Break your dependency on H.323 * Run the risk of sounding like a commercial ad for Zoom. Note that I am not connected to Zoom in anyway, other than a paying customer. Using Zoom.us to Break your dependency on H.323 Presented by Ryan Corcoran, wichita state university CCUMC annual proceedings, 2015, pittsburgh, pa.

CC BY-NC 2.0: securedgenet via Flickr | HOW DID WE GET HERE? Until the past few years, videoconferencing, or “video teleconferencing” has been “that thing” that you have to go to “that place” in order to do. You also had to have a staff of highly trained technicians to at least set it up, if not run the meeting as well. Systems easily cost in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars just to do a quality video conference. Wingate University, North Carolina CC BY-NC 2.0: securedgenet via Flickr

H.323 – What & Why So what is H.323? It is a collection of protocol standards, including audio and video, bandwidth, and controls that were first published in 1996. It’s primarily concerned with voice and videoconferencing for point-to-point or multi-point communication. When I talk about H.323, I’m typically referring to the use of the more hardware-based solutions that we’re all familiar with when it comes to video teleconferencing, such as Polycom, Cisco, and Tandberg. It's a camera--usually proprietary--microphones, and an appliance most people refer to as the codec that communicates to other systems. So when I talk about H.323, I'm not talking about the protocols, per se, more of just the appliances that use them.

CC BY-NC 2.0: Nick Southall via Flickr H.323 – What & Why In the early days of video conferencing, the reliable, stable connection was the most critical part of doing videoconferencing. Ease-of-use and rate of adoption were secondary measures at best, afterthoughts most likely. In the late ‘90s and early aughts, H.323 was basically the only way to do any kind of videoconferencing. Skype didn’t come on the scene until 2003. Other prior attempts like NetMeeting from Microsoft were not seen as a viable option for your average instructor. Security Dedicated Hardware Push-button operation ** **If it’s a well-integrated system, AND you’ve been trained, AND you use it frequently. CC BY-NC 2.0: Nick Southall via Flickr

CC BY-NC-ND 2.0: Terry Chay via Flickr vs. Webconferencing CC BY-NC-ND 2.0: Terry Chay via Flickr As home broadband access dramatically increased in the early 21st century, access to webconferencing at home made it more and more common that students and instructors alike were actually using videoconferencing for personal use at a fairly regular rate. Thanks to Skype and Facetime, the notion that “even grandmas” can do videoconferencing is a normal every-day activity. Despite this, we still have issues of people thinking that a “videoconference” is something that you have to go to “a place” to do. This could be an issue that we ourselves have propagated by not encouraging, fostering, and training our faculty and staff to think and act differently about videoconferencing. So where do we go from here? H.323 systems are expensive, use dedicated hardware, and require a technician to do a fair amount of work, either on the front end, or for on-going support. On the other hand, programs like Skype are not secure, can often have low-quality video or audio, and usually require their users to exchange personal usernames or become "friends" as part of a social networking feature of the tool. Easy Inexpensive Ubiquitous

Zoom.us Online Meeting Tool Here's where Zoom.us comes in. Zoom was started only four years ago by engineers from Cisco and WebEx. They could see the trend that showed dedicated hardware systems were on their way out, and platform-agnostic software-based systems that supported a wide range of hardware were on their way up. I'll start by talking briefly about the overall features of Zoom, and then show how the software can be used to effectively replace all hardware-based H.323 systems on your campus. So for starters, Zoom is a simple online meeting tool. You create a meeting, send the invitation, and you're off and running with an HD video conference call for up to 25 participants. Because Zoom is designed out of the box for professionals instead of social networks, it doesn't require you to exchange any personal usernames like Skype does. The invitation consists of a link to the meeting, which will prompt the user to download and install the client if they don't already have it. There's also iPhone, iPad, and Android apps as well.  Online Meeting Tool

Zoom.us Online Meeting Tool Chat & Messaging Zoom is also a great chat or messaging client. It works well with both co-workers and people outside your university. All of the people who are in your university's EDU account automatically show up in your contacts list, as well as anyone you have added manually. Online Meeting Tool Chat & Messaging

Zoom.us Online Meeting Tool Chat & Messaging Zoom is also a great tool just to hold a conference call. A lot of people don’t like to use their own personal cell phones for conference calling, and many campuses make it rather difficult to use their landline phone for that purpose. So you can just create a Zoom meeting and join by the provided number. The numbers are usually a long distance number, unless you pay for an optional toll-free service through Zoom. Then you can join the conference call either by using any supported device running the Zoom app, or just by dialing in. Online Meeting Tool Chat & Messaging HD Voice Conference Calling

CC BY 2.0: Kal Hendry via Flickr Zoom.us And last but not least, especially for this presentation, Zoom supports joining by H.323 or SIP room systems. Don’t quote me on this, but I seem to remember hearing that they’re also working on the ability for a Zoom user to dial out into an H.323 or SIP system if they’ve got the Room Connector feature added to their account. Join by H.323/SIP room systems! CC BY 2.0: Kal Hendry via Flickr

Join by H.323 What you need: Zoom Pro license ($9/mo) Zoom Room Connector (cloud SAS=$49/mo) Can also host on-premise for increased security Any Windows, Mac, iOS, Android device with webcam and microphone

Join by H.323 Options to replicate a large room system: (PC/Mac & Displays) PTZ Camera(s) Logitech PTZ Pro Multi-mic system Revolabs Executive Wireless boundary mics + USB mixer

Variation: Telepresence Zoom Room ($99/year per room)

Variation: Add-ons Interactive display for digital inking Swivl for camera tracking

Live Demo

Break your dependency on H.323 Using Zoom.us to Break your dependency on H.323 Presented by Ryan Corcoran, Manager of Campus Media Services Wichita State University ryan.Corcoran@wichita.edu