Marine requesting help

[cyz-10]

Alright here's the situation. My Colonel request's to be able to have a webcam in her home and 3 other homes and have a group conference. Im still new to the VTC side and realize that this is different but i hope someone out there can assist. This is for personal use so high dollar software and camera's are not an option. What i was thinking is using something like a Logitech QuickCam 4000 or better camera through an instant messenger. Please help

[mazzarak]

Greetings and welcome to the forum

look at this thread for opinions on the Quickcam 4000
also PVX is mentioned as the application used to run the webconference. You should find plenty of comments about PVX isf you have a search, but generally that has also been positively received.

http://vtctalk.com/showthread.php?t=25172

Hope this helps for starters.

Andy

[cyz-10]

ya i like the QuickCam 4000, i use it for webcam use at home. Now this PVX, i read a little about it. Is it being used for household use. My Colonel pretty much wants to be able to have a conference but she's not the smartest person in the world. I dont want her to be confused about what to do, thats why i was thinking just something like AOL or MSN would be fine but i dont know if they offer the capability for multiple people in one webcam session. Also is NetMeeting used on XP, i have seen it only for 2K and older? Thanks i really do appreciate this

[trapehzoid]

the only one I know of that offers group conferencing built in is ichat (mac only). PVX is plenty easy for a non-techie to use as long as its on a 'known good' configuration. Netmeeting can be used on XP, but its functionality is really replaced by microsoft's newer IM products. Its hidden on XP.

[Steveh]

Hi,

If you want a group conference you will have to use some kind of bridging service, this can get expensive.

The Quickcam is great, PVX is great but on its own will only do point to point calls.

Have a look at www.vq-conferencing.com, an all inclusive service which is presence based, simple and includes unlimited bridging and web-conferencing.

[cyz-10]

ok, i think i might have went to technical when trying to explain this. I need to be able to have a webcam in my Colonels house and one at 2-3 of her family's houses. She wants to be able to talk and see everyone at the same time. Maybe this will help. All the high dollar software is pushing it. thanks everyone

[mazzarak]

hey again

Skype have released a new version of software that will do this. Still in Beta testing, but still the best free product I'm aware of.

Andy

[cyz-10]

i went to the Skype site. i see they have a confernce call feature but is that a video conference call or just audio, it doesnt specify.

[mazzarak]

you can do video conference multi point, provided everyone is running the same version and so on.

[cyz-10]

i think you just made my day. I am going to try NetMeeting first (if they can do conf webcams?). But this Skype seems to be awesome, how secure is it though.

[tom9933]

It sounds like you may have some conflicting goals here. The issue is that freebie/low cost options like Skype, MSN and Yahoo do a nice job with quick and dirty connections. The problems come up when you want those extra little features like echo canceling, multipoint, encryption, far end camera control and content. If the video version of Skype will indeed support multipoint then it’s probably your best bet if cost is an issue. Another option would be to switch to some sort of free web based conferencing system. Once again this would be low cost, but most likely insecure. If you really need security and some of the other bells and whistles I would suggest going one of two routes:
1) Buy a middle of the road endpoint with an internal bridge and then run the rest of the clients with either another low end endpoint or pc based endpoint for the other sites. For this you can look at the PXV and something like a VSX 3000 or VSX 7000 with the multipoint keys.
2) Buy or use a free endpoint that works with an external bridging company. So good examples of this would be something like IVE from Glowpoint. There are a lot of service providers that will offer multipoint services at varying rates so I would shop around. The nice thing about the IVE client is that it’s free for point to point calls, it has a decent echo canceller and it works very nicely without any router configuration.

[ceg6vtc]

For a free (as in beer) solution to the multipoint dilemma you can opt for the Open MCU at www.openh323.org. I haven't (yet) gotten into using this software as I have hardware solution coming out my nose out here; I'll try it when I return home to my beloved PC. There is probably a learning curve for setting up an MCU call - and I know you said your Colonel is a few fries short so this might not be best for her.
And remember: with PVX you will need to have PathNavigator running in conjunction to be able to do multipoint calls.
Just my two cents.

Semper Fi.

[tom9933]

Other than for Conference On Demand (Polycom way to dynamically launch adhoc calls on the MGC), why would you need a gatekeeper to use PVX with an MCU?

[ceg6vtc]

Tom, I agree with you totally. It's not my call, though. The PVX software is almost identical to the ViaVideo software: they both require PathNavigator, specifically, to place multipoint calls through their software. This is why I fully suggest using a separate MCU.

PVX info link:
http://www.polycom.com/common/pw_cmp_updateDocKeywords/0,1687,4961,00.pdf

I can not find a good link for the ViaVideo, but I found a similar statement ("If your system is connected to Polycom PathNavigator, you can place multipoint calls.") within the help file for the application.

Sounds like Polycom trying to get us to purchase more software, but that's just my two cents.

[tom9933]

Ok I think I understand the confusion. There is a difference between originating a multipoint call and participating in one. To originate one with PVX/Via-Video you would use COD and then require PathNavigator with the appropriate settings tied to an MGC.
My suggestion was to use the embedded MCU in an endpoint and let that endpoint host the call. So in my suggestion the PVX user is only a participant in a larger conference. We use PVX this way and with the MGC and other then when I’m using COD I can turn off the gatekeeper without causing any problems.

[ceg6vtc]

From the parent: "My Colonel request's to be able to have a webcam in her home and 3 other homes and have a group conference."

I know that a Colonel makes tons more money than I do, but I don't think said officer would be willing to part with the dough to purchase a real-deal MCU.

From previous: "use the embedded MCU in an endpoint"

I have yet to see a computer-attached device with its own embedded MCU (though admittedly I am the young one in this field). The ViaVideo relies on software to upload settings to it and web cams are but a conduit that send information to an application (e.g. Netmeeting) for display and vice-versa. Every device I've worked with that is multipoint capable out of the box has been of the stand-alone variety - hardware MCU embedded.

I understand your confusion. Why in the world would you need a gatekeeper-type device/application to perform an MCU-type action? This is why I suggest alternate realities such as software-based MCU's.

Another option, if security isn't an issue with the parent post, is to use Netmeeting or the like and log on to their network. Now, I haven't gone that road, but I assume that it is much like an AIM chatroom where distant parties are invited/granted access. One should even be able to place a password on the room.

[tom9933]

Sorry guess I should have been more specific, when I talked about buying a middle of the road endpoint I was talking about a hardware based codec. Then use PVX to attach to the integrated MCU in that endpoint.
BTW Since I haven’t seen any follow up from cyz-10 I’ll assume that either Skype or NetMeeting did the trick.

[Morgan81]

Have you seen PalTalk? It's basically a fee-based, instant messanger service, but with video added to it. www.paltalk.com