POST801
Video
Conferencing
The POST Room 801 (Dean’s Conference Room) is
equipped with a Tandberg 2500T Video Conferencing
system that complies with the H.323 (Internet) video
conferencing standard.
Video conferencing has become commonplace in today’s business environment, how-
ever, you need to know a few things that will help make your conference a success:
Video Conferencing Centers (VTC’s) don’t need to be special rooms anymore, desk-
top units are dropping in price and complexity.
Your video is traveling over the Internet, thusly if the network is congested, your
video and/or audio may suffer. It’s always good to do a test before an important
event, but due to variations in Internet traffic, things may not always go perfectly.
We’re connecting to remote sites using the H.323 Internet video conferencing proto-
col. So basically if the other side can talk H.323, then we’ve got a good chance of it
working.
This is a VERY expensive unit and that’s because it has some very special circuitry to
handle echo cancellation, voice processing, and video compression and decompres-
sion. So while you can connect to anything that will talk H.323 (i.e. Microsoft Net-
Meeting, CuSeeMe, etc) sound and video quality will suffer due to the inequities in
the systems.
We can connect to multiple sites all at once, the main speaker will be in the largest
screen and the other sites will be smaller and tiled around the main speaker. Like in a
classroom you can “raise your hand” and take the floor using special keys on the re-
mote control. Multisite sessions need to be pre-arranged.
Do NOT attempt to move the camera by hand..the gears are fragile and that’s a
VERY expensive camera with no spares.
The Tandberg 2500t is typical of modern video conferencing
systems in that it has facilities for multiple video sources, a
tilt-pan-zoom camera, and can also share video from a per-
sonal computer.
The unit itself in inside this cabinet with an enterprise grade
video monitor. (more input options, a bit more durable, and
easier to get fixed than consumer grade tv’s). The camera is
an tilt-pan-zoom Sony camera purpose built for video confer-
encing applications.
*CAUTION!!! Do NOT move the camera head by hand!!!
The gears are plastic and can be easily broken if you do. This
is a $1500.00 camera and we don’t have spares.
Lastly, what makes video conferencing appliances like those
from Tandberg, Sony, Polycom, etc is the specialized cir-
cuitry inside them for:
Echo cancellation
Voice processing (limiting and compression)
Video processing
Dedicated Digital Signal processors
So while you can connect to a software only solution like Mi-
crosoft NetMeeting, the Tandberg video will look great and
the NetMeeting will look junk.
You can connect to:
The all important
power button for the
television….
The light
goes green
when the TV
is on, RED
when it’s
off.
There are two
remote controls
This is the TV
remote control
Where the in-
frared light
comes out of.
The all important “ok”
key (in the middle) and
the arrow keys to move
around the menus.
When typing in
an IP address of
a remote site,
use the star/
asterisk key in-
stead of periods
The keypad is
how you type in
the address of
the remote site
“Connect” is like
the SEND key on a
cell phone. Press to
call and press to
answer
The directory key
is self explanatory,
press it and get a
list of sites already
setup on the unit.
The “Disconnect” key
is just like the END key
on your cell phone.
Keep in mind that it
will only disconnect the
site currently on the
screen. You can be con-
nected to multiple sites
all at the same time.
Watch for messages on
the screen.
“Farend” swaps
your video be-
tween you and
the far end.
Use this volume
control instead of
the one on the TV
remote
“Selfview”
swaps the video
on the screen
between you
and the far end
“Move PIP” al-
lows you to move
the “self view”
video around to
get out of the way
of something you
might want to see
in the main video
“Selfview”
swaps the video
on the screen
between you
and the far end
“Move PIP” al-
lows you to move
the “self view”
video around to
get out of the way
of something you
might want to see
in the main video
If the far end allows it (it can be
turned off) you can press the “Far
end” key and then use the arrows/
zoom to control the camera tilt-
pan-zoom at the far end.
So for instance, if you’ve con-
nected to the Aquarius habitat and
want to look around, press “Far
end” and use the arrows or zoom
keys to “look around”
One note, if you’re in a multi-
point conference, you most likely
will not be able to control the far
end cameras. This feature typi-
cally ONLY works when you
connect to a single remote site.
This manual is a work in progress and only covers the
very basic features of the unit. Like any complex device
there are lots of ways to do similar things. If you would
like to do something not covered in this version of the
manual, please feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy
to help you figure it out.
Remember, you’re talking to a remote site
that could easily be around the world from you
and you WILL have some delay and maybe
a touch of echo as the system catches up.
Be patient and be aware that you could sometimes “step”
on someone else because of delay.
This system is ONLY
setup for Internet video
conferencing. We do
NOT have ISDN dialup
capability.
We can “borrow” an
ISDN link from the med
school, but this takes
time to arrange.
Step by Step:
Single site conferencing
Single Site aka Point-to-point conferencing checklist:
IP (aka Internet) address of the site you want to connect to.
Type of equipment at the far end (i.e. Polycom, Sony, etc)
Technical support contact information (phone, email)
Phone number in the room at the far end
Step 1: Power up
The Power Button!
If the green light
doesn’t go on,
someone may have
been trying to
watch soaps. Click
the Input button to
get to S-Video
The power
indicator
(red off,
green on)
Step 2: Video Check
The self view
button should
display what
your side’s
camera can
see.
Like this!
Notice where
the Mikes are
If you can’t see enough of the room, use
the zoom key and the arrow keys to move
the camera around until the desired audi-
ence is in view.
Make sure the microphones are on the ta-
ble, they’re pretty sensitive, so you don’t
have to shout. Just speak normally for any-
one around the table.
Step 3: Who u going to Call?
Press the
“directory” but-
ton to get a list
of previously
setup sites
Use the arrow
keys to move
through the list
and then the “OK”
button to choose
the site to connect
to.
Step 4: Start the call
Once you’ve chosen the remote
site to connect to with the arrow
keys, press the “Connect” button
to actually start the call.
If you get a message saying “No
route to destination” this typi-
cally means that the Polycom/
Tandberg at the remote site is
turned off or unplugged.
Step 5: During the call
Full Screen showing
the remote site
Press “Move pip” to add a
“self view” but in a small
window. Keep pressing to
get it out of the way
Keep pressing “pip” to move
it or keep going to make it go
away.
Step 6: What the far end can see
This is a view of a remote site with
a small “pip” view of your side in
the corner out of the way.
This is what happens if you press the
“self view” button to swap the local
camera view with the remote. Press
“self view” again and it will go back
to the remote view being the large
video.
When you press the “far end”button you
change the attention of the system to the site
that you’re connected to.
If the remote site allows it (not everyone does)
you can use the arrow keys and zoom to control
the tilt-pan-zoom of the remote camera.
Press “far end” again to change the control
back to your local camera.
Step 7: Talk normally
These two microphones are omni-directional and VERY sensitive.
Just talk normally if you’re around the table.
Use the volume control on the remote if the sound is too soft.
Volume
Control
Step 8: Where to point the remote
That little black blob on top of the TV is
the infrared receiver.
Just point the remote controls in the
general direction of the TV and you’ll
be fine.
Step 9: Things to note
This system will NOT
auto-answer an incoming
call in order to maintain
the privacy of this room.
To answer, just press the
“connect” button, or
“disconnect” if you want
to reject the call
We strongly suggest you keep
any cell phones away from the
microphones and the Tandberg
console. They tend to get picked
up as buzzing in the background.
Step 10: If something goes wrong
I’m Brian Chee and I will be serving as
the technical contact for this Tandberg
Video Conferencing system.
I got it from federal surplus, so please
treat it nicely since these things cost a
king’s ransom.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 808-956-5797
You schedule this video conferencing equipment the same
way you schedule this room. Talk to the folks in the Dean’s
office.
If you want/need to connect to multiple sites at the same
time, drop me an email ahead of time so that I can schedule
the Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) at ITS and get a test
setup with the remote sites.
Step 11: When you are done
Like a phone,
hang-up when
done. Press
“disconnect”
Then, turn off the televi-
sion by pressing the
“Power” button
Please roll up the microphone
wires and put back onto the cabi-
net. Don’t forget to put the re-
motes back too.
