video conferencing

[Justin Bennett]

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Justin Bennett
Network Administrator
Dynabrade, Inc.
8989 Sheridan Dr.
Clarence, NY 14031
 



On 6/9/2005 1:25 PM, vlok stone wrote:

>http://voipsupply.com  have polycom video stuff.
>they're near the airport. don't know if they demo
>stuff
>but they may to make a sale. give 'em a call. i have a
>polycom cd that comes w/ their phones that has  a
>promo/commericial for their products. 
>
>--- Justin Bennett <Justin.Bennett at dynabrade.com>
>wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Joe,
>>Wow thanks for the thorough explanation. We're
>>primarily looking for a 
>>Conference room to conference room type of setup,
>>only two points. 
>>Unidirectional mics would be nice, maybe overhead
>>speakers.
>> 
>>It's for executives and product development type
>>individuals to conference.
>> 
>>The DSL in Europe is pretty decent, speed and
>>reliability wise. We have 
>>about a 110ms latency between both ends, we have a
>>VPN between the two 
>>LANs so I'm figuring to just throw two pieces of
>>equipment behind that 
>>so any ports should be fine. I like the idea of two
>>PC's because I could 
>>test it pretty inexpensively, but I think we're
>>looking for a more 
>>commercial solution in the long run. I'm hoping to
>>be able to get some 
>>equipment (polycom?) to test, or see a demo. Is
>>there place locally that 
>>does this kind of thing that anyone knows of? I
>>don't want to spend $6K 
>>and find out it sucks between the two offices.
>>
>>Justin
>>
>>
>>Justin Bennett
>>Network Administrator
>>Dynabrade, Inc.
>>8989 Sheridan Dr.
>>Clarence, NY 14031
>> 
>>
>>
>>
>>On 6/9/2005 11:54 AM, Joseph Lukasiewicz wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>Justin,
>>> 
>>>I have worked with VC systems at a few companies
>>>      
>>>
>>for a few years using 
>>    
>>
>>>"professional" equipment so I feel comfortable
>>>      
>>>
>>answering a few things 
>>    
>>
>>>for you.
>>> 
>>>There are a ton of solutions for Video
>>>      
>>>
>>Conferencing - however the 
>>    
>>
>>>quality and price are all over the place. Minimum
>>>      
>>>
>>bandwidth for an 
>>    
>>
>>>acceptable (non jerky) conference is 384K per
>>>      
>>>
>>connection (and 
>>    
>>
>>>obviously more is better).  Any less than that and
>>>      
>>>
>>the picture and 
>>    
>>
>>>sound freezes, stops and starts or is fuzzy and
>>>      
>>>
>>snowy or the size of a 
>>    
>>
>>>postage stamp. Some devices will connect at 128
>>>      
>>>
>>and 256 but unless 
>>    
>>
>>>this is an emergency connection to the South Pole
>>>      
>>>
>>you will be unhappy 
>>    
>>
>>>with the results. The T1 should be a good medium
>>>      
>>>
>>as it is conditioned 
>>    
>>
>>>bandwidth and will provide a consistant quality
>>>      
>>>
>>(see end note).  The 
>>    
>>
>>>DSL however is a burst type medium and since you
>>>      
>>>
>>are going overseas 
>>    
>>
>>>you may experience quality issues (see below).
>>>      
>>>
>>Also, unless it is a 
>>    
>>
>>>simple person to person face to face connection
>>>      
>>>
>>there are several 
>>    
>>
>>>questions and points you might want to explore
>>>      
>>>
>>first:
>>    
>>
>>> 
>>>1) Do you have dedicated rooms at each end?
>>>      
>>>
>>(Hardware setup, lighting, 
>>    
>>
>>>sound - mic's speakers, etc.) The color of the
>>>      
>>>
>>room light/dark affects 
>>    
>>
>>>the quality of the signal.
>>> 
>>>2) What is the maximum, minimum and likely number
>>>      
>>>
>>of participants you 
>>    
>>
>>>are looking to have at each end? (Single table or
>>>      
>>>
>>theater style for 
>>    
>>
>>>larger groups) The larger the group the more
>>>      
>>>
>>important it is to have a 
>>    
>>
>>>good Mic that can be passed from person to person.
>>>      
>>>
>>It is amazing how 
>>    
>>
>>>amplified paper shuffling and side conversations
>>>      
>>>
>>muddy up a signal. 
>>    
>>
>>>Also a simple folder of paper signs like MUTE ON,
>>>      
>>>
>>MUTE OFF, CALL ME, 
>>    
>>
>>>etc. work wonders when the connection is not quite
>>>      
>>>
>>right.
>>    
>>
>>> 
>>>3) Will you ever have more than a point to point
>>>      
>>>
>>conference (3 way or 
>>    
>>
>>>more)? Then you will need to look at a bridging
>>>      
>>>
>>service.  The major 
>>    
>>
>>>carriers like MCI, AT&T, Sprint, etc. all offer
>>>      
>>>
>>something. Cost is 
>>    
>>
>>>based on the distance to the "legs" for each
>>>      
>>>
>>connection - overseas is 
>>    
>>
>>>more expensive than domestic.
>>> 
>>>4) Clothing and background have a direct effect on
>>>      
>>>
>>quality of the 
>>    
>>
>>>signal - wild patterns, busy wall paper and your
>>>      
>>>
>>systems strain to 
>>    
>>
>>>keep up with the shifting image.  Ever see a
>>>      
>>>
>>weather man with a plaid 
>>    
>>
>>>jacket get "eaten" by the weather map?
>>> 
>>>5) Weather can effect your connection.  The
>>>      
>>>
>>overseas link to you can 
>>    
>>
>>>go through several media - copper, fiber,
>>>      
>>>
>>microwave, satellite all of 
>>    
>>
>>>these have some latency that a regular voice
>>>      
>>>
>>conversation is less 
>>    
>>
>>>affected by. Your brain essentially filters out
>>>      
>>>
>>the dropouts and other 
>>    
>>
>>>signal irregularities as you speak and listen -
>>>      
>>>
>>but video amplifies 
>>    
>>
>>>these issues.  Just think about and "remote" news
>>>      
>>>
>>casts you have 
>>    
>>
>>>seen.  The ones over seas or to the space station
>>>      
>>>
>>all have that "not 
>>    
>>
>>>quite right" look and sound to them and these are
>>>      
>>>
>>from organizations 
>>    
>>
>>>with millions to spend to make this stuff work at
>>>      
>>>
>>its best. 
>>    
>>
>>> 
>>>6) Set up two local connection points to test
>>>      
>>>
>>equipment and procedures 
>>    
>>
>>>before you try to go international.  Try it inside
>>>      
>>>
>>the building as 
>>    
>>
>>>well as across town - the time you spend getting
>>>      
>>>
>>things ironed out 
>>    
>>
>>>when you can walk over to the equipment will be
>>>      
>>>
>>well worth it when you 
>>    
>>
>>>try the far flung connections.
>>> 
>>>There are more subtle points but these are the
>>>      
>>>
>>biggies.  I have worked 
>>    
>>
>>>with Logitech camera on a PC over a Cable
>>>      
>>>
>>broadband connection to a 
>>    
>>
>>>Polycom VC system and had fair results. Obviously
>>>      
>>>
>>router 
>>    
>>
>>>configurations, open ports for Video signals etc
>>>      
>>>
>>all come into play, 
>>    
>>
>>>not to mention netmeeting style white boards or
>>>      
>>>
>>collaborative software 
>>    
>>
>>>for presentations.
>>> 
>>>Joe Lukasiewicz
>>>
>>>*/Dave Andruczyk <djandruczyk at yahoo.com>/* wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>    --- Justin Bennett wrote:
>>>
>>>    > This is not neccesarily a Linux question but
>>>      
>>>
>>a general technology
>>    
>>
>>>    > question, I'm looking for an IP video
>>>      
>>>
>>confrencing solution. We
>>    
>>
>>>    have a
>>>    > site in Europe and one here that we would
>>>      
>>>
>>like to do some Video
>>    
>>
>>>    > Confrencing between. Just between two fixed
>>>      
>>>
>>locations, probably
>>    
>>
>>>    > confrence rooms.
>>>    >
>>>    > I'm looking for an IP solution to use over
>>>      
>>>
>>our VPN. We have a
>>    
>>
>>>    full T1
>>>    > (1.5MB) here, and about double that in the
>>>      
>>>
>>form of DSL in Europe.
>>    
>>
>>>    > I'm hoping to keep the traffic around 512MB
>>>      
>>>
>>or less to not
>>    
>>
>>>    congest our
>>>    > connection too much.
>>>    >
>>>    > Any reccomendations?
>>>    >
>>>    > Thanks
>>>    > Justin
>>>
>>>    gnomemeeting
>>>
>>>    Dave J. Andruczyk
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>    __________________________________
>>>    Discover Yahoo!
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>>>      
>>>
>>news 
>>    
>>
>=== message truncated ===
>
>
>Free Good
>Fire Bad
>
>
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