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This page addressed some of the most frequently asked questions about the KAREN video conferencing bridge.
Why is a video conferencing Bridge a useful tool for KAREN members?
How did members use the Bridge during the service trial?
What are the benefits of the KAREN Video Conferencing Bridge service?
What features and functions will the permanent service deliver?
How are members using the KAREN Bridge service to save money?
Does the service include meeting scheduling?
Can the free desktop client be used as a stand alone desktop client or does it always require the Bridge?
How will the Bridge support working with non-KAREN members?
What types of statistics will the new Bridge be able to provide about my use of the Bridge?
How long will the Bridge record a conference? Where are the recorded conferences stored?
Video conferencing (VC) has become a key collaboration tool for research and teaching in the KAREN community.
As use of VC grows, so does the need to connect with many parties at the same time – often across many different organisations and using many different video conferencing technologies and connecting via IP, ISDN or the commodity internet. People want to be able to connect from the desktop, from a meeting room, from a lecture theatre. They want to be able to control who can participate and who can watch. They want to record the meeting / event for replay or podcasting.
A modern VC Bridge provides all this capability.
During the trial period of the KAREN VC Bridge service, members used the Bridge to:
The planned VC Bridge allows high and standard definition and desktop video conferencing units to communicate with each other while maintaining the highest quality of your connection. Our anticipated solution will provide the additional bonus of a free desktop client. (See later for features and functions).
Users have access to online resources from the Advanced Video Collaboration Centre (AVCC) website. This includes online tutorials, an endpoint directory list, an event calendar and QA processes to make it as easy as possible for regular researchers and educators to use the facility.
By acting as one, the KAREN community can invest in a shared facility on a highly efficient basis. The nature of video bridging between organisations naturally drives this shared solution approach, i.e. there is one natural point for bridging to be most effective.
A shared Bridge allows investment in capacity greater than any one user would be able to support. This allows big events such as conferences, lectures, client workshops etc with up to 60 HD endpoints and 100+ streaming viewers connected simultaneously.
A shared Bridge also offers some potential technical advantages. As the service grows there may be an ability to place multiple physical Bridges at different PoPs across KAREN and have them remain part of the same single logical service.
For organisations with strict security policies in place, the firewall need only be opened to the Bridge so that the organisation’s security is not compromised. Any destination can take part in a video conference with the member via the known IP of the Bridge.
During the trial, REANNZ implemented a 12-port Bridge (a port approximates to a single connection) with basic booking, streamlining and low-quality recording functionality. This service rapidly became highly used by members and was repeatedly maximised during the later months of the trial.
The planned service will provide:
Members have reported a number of ways they are saving money through video conferencing. These include:
The new Bridge will come with a management interface which provides scheduling and other conference management functionality. All users will be able to create bookings.
University operators will have administration rights which enable them to control meetings, run reports, etc. This is similar to the how we allocated privileges for the CMP 1,2,3 Booking Service that we used for the trial.
No, the free desktop client must always be used with the Bridge. This client has similar functionality to the Mirial desktop conferencing client, but users must always join conferences via the Bridge.
The service includes internet and ISDN connectivity to the Bridge to allow the member to communicate with organisations not connected to KAREN or overseas.
Non-members can connect via the service’s commodity internet connection without incurring any external traffic charges. However, any R&E organisation that needs to join conferences on the Bridge on a regular basis are encouraged to purchase the KAREN Bridge service even if they are not KAREN members so that they are fairly contributing to the costs of providing the service.
The KAREN Bridge service will provide an extensive range of visual reports that will allow you to monitor video conferencing usage in your organisation. These reports include:
The VC recorder can be set to record video conferences of any length as long as there is enough storage space available. REANNZ will provide some short-term storage for recorded conferences as part of the solution.
Updated 6 October 2009