Collaboration Technologies Gerard Pompa Stan Jedrus Compunetix Inc

Collaboration Technologies Gerard Pompa Stan Jedrus Compunetix, Inc.

: : Agenda § Introduction § Conferencing – Big Picture § System Integration § Data Conferencing – CONTEX Presenter 2

: : Who are we? § Gerard Pompa § Vice President and Director Manager, Communications Systems Division § BSc in CS/ BS Math and MSc in CS from Pitt § Stan Jedrus § § § 3 Software Engineer, Communication Systems Division Ph. D in CS, MSc in CEng ~3 years of research ~4 years of teaching at Telecom Program at Pitt ~2 years of teaching at ITT Technical Institute

: : Where do we come from? § Compunetix § CSD – Communications Systems Division § Audio Conferencing Platforms § Contex 240/480 § Summit § Data Collaboration Software § Contex Presenter § VSD – Video Systems Division § Video Conferencing Platforms § Orchestrator § Virtuoso § FSD – Federal Systems Division § Mission Critical Systems (NASA, Do. D) § Emergency Management Systems (911 systems) § ISD – Instrumentation Systems Division § Surface Mount Circuits § Through Hole Circuits § Sister-Company Compunetics: Printed Circuit Boards 4

: : What do we do? § Collaboration technologies with Compunetix § Voice conferencing § § Overview Vo. IP PSTN Supporting Applications § Video conferencing § Data conferencing 5

: : Agenda § Introduction § Conferencing – Big Picture § § Voice Conferencing – Overview Audio Telephony – PSTN vs. Vo. IP Attended and Unattended Conferencing Event Calls § System Integration § Data Conferencing – CONTEX Presenter 6

: : Voice Conferencing - Overview § Attended and Unattended § Bridge – the “heart” of the system § Not just the bridge – supporting applications § Conferencing Service Provider Software: § § § Operator Console Management Console Billing Applications Unattended Access Management – Passcode Servers Spanning – Automated Conference Linking § Unattended (Personal) Software § § 7 Contex. Web Contex. Mobile Contex. Messenger Integration with data conferencing

: : Telephony: Old and New § Standard telephony: § PSTN – Public Switched Telephone Network § § POTS – Plain Old Telephone Service Digital Since ~1960 (Analog before) “Backwards compatible” with analog systems Widely standardized with enormous number of possible configurations and options § Vo. IP – Voice Over IP § Requires IP, Uses Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) over User Datagram Protocol (UDP) § Requires special gateways to interface with PSTN § Generally, larger delays than PSTN § Allows for Hi. Fi service, easier integration with other types of media 8

Why Pay For It? § “Free” Software § You have to pay for hardware to run it on, and maintain it § Small – scope applications § Often requires specialized clients (e. g. Teamspeak) § Clients have to run from a PC § Very few features besides talking to other people § No guarantee on reliability § Limited or no support 9 § “Expensive” Hardware § Large and small conferences (up to thousands of people) § Talks to regular phones – no other hardware, software, setup required on the client side § Rich in conferencing features: name recording, conference recording, secure conferences, operator assistance, party management (to name just a few) § Tested and stress-tested to the limit, designed for 5 “ 9”s of reliability.

: : Unattended Conferencing § Handles large volume of simultaneous calls § Types § On-Demand or Reserved § Meet-Me/Chairperson Dial-Out § Preset Blast § Host and Guest Passcodes § Participant Name Record § Roll Call / Entry and Exit Announcements § Participant Management § Sub-conferencing / Individual Participant Disconnect 10

: : Attended Conferencing § Operator Assisted—high performance § Handles large volume of simultaneous calls § Personalized, High-Quality Service § Controlled Meetings § Large Conference Management § Advanced Functionality § Q&A § Voting/Polling § *0 Assistance 11

: : Event Calls § Personalized “High Touch” Calls § Question and Answer (Q&A) Sessions § Participant Name Record (PNR) at *1 § Speed Matching § Voting/Polling Capabilities § Quality Monitoring by Operators § Web Integration (CONTEX Web) § Q&A View § Custom skins for individual customers § High Performance § High Audio Quality 12

: : Agenda § Introduction § Conferencing – Big Picture § System Integration § Integrated Conferencing System – Overview § Example: CONTEXWeb § Data Conferencing – CONTEX Presenter 13

: : Integration with Existing Systems EASY Integration through Open APIs § § § § 14 Passcode Validation CONTEXWeb Reservations Billing (CDR) Passcode Usage Reports Port Utilization Statistics

: : Award-Winning CONTEXWeb § Turnkey Solution with Options for Customization § Add and Edit Conferences § View Participant Information § Name, Phone, Status § Control Participants § Talk/Listen or Monitor § Hold, Disconnect, Sub-Conference § View/Manage Conferences § Q&A § Polling 15

: : CONTEXWeb for Events (example) 16

: : Agenda § Introduction § Conferencing – Big Picture § System Integration § Data Collaboration – CONTEX Presenter § § 17 Concept and Overview of Presenter Architecture Challenges and Design Choices Integrating Presenter with Audio Conferences

: : Data Collaboration § Presentation of data to multiple, distant users § Power. Point over the net § Annotations § Co-authoring documents § Document sharing § Integration with other conferencing tools 18

: : CONTEX Presenter 19

: : CONTEX Presenter § Designed for Conferencing Application Providers § Hosted and managed in-house § Compliments ad-hoc/reservationless services § Firewall and end-user friendly § Integrated audio controls for audio conference management § Cost effective, customizable alternative to outsourcing § Single, common interface for audio and data conferencing § Single, common login for audio and data 20

: : Presenter – Participant Audio Individual participant audio controls are accessible by clicking on the participant’s name in the roster. This will activate the participant’s Action Window including the Audio Control Action Tab. 21

What’s Special About Presenter? § Integrates with Audio Conferences § One more way to manage your unattended conference § It’s a CONFERENCE – not a point-to-point meeting § It works over WAN, not just in your local network § Other Features § Annotations, Pass-Control, Chat, Meeting Recording and Playback 22

: : Agenda § Introduction § Conferencing – Big Picture § System Integration § Data Collaboration – CONTEX Presenter § § 23 Concept and Overview of Presenter Architecture Challenges and Design Choices Integrating Presenter with Audio Conferences

: : Client-Server Architecture Presenter Server SSL/TCP 24

: : Architecture Details Archive/Playback Image CODEC SSL Proxy Support WEB PROXY CLIENT Image CODEC Audio Integration SERVER Email Integration Conferencing Database 25

: : Agenda § Introduction § Conferencing – Big Picture § System Integration § Data Collaboration – CONTEX Presenter § § 26 Concept and Overview of Presenter Architecture Challenges and Design Choices Integrating Presenter with Audio Conferences

: : Challenges and Design Choices § Firewall/Proxy friendliness requires TCP § Elementary security requires SSL § For performance reasons: persistent TCP connections, data streaming § Lightweight client – small memory footprint and processor requirements § No administration rights installation or no installation 27

: : Collaboration or Conferencing? § Data Collaboration: § Application used mostly to co-author documents § Few simultaneous users § Data Conferencing: § Application used mostly to present information to many other users § Many simultaneous users § Presenter is a conferencing application § It has some features that enable collaboration 28

: : Math Exercise § How much data is in one computer screen? § 1024 x 768 x 24 bits ~ 2. 4 MB § 1600 x 1200 x 24 bits ~ 5. 8 MB § If we wanted to stream this as video § HI definition MPEG-4: 80 Mb/s/connection § Assuming ONE frame / second: § Uncompressed: 48 Mb/s/connection § Compressing screens with JPEG with 15% quality gives ~200 KB / screen, so it’s 1. 6 Mb/s/connection § Unreadable ! 29

: : Question § How much bandwidth do we really need? § A lot: although we may be changing only a fraction of a screen or not changing the screen for a significant amount of time at all, USER EXPERIENCE DEPENDS ON RESPONSIVENESS 30

: : JPEG Compressed Text, Anyone? Original 31 Compressed

: : User Experience § Depends on (roughly in this order) § § § 32 Responsiveness Quality Reliability Feedback Features (this is a niche product – most people use it for a specific purpose)

: : Compression For Data Conferencing § We do not want to compress text or regular screen with JPEG § VERY LOW quality § Compression ratio not very good § Multiple compression methods necessary § Question: how to detect reliably and automatically, which compression method is the best? § Bandwidth: we aim to compress each screen under 100 KB § Possible without visibly losing quality? 33

: : Alternatives To Image Transfer § Transfer documents and work “remotely” on them § Pros: *potentially* much lower bandwidth requirements, much better responsiveness § Cons: requires tight integration with the application that is being shared – grabbing events on one side, pumping them into application on the other side (potential for a lot of problems with applications that will not tolerate such interference) § Problem: how to reliably map window handles? § Relatively Easy With MS Office – Microsoft exposes COM and. NET API 34

: : Archiving/Playback § Saves data stream in real-time to an archive on the server § Later can be played back in the client § Since audio going through the phone conference, audio is recorded on the conferencing bridge § On the roadmap: § Publish recorded data conferences in Flash § Integrate audio and data recordings § Audio recordings can be published automatically through different software 35

: : Agenda § Introduction § Conferencing – Big Picture § System Integration § Data Collaboration – CONTEX Presenter § § 36 Concept and Overview of Presenter Architecture Challenges and Design Choices Integrating Presenter with Audio Conferences

: : Audio Integration Public, Open API Presenter Client Presenter Server Conferencing Bridge Proprietary API 37 Access Server CONTEX Web Operator Console

: : Audio Integration 38

: : Audio Integration through audio PIN Integration through call-out 1. 39 2.

: : Audio Integration Audio User Control Panel Audio Conference Control 40

: : Other Features § Outlook Contact List § Can send email invitations through the server § Moderators and Participants § Moderators can share applications, have full control over the conference § Participants are viewing the conference, can chat and receive files, control the shared application if they are being passed the control, and be promoted to a moderator temporarily § “Invisible” participants and moderators – for operator assistance 41

Come Visit Us! Compunetix 42 Pittsburgh

Questions? 43