Desktop VC over IP

[neru]

Hello,
I have a project that requires users to be able to do Desktop VC over IP and allow multiple participants to be able to join the conference. Finally users should have some sort of directory list (like address book) to choose from - I have never done anything like this and hence asking for advise / suggestions / do's and don'ts / appropriate URLs ... About the network - users (desktops and laptops) are connected on a flat LAN and also on a segmented LAN (VLAN). Have a high speed Internet connection with a Cisco ASA firewall. Do not have any MCUs.

Any thoughts / help / direction will be much appreciated .... :grin:

Regards,
Neru

[orish]

I would suggest to have a look at the solutions of Vidyo.com

They are using H.264 SVC wich produces great quality for desktop clients and very very small delays (smaller than 'normal' desktop solutions like Polycom PVX and Vcon vPoint).

The PC doesnt so much ressources as PVX and vPoint.

And - all calls where organized through a web portal and a special router. In the portal you can see all your participants - to connect them in point2point calls or in multipoint calls its just a click.

You dont need a MCU for multipoint calls - you need the vidyo-router.

[Sean Lessman]

Hello,
I have a project that requires users to be able to do Desktop VC over IP

Take a look at TANDBERG's Movi http://www.tandberg.com/products/movi.jsp . If you are interested, I would be happy to put you in contact with the right people.

Sean

[jpowell79]

any tandberg Endpoints (VC units) with the "multisite" option can allow for up to six end-points to participate in a single conference. If you needed more participants than that you would need an MCU.

Failing that, you could get a third party company (such as us) to host all of your endpoints on our network, in which case you don't need anything, as we bridge your conference calls on your behalf! :-)

Or if you wanted to use PC's with webcams, you could use movi, which is also a service we offer.

have a look at mvision.co.uk if your interested

[neru]

Thank you all very much for the trouble you have taken to reply - sincere thanks to ORISH, SEAN LESSMAN and JPOWELL79

I also have had a look at the websites of vidyo.com, Tandberg MOVI and mvision. Here are some questions / observations.... pardon my oversight or ignorance in case I failed to spot obvious...

I am interested in setting up a Desktop Video Conferencing facility whereby more than two and upto six participants can take part using their PC or Laptop. I would prefer that the participants need not to use an external facility. I anticipate that most of these meetings will only be with 2 / 3 / 4 participants.

When I looked at VIDYO.COM - there were some pictures of 4 or so faces in a screen / monitor. However, I failed to find out what kind of products are these (software or hardware) and as such could not decide as to how best they could be utilised within our network... yes I saw some pictures showing various products - such as vidyoRoom, VidyoDesktop, vidyoRouter....

As for Tandberg MOVI - I can only see it referencing a single face. So my question is what happens to rest of the participants? I am sure there is more to it than just a single participant...

I used to know there was this company called AVISTAR - which allowed only (I think) four participants to take part and had somesort of directory facility which allowed particiapnts / users to call each other... users also had the option to choose whether to appear online or not (like Yahoo or MS Messenger)... I am thinking along these facilities or features for the Desktop Video Conferencing product....

Once again many thans for your thoughts and suggestions - please throw some more ideas and suggestions, experiences .....

thank you for reading ~:)

[Sean Lessman]

As for Tandberg MOVI - I can only see it referencing a single face. So my question is what happens to rest of the participants? I am sure there is more to it than just a single participant...

Movi uses an external MCU to conference more than 2 people together.

Sean

[leprechaun]

Take a look at RADVision Scopia Desktop solution. However, you'll need a piece of HW there, but it's the same for Tandberg Movi.

BTW, if you'll go on Movi, don't buy the existing version, wait till Movi II.

[Sean Lessman]

Take a look at RADVision Scopia Desktop solution. However, you'll need a piece of HW there, but it's the same for Tandberg Movi.

Actually its not. The 'hardware' for Movi is a SIP proxy/registrar. The 'hardware' for the Scopia Desktop is the Scopia MCU. All calls for Scopia Desktop MUST go through the MCU. Not true for Movi.

Sean

[leprechaun]

Then what is "Movi Server"? SIP proxy? It's still a pieace of HW, you have it on your product portfolio.

[Sean Lessman]

Then what is "Movi Server"? SIP proxy? It's still a pieace of HW, you have it on your product portfolio.

In that case every endpoint sold requires hardware. So its no different than any other endpoint.

Sean

[leprechaun]

Oh, I see your point. OK.

[Sean Lessman]

Oh, I see your point. OK.

:)

Sean