MGC and WebCommander Release 9.01
Sales Training
Learning Objectives
Understand and articulate the positioning of the MGC
Be clear on the new features introduced with version 9.01
of the MGC and WebCommander
Understand the key competitive differentiators of the
MGC platforms
Presentation Overview
MGC Positioning
MGC 9.01 Benefits and Features
WebCommander 9.01 Benefits and Features
Summary
MGC Positioning
The flexibility and scalability of the Polycom MGC platforms enables them to be positioned at the center of the conferencing network, delivering a complete range of conference services to users throughout the network. Users receive a consistent conferencing experience no matter how they connect, as the same single platform is delivering service to them.
Video Invite Improvements
The ability to invite any type of participant into an MGC
call easily and quickly Uses DTMF tones Invite ISDN, V.35, H.323, SIP users
Provides the IT administrator with the ability to put an
instruction slide at the beginning of the invite process for
ease of use and easy reference
Graphical Indication of Audio Port Availability
Gives the IT administrator an easy and simple view of the
number of audio ports available for scheduling at any given time
The view will include the following: Total number of audio ports available A window presenting the available number of audio ports at any given time Zoom option – x2 the time line of the conferences for easy viewing
Improved View in Cascaded CP Call
In the past, when cascading multiple MCU calls, the effect
was the “hall of mirrors” where the cascaded MCU would
show up in one of the corners of the conference
Improved View in Cascaded CP Call
By setting the cascading link to 1x1 the output is a regular
layout (with optional one frame coming from the other MCU)
The administrator does not need to turn the setting on to
receive the improved layout – it is automatically activated The MGC manager can turn this feature off if they desire
Ability to Set a Permanent Conference
Based on the “auto extend mechanism”
currently in the MGC where a user can
extend a conference an unlimited number of times
Provides users with the ability to “ad-hoc” extend a conference,
even if the end time isn’t known
To set a “Permanent Conference” the
user simply sets the conference duration
to 99.59 minutes and the conference will
only end when the last participant drops
Feature is overridden if the ports in the “permanent conference”
are needed for another scheduled conference
Secure Conferences With an Invisible Password
Optimal for recurring audio conferences with the same
participants attending each conference where security is critical,
but remembering the conference password is a hassle
Enables IT administrator to allocate “invisible” passwords to
specific users calling in from specific phone (PSTN) numbers
The system will recognize the phone number and
send the password to the conference automatically,
so that the user does not have to type the
password in
Improvements to SilenceIt Feature
A current feature in the MGC that mutes participants who put
the conference on hold and start hold music, or who have a
distracting noise at their location, such as an air conditioner
MGC 9.01 adds a tuning mechanism that allows the
administrator to set the feature to their unique environment tuning the feature too sensitive will yield in false alarms
(muting speech) tuning it too insensitive will yield in noisy lines in meetings
Addition of New Switch Types
Specifically for the US Federal customer base, two new
switch types were added to the MGC
The switch types are added to the GUI of the ISDN
network service are NI-1 and NI-2 These types of switches were previously recognized only as
5ESS The MGC will see the NI-1 and NI-2 and
translate them to 5ESS automatically
MGC Redundancy using WebCommander
WebCommander can set up identical conferences on
MGCs that are allocated for redundancy
Provides confidence that even if the bridge goes down,
the conference can continue by dialing the same
numbers, passwords, etc. as the previous conference
How it works: The new conference can be created on any of the MGC bridges The conferences will appear on the redundant bridge as "backup-
[original conference name]" If the conference is deleted from the original bridge it will also be
deleted from the backup bridge If a conference is accidentally deleted from the backup bridge,
the application will re-copy it from the master bridge
Security Enhancements with WebCommander
Working in Secure Mode entails: All WebCommander sites are configured to work with SSL/TLS All WebCommander sites are configured to work only with "Integrated
Windows Authentication" The Personal Scheduler application is disabled NT Authentication is required to access the Server Manager application All communication between application Server and MCUs is
automatically secured
MCU passwords in database are encrypted
In Secure Mode all communications between the WebCommander
components are encrypted and authenticated (WebCommander
sites, WebCommander client, Server Manager application,
OperServ, WAM and MCUs)
MGC Key Competitive Differentiators
Excellent bridging platform with both hardware and software resource sharing
Flexibility and scalability with open slot chassis (MGC+50 and MGC+100)
Proven reliability – over 4,000 MGCs shipped to date worldwide
Feature-rich conferencing services, for both audio and video conferences
Multiple security options, from the user and conference level to network level
Multiple call types – concurrent on-demand and scheduled conferencing
Thank you!