MCU Recommendations

[jahlberg]

I have a client that wants reliable, good quality video conferencing. They are a spin off of the parent company who had video conferencing and wants to functionaly re-create what they had. I have bounced around the forums and have gotten some ideas, but have not come to a conclusion. Any reccomendations on MCU equipment, Codec equipment, vendors to purchase, comments or questions would be appreciated.


Stats:
* Presently 2 sites but will be 6 sites within the next 18 months.
* IP video mainly only over their WAN (T1's - Frame Relay).
* Must have very high quality audio experience with a fairly high quality video experience. * PowerPoint presentation capability for sites to view the presentation over the video conferencing system. Each site will have a single monitor.
* Want to be able to include outside parties to connect to their conferences over the internet.
* Want to be able to include IP telephony calls to video conferences and use the MCU for IP telephony conferencing.
* They have a Cisco backbone and are already using VOIP.
* Headquaters in Chicago.
* Budget of $30K for the MCU and first 2 Codecs.


Thanks
John

[tom9933]

I hate to say it but to stay within the budget I see only two options.
1) Buy two nicer codecs with internal MCUs
2) Buy two low end or software codecs with a small MCU

My first choice would be to go with option 1 and I’d recommend buying a pair of loaded VSX 8000 units but a comparable set of Tandberg units would also work well. In either case you would end up with two very nice units and have a few bucks left over to buy a couple of nice displays.

In option two, I’d probably buy either a pair of VSX 500s or use the new PVX software with the Logitech 4000 cameras. With the rest of the money I’d buy a Codian MCU.

Good luck,

[Glen Sykes]

A dedicated MCU for the number of sites you are looking to deploy with the budget you have would be difficult to acheive, especially if quality is an issue. I agree with Tom in that your money would be best used in obtaining 2 good endpoints with embedded MCUs (or even only 1 with an MCU). Tandberg is always a good choice, however the VSX8000 range from Polycom is also good.

A good entry level IP only MCU could cost you in the region of $30,000 anyway!

[jahlberg]

Thanks for the feedback. My guess is that my client will shell out additional money if that is what they need to do. My trouble is getting a handle on the economics since I do not have a good source to purchase from and get pricing. Are we talking another $10K will give them what they want or would it be more than that? If I go the route of a VSX 8000 series, am I limited to the number of multipoint sites that can be used, bandwidth for callers, features, etc.? One of these at the headquarters and maybe a VXS 7000 at the other sites would work, right?

[tom9933]

Well a room based endpoint should start around the 5k per system range and go up from there. As Glen said an entry level MCU is around 30k so without any displays or other extras your going to start with an entry level of around 40k. Realistically you will probably put another couple of thousand into projectors or flat panels and depending on the room you may need to buy additional cameras or microphones. So your budget will increase greatly by adding a separate MCU. Is there a reason you don’t want to use the MCU capabilities of the endpoint? Generally they allow for 4 sites (3 external plus the local) at 384 and 3 (2 external plus the local) sites at 512k. The units also normally support cascading so up to a certain point you can connect (cascade) the MCU of one endpoint to the MCU of another endpoint. Now I agree for a long term solution a dedicated MCU has a lot of benefits but as a starter package I think using the capabilities within the endpoint would be a good way to get the clients feet wet.
BTW if you want the PowerPoint to be sent in native resolution between the sites make sure the displays are hooked to the projector/flat panel with the VGA/DVI connection and make sure to add the content capture package when buying the codec. I’m not sure how Tandberg does this but on the Polycom endpoints this is generally sold as a separate option. My recommendation with the loaded VSX 8000 was based on the fact that it already has most of that in the box.

[Alfredo]

two alternative scenarios:
1.
DST-Media Asteroid, 9-port IP-MCU (up to 9@1.920K) incl. GK, streaming-module, FECC and Dual-Video Module, no Hardware-CP and not expandable - round about: $19k
2.
DST-Media MCS-1008, 8-port IP-MCU (8@384K) incl. GK, FECC and Dual-Video Module, expandable (e.g. optional Hardware-CP) - round about: $22,5k

there is some dollars left for two nice endpoints, isn't it[B]

[Kevin]

If you do decide to spend the extra money now on an MCU, Codian are just releasing a product that may well suit you application and price range. It certainly covers all points mentioned in your post.

Codian are releasing a 12 port version of their MCU for less than $30,000. This will give you the most technically advanced and easy to use MCU you can buy (in my opinion of course ;)).

For this you get, as standard:
*12 video ports IP at all rates up to 2Mbps with no loss of port count or functionality whatever bitrate, codec or resolution are used,
*full hardware continuous presence on each port,
*full transcoding on all ports - allowing you to mix any number of different codecs in the same conference,
*full rate matching for all ports - allowing you to mix any number of different bitrates in the same conference,,
*Use of H.264 at bitrates up to 2Mbps with no loss of port count or funtionality,
*a different layout for each user - so partipants never have to see themselves and can choose one of 42 layouts,
*Widescreen layouts - to ensure the best use of plasma screens.
*Customisable Auto Attendant / IVR
*Use of far end camera control (FECC) to control to create or join conferences and to change the layout seen, or the person seen within it.
*FECC control of any far end endpoint's camera,
*built in unicast and multicast streaming,
*unlimited number of conferences,
*address book,
*scheduling,
*Use of VNC to bring any PC content into a conference to be viewable on any endpoint - including those with only one monitor and those which do not support H.239,
*12 additional audio only ports allowing VoIP and video endpoints to conference together or UP to 24 VoIP only participants to conference together,
*Ability to upload a picture of the Voice only participants to the MCU, so when they join a conference the Video participants will see a still image if the audio only participants as part of thier personal layouts,

You can also do full continuous presence for all ports at 4CIF, VGA, SVGA and XGA with no loss of funtionality or port count and with the video firewall option you can connect simutaneously to 2 different networks enabling those outside and inside your firewall to participate in the same conference.

[sadeghi]

I have same request as John , for the MCU(s) and 25 Codecs including 2 TV sets per site with capability of operating on both ISDN and IP networks .The quality should be around 2Mbps.
Any recommendation on equipment, vendors will help us to choose best.


Thanks
sadeghi

[jahlberg]

Thank you all for the input. I finally figured out a solution that fit my client's budget and gave them great technology. I ended up being in a position to become a reseller so I could pass on some savings to my client and make a little money in the process.

Kevin, too late for the Codian 12 port info. The good news is that I ended up getting the Codian MCU 4210! Awesome technology and the best pricing to boot.

sadeghi, take a serious look at the Codian MCU. Find a vendor in your area that can show you the different codec's and do some test conferecnes. All of the new equipment these days can do what you need. My new dealer relationship may be able to help with this if you need it.

For the codec's, I'm looking to get the Sony PCS-1's.