SIP Video Conferencing Testing/Experiment - Revised 6/20/07

Overview

Among others, the October 30, 2006 Draft Architecture and Roadmap for
Communications Services identified two goals related to video and
conferencing services. First that the Institute should move towards
video conferencing solutions that support the SIP protocol and second
that we should support "on the fly" conferencing services. This
experiment will evaluate several new products to determine how well
they can meet these goals an make recommendations on their deployment
as IS&T services.

Background

In the six months since the draft roadmap was published serveral
things have changed that lead to this experiment. First, as
predicted, video conferencing hardware and software that support the
SIP protocol has become more widely available. The range of devices
now includes free software with video support that can be used with a
desktop or laptop computer up to traditional systems that can provide
video conferencing capabilities to medium to large conference rooms.
Hardware and software clients that had interoperability issues in the
past have now improved to the point that multivendor video
communications can be demonstrated and evaluated. Video CODECs that
support the H.264 protocol and offer improved quality at lower bit
rates are now also being incorporated in these products.

While video device technology using SIP has improved there is also a
new generation of video conferencing servers being brought to market.
An example is the Polycom RMX 2000 which offers a less complicated
interface for user activated, on demand conference sessions and
supports SIP and H.264 standards.

Goals

The experiment will deploy a range of video and audio conferencing
technologies at several IS&T locations. A network based, SIP
conferencing unit will be installed to support the establishment of
voice and video conferencing. Both point-to-point and multipoint
conferences will be trialled and feedback will be solicited from test
users within IS&T. Devices and services will be evaluated for
interoperability with each other and with our SIP infrastructure; ease
of deployment; ease of use; and video and audio quality. The feedback
from users will include which situations the technology was
appropriate and useful and any gaps that would keep it from being
effective.

Deliverables

  • Deployment of a range of video conferencing solutions including:
    • Soft client running on a Windows machine with audio and video
      capabilities in a small room (candidate in N42).
    • Hardware based video phone in an office environment (candidate in
      10-219 with potential additional units in W92 and N42). This will
      include a low-end Grandstream video phones and a high-end Polycom
      V700, if available for testing from Polycom.
    • Hardware base video conferencing system in a medium sided
      conference room (candidate W92-199 - reuse existing hardware).
      (High-end "telepresence" systems will not be evaluated at this
      time.)
  • Evaluation of a soft client running on a Macintosh
  • Deployment of a conferencing system that supports user initiated,
    "on-the-fly" conferences. The Polycom RMX 2000 has been identified
    as a candidate for testing and evaluation and will be dependent on
    the availability of a loaner unit from Polycom.
  • The above will be tested and the following reported:
    • Interoperability between various combinations in both
      point-to-point and multipoint conferences.
    • Interoperability with other components in our SIP infrastructure
      including VoIP phones and gateways.
    • Video and audio quality including the support for H.264 video and
      G.722 wideband audio.
    • Ease of use by end users setting up and using conferences.
  • A project notebook will be maintained in a wiki.
  • A final report and recommendation based on the above.
  • Presentations ?

Timeframe

Project is scheduled to be complete by September 30, 2007.

Resources

  • Project management and investigation
    • Negotiate with vendors for hardware/software
    • Set up and configure systems
    • Training and user documentation
    • Collect feedback; focus groups
    • Maintain project notebook
    • Generate report and recommendation
  • System support for setting up Polycom MCU
  • Site team for coordinating room installations
  • Mac tester

Budget

Room system for N42

Display $ 2,500
CPU 1,000
Audio and video 250
Installation 750

Desktop system for 10-219, etc.

Grandstream GXV-3000 (x4) $ 2,000
Polycom V700 2,500 (evaluation unit)

Room system for W92

(reuse existing equipment)

MCU

Polycom RMX 2000 $ 50,000 (evaluation unit)

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