You can display statistics about a conference and use the information to quickly see how many participants are currently in the conference.

To access this option:

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click the tab.

If the conference is active, statistics for that conference will be displayed. If the conference is completed only ―No longer active‖ will be displayed.

Refer to the table below for information on interpreting this information.

The current number of contributing audio/video participants.

The largest number of contributing audio/video participants who have been in the conference at the same time.

The current number of contributing audio-only participants.

The largest number of contributing audio-only participants who have been in the conference at the same time.

The current number of streaming participants watching the conference.

The largest number of streaming participants who have been watching the conference at the same time.

You can send messages to all participants in a conference simultaneously. To access this option:

Enter the message to send to all conference participants.

Messages must be fewer than 256 characters, but depending on the viewing screen, messages at the higher-end of this limit might not display properly. Therefore, consider limiting messages to approximately 180 characters. Messages longer than 256 characters will not be truncated; they will not display at all.

You can disable this setting from

(see Conference settings).

The vertical position of the message on the conference display.

Choose from the top, middle, or bottom of the conference display.

How long the message appears on participants' video screens.

The default setting is 30 seconds. To remove all messages before they time out, click

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click the tab.

This message appears overlaid on each participant's view, including participants viewing the conference via streaming.

You can view detailed information about conference participants:

Viewing the conference participant list Customizing a participant's layout display Controlling the near-end camera Managing a participant's audio signals Creating a custom participant view Displaying statistics for a participant Sending messages to one participant Displaying diagnostics for a participant Moving a participant

The Participant list displays information about active and previous participants in the conference. To access this list, go to and click a Conference name. This page explains the information available in the participant list.

Conference information Lock conference Active participants All-participant controls Previous participants Pre-configured participants Summary information Watching the conference

Above the list of participants, certain information about the conference is displayed:

: If the conference is being recorded on an IP VCR, this message will

appear.

: Each conference may have either imposed limits on the maximum number of media ports it is

able to use, or a certain number of media ports reserved for its use. This section shows the video port and audio-only port reservation or limit.

See the full description of Port reservation for additional information.

: Whether streaming is in use or not for this conference. : Whether the content channel is in use or not for this conference. : If you have the encryption feature key enabled, the encryption status of the conference will be

shown, which will either be not required or required.

A locked conference is one where new participants cannot dial in and you cannot start to stream the conference.

Indicates whether the participant's endpoint is an H.323, SIP, or VNC endpoint.

Displays the name of the endpoint.

The following may also be displayed:

If the participant has been resolved to a particular configured user (for instance by matching the participant's E.164 phone number against a configured value), then the appropriate user id will be shown here.

User names only display if the participant list is being viewed by an administrator, because only administrators have access to the configured user database.

Existing participants and streaming viewers will maintain their connection to the conference. If a conference is locked, an icon will indicate this on the auto attendant. The auto attendant will also display the text: 'This conference is locked'.

Note that participants that are pre-configured via the API will be able to dial in to the conference even if it is locked. This allows conferences to be restricted to specific participants (known as whitelisting).

Admin users and the conference owner can lock and unlock a conference. The conference will be automatically unlocked by the MCU when the final participant leaves.

When a conference is locked, admin users and the conference owner will still be able to connect new endpoints and disconnect participants.

To lock a conference:

1. Go to and click on the name of the conference you want to lock. The Conference's Participant

List displays.

2. Click the button in the top right-hand corner of the page.

Refer to the table below for details about the active participant list, which you can modify in the following ways:

You can end the conference, forcing all participants (including unicast streaming viewers) to be dropped, by

clicking .

For conferences that are "scheduled" rather than "ad hoc", ending the conference in this way causes any configured repetition to be cancelled. The ended conference would move from the "Scheduled conferences" list to the "Completed conferences" list. The configured duration of a completed conference reflects the actual duration of the conference rather than its original configured duration. For example, if a conference was scheduled to run from 09:00 until 10:00 (one hour) and the conference ended at 09:25, the configured duration would be changed to 25 minutes.

You can add a new H.323 or SIP video conferencing endpoint to the conference (either creating a new

endpoint or by choosing an existing one) by clicking . See Adding participants.

You can add a new VNC endpoint to the conference (either by creating a new endpoint or by choosing an

existing one) by clicking . See Adding participants.

This indicates that this participant corresponds to a pre-defined endpoint. The <name> shown is the endpoint's configured name.

Configured endpoint names only display if the participant list is being viewed by a user whose privilege level is administrator or conference creation and full control; only users with these privilege levels have access to the configured endpoint database.

Makes participant important

Makes participant unimportant

When you make a participant "important", it sets this participant as the focused participant. For example, this participant is considered the loudest participant even if they are not speaking.

Only one participant can be identified as "important", and no participant is set to "important" by default.

This option affects the layout views for the conference and individual participants. See

Selecting a custom participant view and Customizing layout views.

If the content channel is made "important", one participant can still be important. On endpoints that support content, the content channel will be displayed in the content channel window and the important participant will be given the focus in the main video window. On endpoints that do not support content, the important participant will be ignored as the content channel will be given the focus.

Prevents other participants from hearing this participant (mute).

Allows other participants to hear this participant's audio (stop muting).

Prevents others from seeing this participant's video contribution (mute).

Allows others to see this participant's video contribution (stop muting).

The presence of these controls is controlled by the setting on the

page (refer to

Customizing the user interface).

Disconnects a participant from the conference.

You can configure the MCU to require confirmation when someone attempts to disconnect an individual participant from a conference. This setting is on the

page.

Displays the time at which a participant connected to the conference. If a participant is not yet fully connected (for example, if the MCU has called a participant but it has not yet answered), then that is indicated here. The resolution of the participant's video stream is also displayed.

The following additional indications may also be displayed:

If this column is selected as the sorting field, the listing is ordered according to when the participants connected to the conference.

When ClearVision is enabled on the

page, the original and enhanced video resolutions are shown in the "Rx:" line; the original resolution is displayed in a highlighted form and the enhanced resolution is shown when the user's mouse pointer is moved to this highlighted resolution.

Indicates that the conference is being recorded.

Indicates that all media streams in both directions (to and from the endpoint and the MCU) are encrypted.

Indicates that all media streams received from this participant are encrypted.

Indicates that all media streams sent to this participant are encrypted.

Next to the encryption indication is the AES check code. This can be used in combination with information displayed by some endpoints to check that the encryption is secure.

This indicates that this participant is in the conference because of a pre-configured endpoint.

See Adding pre-configured participants for additional information on adding endpoints to conferences in this way.

These messages indicate that the MCU has not opened a media channel to a participant's endpoint because it has no capability to receive that type of channel. For example, if the endpoint is a simple telephone, you might expect to see "No video capabilities" shown here.

These messages indicate that the remote endpoint had declared media capabilities, but the MCU was not permitted to open a channel that the endpoint was prepared to receive.

This is most likely to occur if you have disabled one or more codecs in the "Audio codecs from MCU" or "Video codecs from MCU" configuration on the Advanced conference

settings web page.

These messages indicate that the remote endpoint had declared media capabilities including codecs that the MCU was permitted to send, but that the MCU was unable to transmit the specific formats declared.

This could occur if, for instance, the far end's advertised receive video sizes were all 4CIF (704 x 576 pixels) or above, and the MCU was set to not transmit above CIF (352 x 288 pixels).

Indicates that the MCU was unable to open a media channel to the endpoint because the only possible channels it would be able to open were invalid due to a symmetry clash. This clash occurs when the remote endpoint declared that it is only able to receive certain types of media if it is also sending the same format, and the format in question is one that the MCU is able to send but not receive.

These messages occur if a channel was unable to be opened solely because doing so would have exceeded the port limit. This limit may be a perconference restriction or, for those conferences which impose no such limit, it could be that all of the MCU's available ports were in use.

Indicates that the MCU is unable to receive the media format that the endpoint is trying to transmit.

These status rows show details of the audio and (main) video streams being sent to or received from the endpoint.

Tx refers to media streams sent by the MCU, and Rx means media streams being received by the

MCU.

If the MCU has received information that the endpoint has been muted at the far end, this will be indicated in the Rx row as "muted remotely".

This row (if present) shows one of two things: the characteristics of the content video channel being sent by the MCU to a participant, or the reason why no such stream is currently being transmitted. The status values that can be shown here are:

The MCU is able to send content video to the participant but is not currently doing so. This is normally because there is no active content channel video source for the conference. This status will also be shown for a participant which is the content channel video source and is also capable of receiving the currently active content video stream.

No Content tx status will be shown if the conference does not have content channel video enabled, or if the endpoint has no content capabilities.

You may change whether the MCU is prepared to send the conference content channel stream to an endpoint using content using the enable or disable control here. If sending of content video to an endpoint is currently not allowed, you will see the enable option, otherwise you will see the disable option.

For more information about using content, refer to Content channel video support.

Content is enabled for this conference, but this participant is not allowed to receive it. To enable content for this participant, configure the Content video receive setting for this participant's endpoint (refer to Configuring H.323 endpoints), or use the enable control for an active call.

There is a unit-wide setting that determines which video codec is used by the MCU for outgoing content channels. The Outgoing content video codec is on the page.

This message means that the endpoint is able to receive content video, but not using the same codec as the MCU is configured to transmit.

For each conference, the MCU uses a single video stream for all outgoing content connections to endpoints. This entails considering all endpoints' receive capabilities and deciding which resolution and bit rate to send in order to maximize the number of content channel viewers. These messages mean that the MCU has been unable to include this endpoint in the set of content viewers because of its limitations with regard to format (video resolution) or bit rate. Note that it is possible to configure a lower limit on the bandwidth of the shared content video encoding which will cause a bit rate mismatch where an endpoint is only able to receive a low bit rate stream (refer to Configuring content settings).

The MCU supports only presentation mode for its content channels; specifically, H.239 live mode is not supported. This status message indicates that the endpoint is content-capable but does not support presentation mode.

The MCU is unable to send encrypted content video to this participant.

The MCU has detected that the content link to this endpoint is experiencing problems, and has

stopped sending video keyframes in response to Fast Update Requests (FURs) to avoid degrading the content video sent to other conference participants. The MCU will only enter this state if the Video fast update request filtering setting is Enabled (see Configuring content settings).

The associated participant is currently supplying the conference's content channel video.

Use of this participant's main video source as the content (content channel) source has failed. This is normally because there is already a source for the content channel; either another participant's main video channel which has been configured in the same way (VNC participants are set up this way by default) or a content video channel contributed by a connected endpoint.

This message appears if packet loss is detected between the MCU and the endpoint.

Click to open the Participant statistics page and display details about the connection, for example the packet errors. See Displaying

statistics for a participant.

This endpoint has requested and been granted the chair.

For more information, refer to H.243 floor and

chair control.

The endpoint has requested and been granted the floor and its media is being broadcast to all endpoints in the conference.

For more information, refer to H.243 floor and

chair control.

This endpoint believes it has been granted the floor, but its media is not being shown to all endpoints in the conference.

This situation can occur when an endpoint requested the floor, was granted the floor, and was then moved to another conference where there was already an active floor participant.

For more information, refer to H.243 floor and

chair control.

This endpoint's media is being broadcast to all endpoints in the conference, although it did not request the floor itself.

This situation can occur if another endpoint, while chair, has issued H.243 commands to make that endpoint the floor.

For more information, refer to H.243 floor and

chair control.

Indicates that this connection is a cascade link to or from another conference.

Displays a sample still video capture of the participant.

Click the picture to update it.

Note that conferences that are configured to require encryption do not show previews. Also note that previews can be disabled on the

page (refer to Customizing the

user interface).

These controls are only available if the conference is configured with content enabled, and if the participant is contributing a main video channel.

This control causes the MCU to attempt to use the participant's main video channel as the conference's content channel source. This will not be possible if the conference already has an active content channel source (either an endpoint's content video channel or another participant's main video activated via this control).

This control causes the MCU to stop attempting to use the participant's main video channel as the conference's content channel source. It is necessary to use this control to switch to using a different endpoint's primary video channel or to enable content video contribution from endpoints.

See Content channel video support for additional information on H.239 and BFCP.

Makes all participants unimportant

If no participants are currently important, then this control will be unavailable.

This stops all audio in the conference (mute).

Allows all participants to hear the

If no participants are currently muted, the stop muting controls will be unavailable. If all participants are currently muted, the mute controls will be unavailable.

Although you may use the controls described above to manage one participant at a time, for example to mute that participant's audio, or to make them important, you may wish to manage all participants at once. The all-participant controls permit you to do this. Note that you may continue to use the per-participant controls in conjunction with the all-participant controls. Refer to the table below for details of the controls available:

audio in the conference (stop muting).

Prevents others from seeing all participants' video contribution (mute).

Allows others to see all participants' video contribution (stop muting).

The presence of these controls is controlled by the setting on the

page (refer to

Customizing the user interface).

Disconnects all participants from the conference.

If this conference was created ad hoc, then disconnecting all the participants will terminate the conference as well.

Selects voice-switched view for all participants (see Customizing a

participant's layout view).

Selects full screen view for all participants.

Displays the layout selection panel from which you can select a layout view that all current participants will see. This panel offers the same choices as going to

. (See Customizing layout

views).

If all participants are watching the voice-switched view, then this control will be unavailable.

Prevents participants from changing their own view layout from their endpoint.

Allows participants to change their own view layout from their endpoint.

If no participants may control their own view layout, the prevent control will be unavailable. If all participants may control their own layout, the allow control will be unavailable.

Refer to the table below to get details about the previous participant list. To erase this list, click

Indicates whether the participant is an H.323, SIP, or VNC endpoint.

Displays the name of the participant (endpoint).

Re-connects a participant to the conference.

A previous participant can only be re-connected to a conference if their endpoint is a pre-

configured endpoint.

Note that if the original call to the conference was from the endpoint rather than the endpoint being invited by the MCU, then for the MCU to recognize it, that endpoint must be configured with Call-in match parameters. If the ** ERROR ** did not recognize that the call was from a preconfigured endpoint then the re-connect control will not be available.

For more information about configuring endpoints on the MCU refer to Configuring

H.323 endpoints and Configuring SIP endpoints.

Displays the time at which a participant disconnected from the conference and who initiated the disconnect.

Refer to the table below to get details about pre-configured endpoints.

Indicates whether the participant is an H.323, SIP, or VNC endpoint.

Displays the name of the endpoint.

Displays the connection status of the preconfigured participant.

This field shows which participants have connected, which have disconnected, and reasons for failure if a participant has failed to connect to the conference.

You may wish to inform participants about conference details such as start time, and so on. Click the

icon to display further details about a conference. This information may be copied to the clipboard for

convenience.

Click this icon to watch the conference. This is exactly the same as clicking the link in the Conference list. Both take you to the conference streaming page. See Using streaming to view conferences for more information.

Every person viewing a conference (whether they are contributing video of their own or using streaming to watch

Displays static sample of video screen in the currently selected layout.

Click on the image to refresh the picture

Adds a border thickness to display around the video image.

If the image is displaying off the edges of the participant's screen, add a border until the image displays properly.

Give prominence to one participant over the others.

The number of contributing conference participants determines the size of the large pane.

Displays a single participant.

Displays the four most active participants without seeing them scaled down to a small size if there are lots of other participants.

Used when there are five or more video participants.

Gives equal prominence to up to 20 conference contributors, and is useful for a "roll call" of active participants.

The MCU automatically changes the layout to the 3 x 3 arrangement, and will continue to use this layout for up to 9 participants. With 10 or more participants, the 4 x 4 view is used, and with 17 or more participants the 5 x 4 view will be used. The MCU will then continue to use this layout even if there are more than 20 participants.

Gives prominence to two participants in the center of the view while showing smaller versions of other participants' video streams above and below.

This view is useful for observing a dialog between two participants or for viewing slides and a presenter.

Click to choose or create a custom layout to be used by any participant.

See Customizing layout views.

other participants) sees a conference layout view. This view divides the video screen into a collection of panes with participants' video streams displayed in those panes. You can customize this view by choosing this option:

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click on a participant's name.

3. Click the tab.

Click to choose a pre-configured custom layout for this participant.

See Selecting a custom participant layout.

Prevents this participant from changing their own conference layout using the far-end camera controls on their video endpoint.

A participant can still change their layout view using the web interface.

Allows this participant to control their own conference view.

Send "normal" format video to this participant

- this means that the video is intended to be displayed on a screen whose dimensions (width and height) are in the ratio 4:3.

The available options for the resolution of transmitted video are controlled by the

setting which

can be configured for the whole unit on the

page or per configured endpoint (refer to Configuring an

H.323 endpoint and/or Configuring a SIP endpoint).

Send "widescreen" format video to this participant - this means that the video is intended to be displayed on a screen whose dimensions (width and height) are in the ratio 16:9.

Do not allow this participant to start contributing content channel video.

For more information, see Content per-

participant parameters.

Allow this participant to start contributing content channel video.

Indicates which participant appears in the largest pane.

Depending on the types of participant in the conference (i.e. content channel, endpoint, audio-only participant), you can select from these options:

: the loudest

participant will given the largest pane in the conference (the default setting)

: the content

channel will be given the largest pane in the conference

: the participant

that you select will be given the largest pane in the conference

This setting will be overridden if a participant is identified as "important" on the Conference Participants List (see Viewing the conference

participants list).

You can control the viewing angle, zoom, and focus of the camera on a participant's video endpoint. You can

Click on one of the directional arrows to change the view direction of the camera.

Not all endpoints will respond to these controls. In particular, endpoints with fixed cameras such as most webcams.

Click on one of the magnifying options to zoom the view in or out.

Not all endpoints will respond to the zoom controls, possibly including those that do respond to the Movement controls

Click on one of the adjustment options to improve the clarity of the image.

Not all endpoints will respond to the focus controls, possibly including those that do respond to the Movement controls

Prevents others from seeing this participant's video in conference views (mute).

This setting applies only to conference views. The participant's video will still appear in the conference participant list (see Viewing

conference participants list), and in the auto

attendant if a conference is not PIN-protected (see Using an auto attendant).

Allows others to see this participant's video in conference views (stop muting)

customize this view by choosing this option:

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click on a participant's name.

3. Click the tab.

You may not want a participant to be visible in a conference, for example if they are only supervising, but not contributing. The MCU allows this. Refer to the table below for details of the controls available:

In general, the audio settings are for advanced troubleshooting. You can view these settings by selecting this option:

Prevents others from hearing this participant (mute).

Allows others to hear this participant's audio (stop muting).

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click on a participant's name.

3. Click the tab.

These settings can help you resolve audio problems in conferences. For example:

Waveforms display a snapshot of the audio waveform received from the participant's endpoint. If the

participant is silent or speaking very quietly, the preview displays a horizontal green line. If the participant is speaking, the line is wavy.

: use this setting if participants are too loud or too quiet. For example, if a participant is shouting

on the remote end, but is barely audible to others in the conference.

: a volume control which raises the decibel level by the specified amount. Enter a positive

value to raise the volume of the participant and a negative value to reduce it.

: a control to prevent DTMF tones being transmitted to other participants.

The MCU will still detect and act on the DTMF tones; this control prevents the tones from being audible to participants.

You may mute a participant's audio. Refer to the table below for details of the controls available.

You can add a custom layout to the choice of layouts available for this participant. You can customize this view by

Indicates whether a custom layout can be used for this participant.

When you click a new layout from the Available layouts, is automatically chosen with the most recent layout selected.

Displays all pre-configured layouts that are available to the participant. Click a layout to select it and make it available for the participant.

You can only select one custom layout per participant.

These layouts are designed to be suitable for all video conferencing situations:

These layouts are designed to be suitable for displaying composed views of standard (4:3) video streams on widescreen (16:9) displays:

choosing this option:

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click on a participant's name.

3. Click the tab.

Note that the layouts depicted with slightly darker shading for the 'picture in picture' participants indicate those layouts where the non-focused participants are slightly transparent and the focused participant can be seen 'through' the non-focused participants. These layouts are:

and

You can view statistics about the video and audio streams between individual participants (endpoints) and the MCU

The audio codec in use, along with the current packet size (in milliseconds) if known.

If the MCU has received information that an endpoint has been muted at the far end, this will be indicated here.

The IP address and port from which the media is originating.

Whether or not encryption is being used on the audio receive stream by this endpoint.

This field will only appear if the encryption feature key is present on the MCU.

The apparent variation in arrival time from that expected for the media packets (in milliseconds). The current jitter buffer also displays in parentheses.

You should expect to see small values for this setting. Consistently large numbers typically imply potential network problems.

The jitter buffer shows the current playout delay added to the media to accommodate the packet arrival jitter. Large jitter values indicate a longer buffer.

Represents the audio volume originating from the endpoint.

The number of audio packets destined for the MCU from this endpoint.

by choosing this option:

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click on a participant's name.

3. Click the tab.

If the participant is participating in the conference using audio only, the values for the video settings are not populated.

Media statistics provide detailed information about the actual voice and video streams (Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP) packets).

When examining media statistics for a conference's streaming viewers, there are many fewer applicable values and so a different, more limited, set of information is displayed. In this case, the MCU shows how many streams of each outgoing audio and video format are being transmitted.

Refer to the table below for additional information.

The number of packet errors, including sequence errors, and packets of the wrong type.

You should expect to see small values for this setting. Consistently large numbers typically imply potential network problems.

Frame errors, as A/B where A is the number of frame errors, and B is the total number of frames received.

A frame is a unit of audio, the size of which is dependent on codec.

You should expect to see small values for this setting. Consistently large numbers typically imply potential network problems.

If the time stamps or marker bits (or both) are detected to be unreliable in the incoming video stream, information will be displayed here.

This field is not displayed when there is no problem with the time stamps and marker bits. Where there is a problem the following text is displayed: "Media timestamps unreliable", "Media marker bits unreliable", or both if both conditions detected.

The audio codec being sent from the MCU to the endpoint, along with the chosen packet size in milliseconds.

The IP address and port to which the media is being sent.

Whether or not encryption is being used on the audio transmit stream by this endpoint.

This field will only appear if the encryption key is present on the MCU.

A count of the number of packets that have been sent from the MCU to the endpoint.

The codec in use and the size of the picture that the MCU is receiving from the specific participant. If the picture is a standard size (for example, CIF, QCIF, 4CIF, SIF) then this name is shown in parentheses afterwards.

If ClearVision is enabled on the

page, and if it is in use on this video stream, then the original and enhanced resolutions are both displayed here.

The IP address and port (<IP address>:<port>) of the device from which video is being sent

Whether or not encryption is being used on the video receive stream from this endpoint.

This field will only appear if the encryption key is present on the MCU.

The negotiated bit rate available for the endpoint to send video in.

This value represents the maximum amount of video traffic that the remote endpoint will send to the MCU. It may send less data than this (if it does not need to use the full channel bit rate or the MCU has requested a lower rate), but it should not send more.

The bit rate (in bits per second) that the MCU has requested that the remote endpoint sends. The most-recently measured actual bit rate displays in parentheses.

This value might be less than the Channel bit rate if:

the MCU detects that the network

path to the remote endpoint has insufficient capacity to maintain a higher traffic rate

that endpoint's video stream's position

in the active conference compositions does not require it

it has been necessary to reduce the

video bit rate because of the overall call bit rate; the audio bit rate plus the video bit rate should not exceed the call bit rate

For example, if all participants in the conference were watching a single participant at full screen, no other participants' video streams would be needed at all. So the MCU would request that those streams were sent at a low bit rate in order to avoid needless use of network bandwidth.

If the receive bit rate has been limited to below the maximum channel bit rate, the reason for this limitation can be seen by moving over the

icon.

Represents the variation in video packet at arrival time at the MCU.

The number of video packets destined for the MCU from this endpoint

Video packet-level errors such as sequence discontinuities, incorrect RTP details, and so on. This is not the same as packets where the content (the actual video data) is somehow in error.

This value does not represent packets in which the actual video data in the packets is in error.

The frame rate of the video stream currently being received from the endpoint.

The number of frames with errors versus the total number of video frames received.

The codec, size and type of video being sent from the MCU to the endpoint.

The IP address and port of the device to which the MCU is sending video.

Whether or not encryption is being used on the video transmit stream to this endpoint.

This field will only appear if the encryption key is present on the MCU.

The negotiated available bandwidth for the MCU to send video to the endpoint in.

The bit rate the MCU is attempting to send at this moment, which may be less than the channel bit rate which is an effective maximum. The actual bit rate, which is simply the measured rate of video data leaving the MCU, displays in parentheses.

The Transmit bit rate value might be less than the Channel bit rate if :

the remote endpoint receiving the

video stream from the MCU has sent flow control commands to reduce the bit rate

it has been necessary to reduce the

primary video bit rate to allow sufficient bandwidth for a content

video stream If the transmit bit rate has been limited to below the maximum channel bit rate, the reason for this limitation can be seen by moving

over the icon.

The number of video packets sent from the MCU to this endpoint.

The frame rate of the video stream currently being sent to the endpoint.

A number that represents the tradeoff between video quality and frame rate.

A smaller number implies that the MCU prioritizes sending quality video at the expense of a lower frame rate. A larger number implies that the MCU is prepared to send lower quality video at a higher frame rate.

Control statistics provide information about the control channels that are established in order that the endpoints can

The IP address and port to which RTCP (Real Time Control Protocol) packets are being received for the audio and video streams

A count of the number of "receiver report" type RTCP packets seen by the MCU.

A single RTCP packet may contain more than one report of more than one type. These are generally sent by any device receiving RTP (Real Time Protocol) media from the network and are used for auditing bandwidth, errors, and so on by the MCU.

exchange information about the voice and video streams (Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP) packets). Refer to the table below for additional information.

Media packet loss reported by receiver reports sent to the MCU by the far end.

A count of the number of "sender report" type RTCP packets received by the MCU.

These are typically sent by any device that is sending RTP media.

A count of the number of reports seen by the MCU that are neither sender nor receiver reports.

The IP address and port to which the MCU is sending RTCP packets about this stream. The number of packets sent.

The IP address and port to which RTCP (Real Time Control Protocol) packets are being sent for the audio and video streams.

A count of the number of "receiver report" type RTCP packets seen by the MCU.

A count of the reported packet loss on the control channel.

A count of the number of "sender report" type RTCP packets sent by the MCU.

These are typically sent by any device that is sending RTP media.

A count of the number of reports seen by the MCU that are neither sender nor receiver reports.

The IP address and port to which the MCU is sending RTCP packets about this stream. The number of packets sent.

The number of fast update requests sent and received.

The number of flow control messages sent and received.

You can send a short text message to a specific participant currently in the conference by choosing:

Enter the message to send to this participant.

Messages must be fewer than 256 characters, but depending on the viewing screen, messages at the higher-end of this limit might not display properly. So, consider limiting messages to about 180 characters. Messages longer than 256 characters will not be truncated; they will not display at all.

You can disable this setting from

(see Conference settings).

The vertical position of the message on the conference display.

Choose from the top, middle, or bottom of the conference display.

Indicates how long the message appears on the endpoint's video screen.

The default setting is 30 seconds. To remove a message before it times out, click .

1. Go to .

2. Click a Conference name and then click on a participant's name.

3. Click the tab.

This message appears overlaid on the participant's view, even if the participant is viewing the conference via streaming.

You can view diagnostics for an individual participant's connection to the MCU by choosing this option:

1. Go to .

2. Click a conference name and then click on a participant's name.

3. Click the tab.

This page shows various low-level details pertaining to the endpoint's communication with the MCU. You are not likely to need to use any of the information on this page except when troubleshooting specific issues under the guidance of technical support.

You can move participants between conferences. Participants can be moved to any conference, but although participants can be moved from auto attendants they cannot be moved to them.

To move a participant:

1. Go to > .

2. Click and drag the name of the participant to the required destination conference.

Note that participants dragged and dropped into a conference on the web interface will be chairperson participants. (For more information about chairperson and guest participants, refer to Adding and updating conferences.)

To move multiple participants:

1. Go to > .

2. Check the tick boxes for every participant you want to move and drag them to the required destination

conference.

To disconnect a participant from a conference:

1. Go to > .

2. Click and drag the name of the participant in to area at the bottom of that page.

Note that dragging and dropping a participant in to the area simply disconnects the participant from the conference. It does not remove them from a scheduled conference. That is, when the conference next runs that participant will be called if their endpoint is a pre-configured endpoint for that conference.

The Codian MCU allows you to configure auto attendants on it, which allows users to more easily join conferences.

The name of the auto attendant

The number that you can dial to connect to the auto attendant

The status of an auto attendant with respect to its gatekeeper registration. The possible states are:

This auto attendant is not configured to

be registered with the gatekeeper;

because of this, there is no applicable

registration status to show.

This auto attendant is in the process of

registering with the gatekeeper.

The auto attendant is in the process of

unregistering with the gatekeeper. This

might occur if:

o Gatekeeper registration has

been turned off (either for that auto attendant only or for the entire MCU)

o The configured gatekeeper has

just been changed and the MCU is in the process of unregistering from the previous gatekeeper before registering its auto attendants with the new one.

If the MCU fails to register an auto

For tips on configuring gatekeepers, see

Gatekeeper settings.

Displaying the auto attendant list Adding and updating an auto attendant Adding a custom banner

You can display an overview of the configured auto attendants on the MCU:

1. Go to .

2. Click the tab.

attendant with the gatekeeper, it enters

these states temporarily before re-

attempting the registration.

The auto attendant has been registered

successfully with the gatekeeper and can

be contacted using the number

indicated.

The status of an auto attendant with respect to its SIP registration. The possible states are:

This auto attendant is not configured to

be registered with the SIP registrar;

because of this, there is no applicable

registration status to show.

This auto attendant is in the process of

registering with the SIP registrar.

The auto attendant is in the process of

unregistering with the SIP registrar. This

might occur if:

o SIP registration has been turned

off (either for that auto attendant only or for the entire MCU)

o The configured SIP registrar has

just been changed and the MCU is in the process of unregistering from the previous SIP registrar before registering its auto attendants with the new one.

If the MCU fails to register an auto

attendant with the SIP registrar, it enters

these states temporarily before re-

attempting the registration.

The auto attendant has been registered

successfully with the SIP registrar and

can be contacted using the number

indicated.

For tips on configuring SIP, see SIP settings.

Whether a PIN has been configured to restrict access to the auto attendant

The total number of calls received by the auto attendant since the last restart

A thumbnail of the custom banner, if one has been specified

Auto attendants simplify the way participants can join conferences. By calling an auto attendant using their video

The name of the auto attendant.

An optional title to be shown at the top of the screen when an endpoint calls in to this auto attendant.

The number with which to register the auto attendant on the gatekeeper and/or SIP registrar.

See Gatekeeper settings and SIP settings for details.

Check if you want the Numeric ID registered with the H.323 gatekeeper; check

if you want the Numeric ID registered

with the SIP registrar.

Note that for SIP, you must configure the ID with the SIP registrar for the MCU to be able to register that ID.

Assigns a password to the auto attendant.

If you set a PIN, all participants using the auto attendant will be required to enter this password.

Verifies the password.

If Enabled, displays the Create new conference option on the auto attendant so that the participant can create new ad hoc conferences using the auto attendant.

If disabled, participants will not be able to create new conferences from the auto attendant.

Note that this option will not be available if you

endpoint, a participant can choose from menu options and join or start conferences. No gateway or gatekeeper is required. (The auto attendant is configured on the MCU.)

To add an auto attendant:

1. Go to .

2. Click the tab.

3. Click .

4. Refer to the table below for the most appropriate settings for the auto attendant.

5. After entering the settings, click .

To update an existing auto attendant:

1. Go to .

2. Click the tab.

3. Click the name of an auto attendant.

4. Refer to the table below for the settings to change for this auto attendant.

5. After updating the settings, click .

have enabled on the

page. When using port reservation mode, there can be no ad hoc conferences. For more information about port reservation, refer to Reservation of MCU media

ports.

If Enabled, displays ad hoc conferences as well as scheduled conferences as options on the auto attendant.

If disabled, participants can only view scheduled conferences; ad hoc conferences will not be shown.

Note that this option will not be available if you have enabled on the

page. When using port reservation mode, there can be no ad hoc conferences. For more information about port reservation, refer to Reservation of MCU media

ports.

Enables all auto attendant participants to join any conferences scheduled to start while they are using the auto attendant.

Choose the conferences to list on the auto attendant by selecting check boxes.

If a scheduled conference has been configured as a private conference, it will not appear in this list. To configure a conference as private:

1. Go to the and click on

the name of the conference.

2. On the tab, set the

option to Private.

Check the name of any other configured auto attendant that you want to be accessible from the auto attendant that you are adding.

You can add a custom banner image to any auto attendant configured on the MCU as follows:

Chooses the default Codian MCU graphic to use for your banner.

The custom banner identified for this auto attendant. Click to remove this graphic as the banner. Click after uploading a new graphic.

Nothing displays here until you upload the custom graphic as described below.

The custom graphic to be used for a banner. Click

to locate the file on your hard drive.

The image file can be a JPEG, GIF or Windows BMP format with a maximum size of 1600 x 1200 pixels. If the file is smaller than this size, the MCU will scale it to fit in the auto attendant's banner area. Click to display.

1. Go to .

2. Click the tab.

3. Click the name of a configured auto attendant.

4. Click the tab.

5. Refer to the table below to determine the most appropriate settings.

To display the Endpoint List, go to .

The name of the endpoint.

The IP address, host name, H.323 ID, E.164 number, or SIP URI of the endpoint.

Whether it is an H.323, SIP, or VNC endpoint.

The Endpoint List displays all endpoints that have been configured within the MCU.

To add a new H.323 endpoint, select .

To add a new SIP endpoint, select .

To add a new VNC endpoint, select .

To delete configured endpoints, check the ones you want to delete and select .

You can configure H.323 endpoints to work with the MCU by choosing . This makes it easier

The name of the endpoint.

The IP address, host name, or an E.164 address (phone number).

You can configure this endpoint as needing to be reached via an H.323 gateway without that gateway being already configured on the MCU. To do this, set this field to be <gateway address>!<E.164>.

The gateway through which the endpoint connects.

To configure a gateway on the MCU, go to

. For more information, refer to

Adding and updating gateways.

These fields are used to identify incoming calls as being from the endpoint:

Name: This must be the name that the

endpoint sends to the MCU

IP address: The IP address of the endpoint E.164: The E.164 number with which

the endpoint is registered with the gatekeeper

The endpoint is recognized if all filled-in fields in this section are matched. Fields left blank are not considered in the match.

When you configure Call-in match parameters, an endpoint will be recognized as this pre-configured endpoint and the Conferencing parameters will be applied to a call from this endpoint.

The name that will be displayed in a conference as a label for this endpoint.

The name you enter here will override any default name configured on the endpoint. It will also override any other default name that might appear for an endpoint. For example, an endpoint's default name can be the name of the gateway through which the call was placed, or if the endpoint is called-in via a gatekeeper, its E.164 number.

Note that once an endpoint has connected, you cannot change the display name.

to add endpoints to conferences because you can choose names from a list rather than adding network addresses.

A Codian IP VCR can be configured as an H.323 endpoint and added as a participant in a conference. If the IP VCR is configured to do so, it will start recording as soon as the conference starts. You can also configure a folder's Recording ID as an endpoint and in this way, when a conference starts, the IP VCR can start recording directly into a specific folder. For more information about using the IP VCR in this way, refer to the IP VCR's online help.

Recordings on a Codian IP VCR can be configured as H.323 endpoints. In this way, an audio-only participant can contribute an IP VCR recording as his video stream (using the associated endpoint function, see Adding and updating

users). This function is also useful where you have a recording that you might like to view within a conference.

Refer to the table below for tips on adding an H.323 endpoint to the MCU. After entering the settings, click

Choose whether to use the unit-wide setting for motion/sharpness trade off, or configure an individual setting for use with this endpoint. Choose from:

<use box-wide setting>: this is the default

value. In this case, the connection to the endpoint will use the motion / sharpness tradeoff setting from the

page.

Favor motion: the MCU will try and use a

high frame rate. That is, the MCU will strongly favor a resolution of at least 25 frames per second

Favor sharpness: the MCU will use the

highest resolution that is appropriate for what is being viewed

Balanced: the MCU will select settings

that balance resolution and frame rate (where the frame rate will not be less than 12 frames per second)

The settings for motion (frames per second) and sharpness (frame size or resolution) are negotiated between the endpoint and the MCU. This setting controls how the MCU will negotiate the settings to be used with this endpoint.

Choose the setting for transmitted video resolutions from the MCU to this endpoint. This setting overrides the unit-wide setting on the

page

Retain the default setting (use box-wide setting) unless you are experiencing problems with the display of certain resolutions by this endpoint.

Endpoints advertise the resolutions that they are able to display. The MCU then chooses from those advertised resolutions, the resolution that it will use to transmit video. However, some endpoints do not display widescreen resolutions optimally. Therefore, you might want to use this setting to restrict the resolutions available to the MCU for transmissions to this endpoint.

Whether this endpoint is permitted to contribute the conference content channel. Choose from:

<use conference default>: this endpoint will use the Content contribution from endpoints setting from the per-conference configuration.

Enabled: This endpoint is allowed to contribute the content channel, even if content contribution from endpoints is disabled in the per-conference configuration.

Disabled: This endpoint is not allowed to contribute the conference channel, even if content contribution from endpoints is enabled in the per-conference configuration.

This setting is provided to allow you to individually configure whether or not an endpoint is allowed to contribute content to a conference.

To use the content channel, the Content status must be enabled at the unit-wide level (on the

page) and for any given conference Content channel video must also be enabled in the per-conference configuration.

Whether this endpoint is allowed to receive a separate content stream when in a conference.

This setting is provided to allow you to individually configure whether or not an endpoint is allowed to receive content from a conference.

To use the content channel, the Content status must be enabled at the unit-wide level (on the

page) and for any given conference Content channel video must also be enabled in the per-conference configuration.

Choose a border size for video transmitted to this endpoint.

This sets a border thickness to display around the video image. This is useful where the image is displaying off the edges of the participant's screen; use a border to force the image to display properly.

Applying a border size here means that this border size will always be used for this endpoint's transmitted video. Note that you can also apply a border to a participant in a conference from the

page.

Sets the layout family to be used when calling out to this endpoint.

If this is set to Use box-wide setting then the default view family that has been configured via the

Conference settings page will be used.

The network capacity (measured in bits per second) used by the media channels established by the MCU to a single participant.

These settings take priority over the Default bandwidth from MCU setting configured in the global Conference settings (see Conference

settings).

The maximum combined media bandwidth advertised by the MCU to endpoints.

These settings take priority over the Default bandwidth to MCU setting configured in the global Conference settings (see Conference settings).

Whether this endpoint is able to change their view layout via Far-End Camera Controls or DTMF tones.

This setting takes precedence over the perconference layout control setting for conferences that the endpoint is invited into.

Set the initial audio status of an endpoint to be either active or muted.

If set to muted, when the endpoint joins a conference, it will not be able to contribute audio to the conference. For example, you can mute audio from an endpoint if somebody wants to be seen in the conference, but does not want to contribute verbally. You can mute both audio and video if required. This can be altered during the course of the conference by going to and clicking on the name of a conference and altering this participant's settings.

Set the initial video status of an endpoint to be either active or muted.

If set to muted, when the endpoint joins a conference, it will not be able to contribute video

to the conference. For example, you can mute video from an endpoint if somebody wants to see the conference, but not be seen themselves. You can mute both audio and video if required. This can be altered during the course of the conference by going to and clicking on the name of a conference and altering this participant's settings.

When a participant disconnects from a conference and only endpoints set to Automatic disconnection are left, all those participants are disconnected.

Set to enabled if you want this endpoint to be automatically disconnected from conferences when only endpoints set to Automatic disconnection remain in a conference when any other participant has disconnected.

Note that this setting is useful where you have configured a Codian IP VCR as an endpoint so that the IP VCR can be automatically called into a conference to record the session. In this case, the IP VCR will stop recording when the conference ends (that is, when everyone has left the conference). For more information about using the IP VCR in this way, refer to the IP VCR online help.

Can be used to ensure only specific codecs are permitted on calls to (and received from) this endpoint.

If Enabled, you can choose which codecs are allowed to be used when communicating with this endpoint. When enabled this setting overrides the unit-wide codec selection on the

page.

To configure the SIP endpoints to work with the MCU, go to . This makes it easier to add

The name of the endpoint.

The IP address, host name, directory number, or SIP URI (in the format 1234@codian.com).

The address of the SIP endpoint can be a directory number if you are using a SIP registrar.

Allows calls to this endpoint to use a directory number (in the Address field) and the SIP registrar.

If you have this enabled, you must configure the SIP registrar on the page.

Select the protocol to be used for call control messages for outgoing call connections to this endpoint.

If you want this endpoint to use the unit-wide outgoing transport setting, select box-wide default transport. If this endpoint uses TCP, select TCP as the outgoing transport. If this endpoint uses UDP, select UDP as the outgoing transport. If this endpoint uses TLS, select TLS. Note that if you want the MCU to use TLS for call setup, you must have the encryption feature key (or the Secure management feature key) and the TLS service must be enabled on the

page.

Using TLS for call setup is not sufficient for the call to be considered encrypted such that it can participate in a conference which requires encryption. Where encryption is required in the conference configuration, a SIP call must use SRTP. For more information about SIP encryption, refer to Configuring encryption

settings.

This setting overrides the unit-wide setting for Outgoing transport on the page. For more information about configuring SIP, refer to

Configuring SIP settings.

These fields are used to identify incoming calls as being from the endpoint:

Username: This must be the username

that the endpoint sends to the MCU

IP address: The IP address of the endpoint

The endpoint is recognized if all filled-in fields in this section are matched. Fields left blank are not considered in the match.

Note that in some cases a SIP registrar can cause a call to appear to come from the IP address of the registrar rather than the IP address of the

endpoints to conferences because you can choose names from a list rather than adding network addresses.

Refer to the table below for tips on adding a SIP endpoint to the MCU. After entering the settings, click

endpoint. In this case, to use call-in match parameters, leave the IP address field blank and enter the correct username. The call will be matched by username.

When using LCS, the username that will be matched is the user's display name (e.g. Peter Rabbit) rather than the sign-in name (bluecoat@codian.com).

The name that will be displayed in a conference as a label for this endpoint.

Note that once an endpoint has connected, you cannot change the display name.

Choose whether to use the box-wide setting for motion/sharpness trade off, or configure an individual setting for this endpoint. Choose from:

Use box-wide setting: this is the default

value. In this case, the endpoint will use the motion/sharpness tradeoff setting from the page

Favor motion: the MCU will try and use a

high frame rate. That is, the MCU will strongly favor a resolution of at least 25 frames per second

Favor sharpness: the MCU will use the

highest resolution that is appropriate for what is being viewed

Balanced: the MCU will select settings

that balance resolution and frame rate (where the frame rate will not be less than 12 frames per second)

Choose the setting for transmitted video resolutions from the MCU to this endpoint. This setting overrides the unit-wide setting on the

page.

Retain the default setting (use box-wide setting) unless you are experiencing problems with the display of certain resolutions by this endpoint.

Whether this endpoint is permitted to contribute the conference content channel. Choose from:

<use conference default>: this endpoint will use the Content contribution from endpoints setting from the per-conference configuration.

Enabled: This endpoint is allowed to contribute the content channel, even if content contribution from endpoints is disabled in the per-conference configuration.

Disabled: This endpoint is not allowed to contribute the conference channel, even if content contribution from endpoints is enabled in the per-conference configuration.

This setting is provided to allow you to individually configure whether or not an endpoint is allowed to contribute content to a conference.

To use the content channel, the Content status must be enabled at the unit-wide level (on the

page) and for any given conference Content channel video must also be enabled in the per-conference configuration.

Currently, all content is sent to SIP endpoints in the main video channel.

Choose a border size for video transmitted to this endpoint.

Applying a border size here means that this border size will always be used for this endpoint's transmitted video. Note that you can also apply a border to a participant in a conference from the

page.

Sets the layout family to be used when calling out to this endpoint.

If this is set to Use box-wide setting then the default view family that has been configured via the

Conference settings page will be used.

The network capacity (measured in bits per second) used by the media channels established by the MCU to a single participant.

These settings take priority over the Default bandwidth from MCU setting configured in the global Conference settings (see Conference

settings).

The maximum combined media bandwidth advertised by the MCU to endpoints.

These settings take priority over the Default bandwidth to MCU setting configured in the global Conference settings (see Conference settings).

Sets whether this endpoint is able to change their view layout via Far-End Camera Controls or DTMF tones.

This setting takes precedence over the perconference layout control setting for conferences that the endpoint is invited into.

Set the initial audio status of an endpoint to be either active or muted.

If set to muted, when the endpoint joins a conference, it will not be able to contribute audio to the conference. For example, you can mute audio from an endpoint if somebody wants to be

seen in the conference, but does not want to contribute verbally. You can mute both audio and video if required. This can be altered during the course of the conference by going to and clicking on the name of a conference and altering this participant's settings.

Set the initial video status of an endpoint to be either active or muted.

If set to muted, when the endpoint joins a conference, it will not be able to contribute video to the conference. For example, you can mute video from an endpoint if somebody wants to see the conference, but not be seen themselves. You can mute both audio and video if required. This can be altered during the course of the conference by going to and clicking on the name of a conference and altering this participant's settings.

When a participant disconnects from a conference and only endpoints set to Automatic disconnection are left, all those participants are disconnected.

Can be used to ensure only specific codecs are permitted on calls to (and received from) this endpoint.

If Enabled, you can choose which codecs are allowed to be used when communicating with this endpoint. When enabled, this setting overrides the unit-wide codec selection on the

page.

You can configure a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) endpoint on the MCU by choosing .

The name of the computer used for the VNC application (VNC endpoint).

The IP address or host name of the computer used for the VNC application (VNC endpoint).

The port used for communication to the VNC endpoint.

The VNC server password for the computer you're trying to view.

Re-enter the VNC password.

When a participant disconnects from a conference and only endpoints set to Automatic disconnection are left, all those participants are disconnected.

This makes it easier to add a VNC session to conferences because you can choose its name from a list rather than type its network address.

You can add VNC endpoints to the MCU. This enables you to have software applications running on a remote computer added to a conference. For example, if a speaker has a set of slides to present during a conference, you can add them as a VNC endpoint. After entering the settings, click .

You can configure the Codian MCU to work with one or more H.323 gateways. The MCU can then effectively call

The descriptive name of the gateway.

The IP address or host name of the gateway.

The configured preferred bandwidth to the MCU from the gateway, or <default value> if no preference has been specified.

The configured preferred bandwidth from the MCU to the gateway, or <default value> if no preference has been specified.

through these configured gateways to one or more endpoints which are registered with the gateway but would not be reachable directly from the MCU.

For example, an IP PBX could be configured as a gateway, and the MCU could then call its registered E.164 numbers. An ISDN gateway can be configured as a gateway on the MCU allowing calls to ISDN endpoints and telephones.

You can add a Codian IP VCR as a gateway. This enables the MCU automatically call the IP VCR into a conference without the need for a gatekeeper; and in this way, the IP VCR can record directly into the folder you specify. For more information about using the IP VCR in this way, refer to the IP VCR online help.

The gateway list shows all of the currently configured H.323 gateways. To access this list, go to .

To delete configured gateways, check the ones you want to delete and select .

You can configure the Codian MCU with one or more H.323 gateways:

The descriptive name of the gateway.

All gateways must have a unique name.

The IP address or host name of the gateway.

Choose whether to use the unit-wide setting for motion/sharpness trade off, or configure an individual setting for this gateway. Choose from:

Use unit-wide setting: this is the default

value. In this case, connections to the gateway will use the motion/sharpness tradeoff setting from the

page

Favor motion: the MCU will try and use a

high frame rate. That is, the MCU will strongly favor a resolution of at least 25 frames per second

Favor sharpness: the MCU will use the

highest resolution that is appropriate for what is being viewed

Balanced: the MCU will select settings

that balance resolution and frame rate (where the frame rate will not be less than 12 frames per second)

The network capacity (measured in bits per second) used by the media channels established by the MCU to a single participant.

Sets the bandwidth that the endpoint will advertise to the MCU when it calls it.

To add an H.323 gateway, go to . After entering the settings described

below, click .

To update an existing H.323 gateway, go to and click on a gateway name. After updating the

settings described below, click .

The MCU contains a built-in gatekeeper with which devices can register multiple IDs. IDs can be numbers, H.323

Enables or disables the built-in gatekeeper.

To use the built-in gatekeeper, you must enable it here.

Enter the IP address(es), or hostname(s) (or <host>:<port number> to specify a port other than the default of 1719 on the neighboring gatekeeper), of the neighboring gatekeeper(s).

These are the gatekeepers to which the built-in gatekeeper will send an LRQ if it has received an ARQ to resolve an ID which it does not currently have registered. The built-in gatekeeper will then use the information received from the neighbor(s) to reply to the original request.

Configures the built-in gatekeeper to reply to LRQs from other gatekeepers.

These requests can come from any gatekeeper which has the MCU's built-in gatekeeper configured as one of its neighbors.

IDs (e.g. Fredsendpoint) or prefixes.

Up to 25 devices can be registered without a feature key. Feature keys can be purchased to increase this number.

: The MCU can register with its own built-in gatekeeper. The MCU then counts as one registered device. See

Configuring gatekeeper settings.

To start the gatekeeper, go to and select the H.323 gatekeeper check box to open a port for the gatekeeper. (On the MCU, ports are not open by default for security reasons.) Then go to , select Enabled in the Status field and click . If you attempt to enable the built-in gatekeeper without opening the port, an error message is displayed.

You can optionally configure the built-in gatekeeper with up to two neighboring gatekeepers. This means that if the built-in gatekeeper receives a request (known as an Admission Request or ARQ) to resolve an ID to an IP address and that ID is not currently registered with it then it will forward that request to its neighbor gatekeeper(s), as a Location Request (LRQ). The built-in gatekeeper will then use the information received from the neighbor(s) to reply to the original request.

You can also configure the behavior of the built-in gatekeeper on receipt of LRQs from another gatekeeper. It can:

send LRQs regarding unknown IDs to its neighbor(s) reply to LRQs from other gatekeepers accept LCFs (Locations Confirms) from non-neighboring gatekeepers

Refer to this table for assistance when configuring the built-in gatekeeper:

Configures the built-in gatekeeper to send (or not to send) LRQs regarding unknown IDs to its neighbor(s). Choose from the options:

Disabled: The MCU will only

respond to LRQs about IDs registered with itself. It will not forward LRQs about IDs that are not registered with itself to neighboring gatekeepers.

Enabled, using local return

address: The MCU will put, in the LRQ, its own address as the return address for the LCF.

Enabled, using received return

address: The MCU will put, in the LRQ, the address of the gatekeeper that originated the request as the return address for the LCF. Use this option only if you are configuring the MCU to operate in an environment with a multiplelevel gatekeeper hierarchy. For example, the 'received address' is required by the national gatekeepers connected to the Global Dialing Scheme (GDS).

Unless you have selected to Accept LRQs, you cannot configure the MCU to forward any LRQs.

Enabling using received return address can be a significant security risk. Only use this setting with proper cause.

This setting enables the built-in gatekeeper to accept LCF message responses from any IP address.

This setting is for use in environments with a multiple-level gatekeeper hierarchy. For example, this feature is required by the national gatekeepers connected to the Global Dialing Scheme (GDS).

Enabling this setting can be a significant security risk. Only use this setting with proper cause.

The number of registered devices is shown in the format X / Y where Y is the number of registered devices that your built-in gatekeeper is licensed for. Equally, the total number of registered IDs is shown as Z / 1000, where 1000 is the maximum number of registrations allowed over all registered devices.

TANDBERG MSE 8510, MCU 4500 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual