Thanks for all your help yesterday – worked very well in the end. We’ll use you again!

Well done and thank you.

Managing Director

The team were very helpful and we thought the servce was first class, We will definately use you again.

Andrew Johnson
Partner

Polycom is pleased to announce RealPresence Mobile is now delivering standards-based visual communication to your iPhone 4S.

With a simple touch, you and your colleagues connect to one another with standards-based video, providing an engaging, realistic experience. The RealPresence Mobile is an efficient, secure, innovative and high-quality addition to any video enabled network, seamlessly connecting to the millions of video conferencing systems deployed throughout the world. Unlike competitive applications that struggle to work in bandwidth challenged areas or are restricted to wireless LAN-only, the RealPresence Mobile helps ensure your maximum connectivity no matter where you are.

The new RealPresence Mobile offers even broader functionality when powered by the RealPresence Platform, including centralized management, multipoint calling, firewall traversal, carrier-grade scale, and full redundancy for an unsurpassed user experience.

Leverage mobility, position and retire quota faster with these components of the RealPresence Platform:

• CMA® 5000 – CMA (Video Resource Management) provisions and manages the RealPresence Mobile for Microsoft Directory Services, call speeds, and call signaling preferences. The mobile application occupies a CMA license.
• RMX® 4000 – RMX (Universal Video Collaboration) provides the required additional multipoint calling capability for the increased number of users with multiple devices. The exponential growth of devices on the network drives higher use of multipoint resources.
• DMA™ 7000 – The DMA (Virtualization) provides a fully redundant call signaling platform that supports both H.323 and SIP call signaling as well as Gateway services to bridge the two platforms.
• VBP® Series ST – The VBP 5300 or 6400ST (Universal Access and Security) gives remote users secure access into the corporate video network even when the remote user is NAT’s or behind a firewall.
• RealPresence Mobile v1.1 is available soon on the Apple® iPhone® 4S, Apple® iPad®2, DROID XYBOARD by Motorola™, Motorola XOOM™, and Samsung Galaxy Tab™, with more devices to follow.

Although we failed to set up the conferencing call I believe Daniel and his team did their uptmost – the problem was with the other end. We will definately use you again.

Office Manager

The adoption of video conferencing in courtrooms throughout the United Kingdom means more and more cases are being heard via video link. This provides services connected to the legal services with the ability to reduce risk and cost while increasing accessibility.
We provide facilities for all hearings.

We have provided far end video conferencing services to courtrooms all over the world since 2003. Our network of partners cover every major city in the world, which enables us to deliver witnesses to the courtroom in any time zone.

Our “Portable Witness Solution” delivers high definition video conferencing from the home, workplace or one of our local  rooms throughout Europe. We work with solicitors who either have no video conferencing ,IP video conferencing or PC based video conferencing software.

Our aim is to help the legal proffession provide justice to all those who seek by helping winesses, expert wintnessess and defendants appear in court without travelling. for general enquiries call 08458 380 562. Or email cs@videoconferenicnglondon.co.uk

Sarah | Senior Associate

Firewall Port Forwarding for H.323 video

H.323 uses a single fixed TCP port (1720) to start a call using the H.225 protocol (defined by H.323 spec) for call control. Once that protocol is complete, it then uses a dynamic TCP port for the H.245 protocol (also defined by the H.323 spec) for caps and channel control. Finally, it opens up 2 dynamic UDP ports for each type of media that was negotiated for the call (audio, video, far-end camera control). This first port carries the RTP protocol data (defined by the H.225 spec) and the second one carries the RTCP data (defined by the H.225 spec).

As per TCP/IP standards, ports are divided into 3 sections: 0-1023 (privileged ports), 1024-49151 (registered ports) and 49152-65535 (dynamic ports). H.323 specifies the dynamic ports in the dynamic range are open. Polycom has added a feature to its product line that allows the ports to use a fixed ports (instead of dynamic ports) so that it can more easily traverse a firewall. Only the system behind the firewall need to turn on this feature, since the firewall will prevent the audio/video/FECC from the outside to come in unless this is enabled.

You must forward the traffic to and from the video endpoint through the firewall using the specified port numbers and protocol types for outgoing calls. To receive incoming calls, your must forward traffic using the 1720 TCP port.

The following are details on port forwarding assignments for various products:

Polycom Port Forwarding

For Polycom products, the following ports must be opened in the firewall and assigned to the IP address of videoconferencing endpoints (e.g. a video endpoint could be at 192.168.0.109):

Port 389 (TCP): For ILS registration
Port 1503 (TCP): Microsoft NetMeeting T.120 data sharing
Port 1718 (UDP): Gatekeeper discovery
Port 1719 (UDP): Gatekeeper RAS (Must be bi-directional)
Port 1720 (TCP) H.323 Call setup (Must be bi-directional)
Port 1731 (TCP): Audio call control (Must be bi-directional)
Ports 3230-3235 (TCP/UDP): Signaling and control for audio, call, video and data/FECC
Port 3603 (TCP): ViaVideo Web interface (ViaVideo users only)
So, a typical H.323 call would use 2 TCP fixed ports (3230-3231) and 6 UDP fixed ports (3230-3235) during the call.

Polycom M100 Desktop Video Software – from Help Book V 1.0 – Specifying Call Settings Preferences: Network NATs and firewalls provide security for your network by limiting outside access to your internal network. Some access, however, is necessary for video conferencing. Therefore, to enable your Polycom Telepresence m100 to freely place and receive calls with the outside world, while still maintaining protection for your network, you must also open ports in the firewall. If your system is on a network where the transmit bandwidth is significantly lower than the receive bandwidth, use asymmetric network to ensure that there is sufficient bandwidth for outgoing calls. To open media ports in the firewall: 1. From the main window, click Menu > Preferences > Call Settings 2. Set the media port range used by the system. 3. Open the same range of ports in your firewall. You must also open these ports in your firewall:

• Port 1718 (UDP): Gatekeeper discovery
• Port 1719 (UDP): Gatekeeper RAS (must be bidirectional)
• Port 1720 (TCP): H.323 call setup (must be bidirectional)
• Port 1731 (TCP): Audio call control (must be bidirectional)
• Port 5060 (TCP and UDP): SIP

Recap of all firewall port configurations for H.323 Polycom video & Network Products
LifeSize Port Forwarding

Login to the Firewall/Router:

Forward port 1720 TCP to the private IP of the LifeSize system.
Forward 2 TCP ports 60,000 and 60,001 to the private IP of the LifeSize system. If you have other services on these ports, you can forward any other 2 TCP ports in the 60,000 – 64,999 range.
Forward 6 UDP ports 60,000 to 60,007 to the private IP of the LifeSize system. If you have other services on these ports, you can forward any other 8 UDP ports in the 60,000 – 64,999 range.
(NOTE: 3 TCP and 8 UDP is the minimum number of ports required for a single point-to-point H.323 video call.)

Login to the LifeSize system:

Go to System Menu –> Administrator Preferences –> Network –> NAT
Enable Static NAT, and enter the public IP address of the firewall in the "NAT Public IP Address"
Go to System Menu –> Administrator Preferences –> Network –> Reserved Ports.
Enter the TCP & UDP port range you chose in the steps above.
TANDBERG Port Forwarding

"In order to properly support a NAT configuration, the firewall will need to be configured as a one-to-one relationship between a public IP address and the private IP address for all ports in the H.323 range (which include 1718 UDP, 1719 UDP and 1720 TCP as well as other vendor-specific TCP and UDP ports needed to complete H.323 calls). For the specific range needed, consult your endpoint manufacturer."

Polycom GMS Ports:

21 (FTP) – Software Updates & Provisioning
80 (HTTP) – Pulling ViewStation/VS4000 info
3601 (Proprietary) (Data Traffic) – GAB data
3603 – TCP – Pulling ViaVideo info (since might be non-web server PC)
389 (LDAP and ILS)
1002 (ILS)
GMS listens for connections on ports 80 and 3601 (GAB) and in the future will listen on port 3604 (ViaVideo) and other potentials later.

H.323 Ports (IP based video conferencing):

80 – Static TCP – HTTP Interface (optional)
389 – Static TCP – ILS Registration (LDAP)
1503 – Static TCP – T.120
1718 – Static UDP – Gatekeeper discovery (Must be bidirectional)
1719 – Static UDP – Gatekeeper RAS (Must be bidirectional)
1720 – Static TCP – H.323 call setup (Must be bidirectional)
1731 – Static TCP – Audio Call Control (Must be bidirectional)
8080 – Static TCP – HTTP Server Push (optional)

1024-65535 Dynamic TCP H245
1024-65535 Dynamic UDP – RTP (Video data)
1024-65535 Dynamic UDP – RTP (Audio data)
1024-65535 Dynamic UDP RTCP (Control Information)
These ports can be set to "Fixed Ports" on Polycom systems, as opposed to dynamic.

Other Polycom ViewStation Ports:

21 (FTP) – Software Updates & GMS Provisioning
23 (Telnet) – For Diagnostics & API Control
3220 to 3225 – TCP Ports
3230 to 3247 – UDP Ports
Other ViaVideo Ports:

3604 (GMS Server Discovery) (Used by ViaVideo) (Broadcast)
Accord (Polycom Network Systems) Additional Ports:

5001 – Static TCP – MGC Manager (5003 can be chosen instead within MGC)
21 – Static TCP – FTP (retrieve MGC config. Files etc.)
RADVision Additional:

1820 – Gateway Signaling/Call Setup
2720 – MCU Signaling/Call Setup
d-Link DVC-1000 Ports:

The port 1720 (TCP) and the 6 ports 15328-15333 (TCP and UDP) need to be forwarded. d-Link indicates that NetMeeting and the H.323 cannot co-exist behind the same router simultaneously.

further reading

Named the Telemedicine Programme of Kosovo (TPK), the programme has established a network
of telemedicine centres throughout the country designed to enable knowledge-sharing and medical
collaboration.


Each telemedicine centre is based on a Polycom room video conferencing system that links to
the other telemedicine centres in Kosovo as well as to seven local hospitals, along with links to
international medical expertise in well-equipped and resourced hospitals in the University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, Graz University, Austria,
Regensburg University, Germany, Oslo University, Olso, Norway and more than 20 other universities
and hospitals across Europe and the rest of the world.

The TPK is the first of many initiatives of this kind to be instigated in underdeveloped countries by
the International Virtual e-Hospital (IVeH) programme and is now world-renowned as a model for
telemedicine success in developing countries.

The International Virtual e-Hospital Programme
The International Virtual e-Hospital (IVeH) programme (www.iveh.org) was established in 2001 by
Dr. Rifat Latifi, President and Chairman of the Board of the IVeH. Dr Latifi had the energy and vision
to campaign at the highest political level for a programme for rebuilding the medical systems in
developing countries through the introduction and implementation of telemedicine, tele-health and
virtual education programmes.

“The most significant challenges in implementing the IVeH programme is changing the mindset
of physicians and convincing governments of the need for such investments,” explained Dr Latifi.
“Creating true partnerships and transparency in the region has been the key to the programme’s
success.”

Since 2001, Dr Latifi and his team, have brought their vision to life by creating a network of
international partnership and sponsors. The result is that the IVeH has attracted support by European
Union (European Agency for Reconstruction, State Department of USA, USAID and industry partners).

The Telemedicine Programme of Kosovo
As a Kosovar himself, Dr Latifi recognised the medical infrastructure of Kosovo in particular was left in
a poor state by the 1990s Balkans war, by subsequent neglect, lack of funding and poor management.        

My confidence is securely underpinned with the long awaited launch of polycom’s M100. The M100 is Polycom’s latest addition to their suite of telepresence solutions. It is a PC based personal telepresence software solution that will transform your computer in to a fully working standards based video conference end point. Within a click of a mouse you will know how to video conference.

This piece of software is hot because it will ensure you can have

meetings over video with any standards based codec including Lifesize, Tandberg, and of course polycom. Don’t stop reading the best is coming..

After installing the M100 you will instantly have a Polycom solution in your mits, (lets not forget the fact that Polycom are currently the world’s number one video conferencing manufacturer as reported by wainhouse) you will then have the ability to access some of the video conferencing tools that will ensure you a place at any world summit.

When I speak of tools I’m referring to multipoint video conferencing, connecting to ISDN based video conference systems and of course sharing presentations. If that’s not enough to whet your video conferencing appetite, read on for the crème d résistance.

This software is available now with a RRP of less than £70 per seat and if that didn’t excite you the fact that you can download a fully working 30 day trial version today for free should.

To get your trail version complete this form. Use the software for 30 days then come back and buy a license for it. If you mention this post when you order I will give you £5.00 off the RRP as a small gesture of thanks.

You might find that suppliers, clients or other offices within your business may want to connect with you using video conferencing. For those who already have video conference devices say hi to them from me, and those that don’t have the equipment, simply point them to this page or ask them to contact me Patricks@videoconferencinglondon.co.uk don’t forget to mention this post to get the £5 discount.

And finally after you install the software read “How to start video conferencing on a budget”