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The Compass Business Solutions Newsletter, The Compass Direction – April 2013 – http://eepurl.com/yDTjT

The Compass Direction – April 2013

While you may be somewhat familiar with most of the commands available to configure a C-series endpoint under the Admin login, there are a few vital functions that are only available under the ‘Root’ login.  By default, the Root password is TANDBERG but should be changed upon initial configuration for the sake of security.  Sound familiar?

Since the root user is disabled by default, you will first have to enable it and establish a password.

• Connect via SSH, Telnet or console connection
• Sign in with admin and password.  You will need admin right for this.
• Use the API command:
  • Systemtools rootsettings on <password>
  • Login through the API as root with the password you just configured

Now, from this login you can perform several useful tasks. One of the most common is:

• TCPdump is usually used to get a sniffer trace of the IP packets received by the codec.  To do this, enter:
  • tcpdump -s 1500 -w /tmp/<filename.pcap>
    Note: To turn off tcdump, use CONTROL + C. If this is not turned off it will affect the performance of the C-series endpoint.

This creates a file in the /tmp directory of the codec and can be transferred to your computer with WinSCP.

The resulting file can be analyzed in Wireshark or sent to TAC for analyses.

Once you’ve gathered your file be sure to delete it from the /tmp directory.

Using the ROOT login on C series codecs

You’ll find information on classes, interoperability, a message from our company president, comments about our fabulous instructors, fun facts about ROI, and a list of upcoming class dates and locations!

The Compass Business Solutions Newsletter, The Compass Direction – March 2013 – http://eepurl.com/w6IHH

The Compass Direction – March 2013

You’ll find information on the new certifications and classes, cyber security, a message from our company president, comments about our fabulous instructors, fun facts, and a list of upcoming class dates and locations!

The Compass Business Solutions Newsletter, The Compass Direction – February 2013 – http://eepurl.com/v3jyb

The Compass Direction – February 2013

A. Feedback noise is often caused by the microphone picking up the sound from the speakers. Check to make sure the microphone is not placed next to the speakers and that the volume on the speakers is not too loud. Also be careful not to yell into the microphone, the other participants should be able to hear you at your normal speaking voice. As a best practice, do a test call before an important call to ensure your audio components are set up correctly.

Telepresence Feedback Noise FAQ

Call quality                                         Bandwidth requirement (audio/video)    

Another consideration is if an endpoint is sharing a PowerPoint presentation or previously recorded video. The bandwidth needed to perform content sharing will come from the bandwidth allocated to video, therefore the quality of the video call may suffer, depending on how much bandwidth is actually being used. For example, if you were to place a 720p30 call at 768kbps, then share content, the call rate would drop to 480p30, but the bandwidth rate would still be at 768kbps.

Bandwidth Requirements for a Call

To change the Root Password, follow the following steps (These can be found in the Root Account section of the VCS Admin Guide) :

• Log in as Root  (This can only be done by a direct serial connection or through SSH – Telnet does not support this functionality)
• Type existing Root password (TANDBERG, by default)
• Type passwd
• Enter new password and retype upon prompting

Some of the functions that can be performed under the Root login are:

• Setting up clusters – If you choose to cluster rather than neighbor a group of VCSs in order to maximize the resources, these clusters are configured under the Root command structure.
• Performing upgrades with the use of WinSCP, rather than direct serial interface.
• Rebuilding the TMS agent Database
  • Not to be confused with the TMS database, which lives on the SQL server and points to the TMS application itself, The TMS agent database lives on the VCS (and TMS) and is used to replicate against the TMS database for provisioning purposes.
  • In legacy provisioning scenarios, if the TMS agent database becomes corrupted it needs to be rebuilt for provisioning to work properly.  This can only be performed under the Root login.

Using the ROOT login on the VCS

You’ll find information on the new certifications and classes, a message from our company president, comments about our fabulous instructors, and a list of upcoming class dates and locations!

The Compass Business Solutions Newsletter, The Compass Direction – January 2013 – http://eepurl.com/uuVr5

The Compass Direction – January 2013

A. There are a couple of things to consider for the background of your video conference environment. Avoid extremely light or dark colors, neutral and mid-tone colors are best for telepresence. You also need to avoid reflective material and patterns in your background as it may not show up on video well. Keep it simple and avoid a cluttered background. Also experiment with the lighting of your room to ensure that it does not change the nature of your background and interfere with the lighting you’ve set up for yourself. As a best practice, show your self view and test your environment prior to an important call to make sure everything looks as it should.

Telepresence Environment FAQ

To figure out the actual bandwidth that should be allocated for video communication an engineer needs to consider how video is being used by the organization.  One consideration, for example, is whether or not a soft client like Jabber Video will be utilized.   If it is, then the amount of signaling increases, and therefore the bandwidth used by signaling increases.  To calculate signaling multiply the audio/video bandwidth by 1.5 (roughly 20% overhead)

A simple equation can be used to determine what number should be inputted into the VCS for bandwidth restriction purposes.  For example lets say your organization decided to dedicate 10 megabytes (10240 kilobytes) for video communication.  Let’s also assume for simplicity that your organization is only using the default subzone.    To figure out what number you should input into the VCS to meet that limitation use the equation; Y÷1.15=N.  Where Y stands for the amount of bandwidth allocated to video communication.  1.15 is used to calculate the amount of overhead signaling that a video call will use. The number 1.15 is conservative.  Signaling actually varies during the course of communication. If you currently have limitation placed on your VCS, use the equation Y*1.15=N to figure out what bandwidth is actually being used by your video network.

Calculating Bandwidth Restrictions