K-20 Videoconferencing Support

K-20 Videoconferencing Support2018-10-18T09:51:26-07:00

Helping our districts stay connected

Support

K-20 Videoconferencing Support

The ESD 112 Regional Institutional Technical Unit (RITU) is the K-20 Network point of contact for problem identification (Data & Video) for the 30 districts within the ESD region and 2 state schools. The RITU assists in assessing problems within a district as well as working with KOCO (K-20 Operations Co-operative) to determine if the problem is within the K-20 network.

Next Generation Videoconference Implementation

Sixteen ESD112 school districts were awarded Polycom VSX7000s’ by The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) as part of the Next Generation K-20 Videoconferencing Project. This OSPI administered project is made possible with $621,000 funded from the QWEST Settlement funds. The overriding goal of this project is to promote and expand the instructional use of interactive videoconferencing across all of the sectors in the K-20 system, by replacing and/or enhancing videoconferencing endpoint equipment to support updated video protocols and their inherent increased flexibility in mobility, with a focus on classroom deployment.

Thanks to this project, ESD112 region now has 21 districts with H.323 (IP) videoconferencing capability. IP enabled videoconferencing allows districts to take the technology to the students, instead of having to take the students to the technology. As an all-in-one solution, the VSX 7000s system easily sits on top of any TV or XGA display, and provides high quality conferencing. The intuitive user interface makes using these units a positive experience for everyone involved.

Technical Assistance

Interactive Video Conferencing ITU

Kathy Koren

Contact

Phone: 360-750-7502 x362

Email: kathy.koren@esd112.org

Data ITU

Curtis Ellis

Contact

Phone: 360-750-7502 x387

Email: curtis.ellis@esd112.org

Ascend Profiles

Ascend Profiles

When calling offnet, most calls are bonded. For example 384K would be profile 007. Be sure and ask the end party what speed to connect at. If you are calling overseas, and they tell you the rate is 128K, ask them if it is 2x64K or 128K. It will make a difference if you connect at profile 004 (128K) instead of profile 001 (2x64K). Remember, always do a practice call at least a week before to ensure that you can complete a call to wherever you are calling offnet.

Ascend Profiles for the K20 State of Washington Network

Profile #   Speed/Rate   Method
001 2x56K –
002 2x64K –
003 112K BONDING
004 128K BONDING
005 336K BONDING
006 336K AIM…Not Supported for Zydacron
007 384K BONDING
008 384K AIM…Not Supported for Zydacron
009 384K Nx6 DS0…Not Supported
011 768K BONDING
012 768K AIM…Not Supported for Zydacron
013 768K AIM Delta…Not Supported for Zydacron
014 768K Nx12 DS0…Not Supported for Zydacron
015 1344K AIM Delta…Not Supported for Zydacron
016 56K Single Call (Zydacron Only)
017 64K Single Call (Zydacron Only)
018 256K BONDING
019 512K BONDING (512 Max)

Dial-In

Dial-in Troubleshooting

Check devices for secure and correct cable connections as well as appropriate lights

  • Ascend IMUX: Green Power and solid green LA light or RPM’s: 3 solid greens Power / Sync / Data

Check PC lights/power, surge protectors, monitors, speakers

  • Cameras
  • Zydacron VCC-3 camera has 2 power switches and a sleepmode
  • Zydacron static camera has a power switch on it
  • Polycom camera goes to sleep when not in a call, pick up the remote control and point it at the camera to wake up
  • VTEL camera will have a green light on it when powered up, switch is located on the rear of camera

Double Check T-1 Connection

  • Check that videoconference equipment is plugged into the correct video jack.

Make Sure Videoconference Software Application Is Open

  • Some systems are set up for the launching application automatically upon system boot, others require double clicking on an icon.

Double check ISDN number. Have you entered it in correctly in the dial field?

  • No spaces, no 1 or 9 first on Zydacron
  • #XXX206221XXXX for VTEL and Polycom
  • Check KORRS to verify the dial-in number as they are subject to change.
  • You can only dial in ½ hour before the start time of a multipoint conference unless otherwise directed to do so.

Check Profile and Bandwidth Selections

Profile 009 and 007 are both 384k calls

  • #007 or #009 determine profile on VTEL and Polycom
  • Zydacron typically defaults to profile 007 in ESD 112 service area
  • Zydacron if you have a shortcut on your desk top for profile 7 or profile 9 be sure and choose the appropriate profile shortcut

IP Dial-In

IP Dial-In Troubleshooting Checklist

Check devices for secure and correct cable connections

  • Check that the network cable is in the correct port; you should see a flashing green light next to the cable on the equipment.
  • Check equipment power, surge protectors, monitors, speakers, etc.
  • Check with remote site and make sure their equipment is connected and turned on.

Double Check Network Connection

  • Check that the network cable is connected to an active network connection.

Double check IP number. Have you entered it correctly in the dial field?

  • For multi-point calls make sure you are registered with K20’s gatekeeper.
    See the K20 Guide to H.323 for more information.
  • Check KORRS to verify the dial-in number as they are subject to change.
  • You can only dial in 1/2 hour before the start time of a multipoint conference unless otherwise directed to do so.
  • Verify with your network administrator that your firewall settings are correct.

Check Bandwidth Availability

  • Check with your network administrator on your site’s available bandwidth.
  • Have remote site contact their network administrator on their site’s available bandwidth.

ISDN Dial-In

ISDN Dial-In Troubleshooting Checklist

Check devices for secure and correct cable connections as well as appropriate lights

  • Ascend IMUX: Green Power and solid green LA light or RPM’s: 3 solid greens Power / Sync / Data
  • Check PC lights/power, surge protectors, monitors, speakers
  • Cameras:
    • Zydacron VCC-3 camera has 2 power switches and a sleepmode
    • Zydacron static camera has a power switch on it
    • Polycom camera goes to sleep when not in a call, pick up the remote control and point it at the camera to wake up
    • VTEL camera will have a green light on it when powered up, switch is located on the rear of camera

Double Check T-1 Connection

  • Check that videoconference equipment is plugged into the correct video jack.

Make Sure Videoconference Software Application Is Open

  • Some systems are set up for the launching application automatically upon system boot, others require double clicking on an icon

Double check ISDN number. Have you entered it in correctly in the dial field?

  • No spaces, no 1 or 9 first on Zydacron
  • #XXX206732XXXX for VTEL and Polycom
  • Check KORRS to verify the dial-in number as they are subject to change.
  • You can only dial in 1/2 hour before the start time of a multipoint conference unless otherwise directed to do so.

Check Profile and Bandwidth Selections

Profile 009 and 007 are both 384k calls
  • #007 or #009 determine profile on VTEL and Polycom
  • Zydacron typically defaults to profile 007 in ESD 112 service area
  • Zydacron if you have a shortcut on your desk top for profile 7 or profile 9 be sure and choose the appropriate profile shortcut

Glossary

K-20 Videoconferencing Support Glossary

A–E

AppsView – VTEL’s Windows, based customizable user interface.

Ascend – A brand name for equipment.

AUP – Acceptable Use Policy – A statement by an organization participating in a network, as to what kinds of uses are acceptable for traffic over the network that relies on or uses hardware, software, services, or content (file) provided by the organization.

Bandwidth – Rate of information flow The amount of transmission capacity. The higher the bandwidth, the more data that can be transmitted at the same time.

BONDING – Bandwidth On Demand Interoperability Group using several smaller channels instead on one large channel to connect.

Bridge – Specialized equipment, in K20’s case, an MCU, which connects or bridges, two or more networks together.

Bridging – Connecting dedicated sites and/or dial-up sites from any location via a MCU.

Broadcast with Scan – If a presenter does not want interaction during a conference, but would like to see and not hear the other sites, Broadcast w/Scan are an option. The presenter or broadcaster chooses a scan rate of 5 to 240 seconds, and will see the other sites at that predetermined rate. Remember this is an option available when scheduling on KORRS.

Chair Control – Allows the participants to define a chairperson, allowing the chair to grant the floor to a specific site and also determine who will be seen at any given time during the conference.

CLI – Compression Labs Incorporated – VC room systems, now a part of VTEL.

Continuous Presence – This is a variation of Voice-Activate switching. Continuous Presence breaks the network image into quadrants. If there are five sites in the multipoint conference, CP will display four of them in the quads on screen. When the fifth site speaks, the site, which spoke the longest time ago, will be “bumped” to make way for the site number five. It works under voice-activated switching, so any site who is switched to, will enter on of the quads.

Desktop – The background area on a computer where all applications, icons, and dialog boxes appear.

DIS – Department of Information Services, Washington State government agency

DITU – The District Institutional Unit is a district network support individual who has been identified as the K-20 point of contact for problem identification in the district.

Echo Canceller – A device which gates the audio signal coming into a room and removes any repetitive elements of the signal from the audio input and output to eliminate echo “feedback”.

ESA – VTEL’s platform name for the Enterprise Series Architecture system.

ESD – Educational Service District, there are 9 in Washington State

FECC – Far End Camera Control controls the camera at the far end site in a point -to-point call provided the system supports it.

H.320 – ISDN videoconferencing standard

H.323 – IP (Internet Protocol) videoconferencing standard

IMUX – See Inverse Multiplexer

Interactive -The communication where all participating sites have equal capability. Interactive videoconferencing permits all sites to see and hear one another.

Institutional Technical Unit (ITU) – The institutional technical unit (ITU) provides support to districts in determining the cause of a technical problem. The ITU can and will assist in assessing problems within a district as well as working with KOCO to determine if the problem is within the K-20 network.

Internet – The Internet is a cooperative public network of shared information.

Intranet – A private network that relies on the same network standards and protocols as the public Internet, to allow similar, closed functionality using standardized Internet and World Wide Web tools.

Inverse Multiplexer – Network equipment that provides dial-up capability on dial-up T-1’s.

IP – Internet Protocol

ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network

ISP – Internet Service Provider

ITU-Washington – See Institutional Technical Unit

K-20 Operations Cooperative (KOCO) – This is the operational arm of K-20. It consists of the University of Washington , Department of Information Services (DIS) Telecommunications Services Division (TSD), and DIS Interactive Technologies (DIS IT). These K-20 operational units resolve K-20 network problems.

K-20 Network – The K-20 network is a statewide network for Intranet, Internet and interactive video services to all K-12 school districts, community colleges and baccalaureates.

KOCO -See K-20 Operations Cooperative

LA – Link Available – On the front of the Ascend Multiband the LA light indicates that there is a connection to the Ascend.

LAN – Local Area Network – A private computer network of desktop workstations that may share data, printers, including video, voice communications, etc.

LCD – Liquid crystal display

Loopback – A diagnostic test that returns the transmitted signal back to the sending device. The returned signal can then be compared to the transmitted one. The test number for profile 007 is 2062219111 and the test number for profile 009 is 2062219109.

MCU – See Multipoint Control Unit

Minimize – Shrinking a window down to a title on the task bar. Done by clicking on the minimize button in the upper-right corner.

Mouse – A pointing device that controls the movement of the cursor on a screen.

Multipoint VC – A videoconference of three or more sites.

Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) – A device which allows more than two or more sites to be connected in a videoconference. Sometimes called a bridge.

NTSC – National Television Standards Committee – USA’s color TV transmission standard.

OSPI (or SPI) – Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. This state agency is responsible for K-20 Network implementation and utilization throughout K-12. It is a responsive advocate and provides strategic technology direction for K-12 districts, oversees K-12 ITU, ATS and engineering support functions to assure a viable K-20 system for K-12 districts.

Peripheral device – An external device, such as a printer, a disk drive, or a keyboard, connected to a computer. Also can be a VCR, document camera, or another camera.

PenPal Graphics tm – VTEL’s unique kind of interactive conferencing, where individuals share information, ideas, and tasks on whiteboards or slides.

PC – Personal Computer (PC)

PIP – Picture In Picture – Two separate video images appearing on one monitor.

Profile – Type of call that a videoconference connects with.

Presentation Mode – The switching technique is similar to voice-activated, but adds a useful twist. A pre-selected site is chosen to be the presenter. The other sites in a conference, regardless of who is speaking will ALWAYS see that Presenter site. The people at the presenting site will see the other sites switch normally, but those other sites will only see the presenter, no matter who speaks.

RITU – The Regional Institutional Unit is an Educational Service District (ESD) based network support individual who has been identified as the K-20 point of contact for problem identification in the ESD’s districts. The RITU supports those districts that can not afford or do not desire to sponsor their own DITU. The RITU can and is expected to work directly with the KOCO.

RPM – Remote port module connects video equipment to IMUX through building wiring.

Scan Converter – Converts video signal from a computer and alters it to a NTSC signal so it can be displayed on a TV monitor.

Shut Down – Option in Start Menu of PC that is the correct way for powering down the system.

SMART Board – VTEL’s Electronic SmartBoard from SmartBoard Technologies that interacts with the PenPal graphic functions of the ESA.

Start Menu – On Microsoft Windows® PCs it enables you to activate programs by using menu icons. The Start Button, located at the bottom left corner of the monitor screen, presents information via expandable menus menus.

Switched Network – A network in which any site can dial the K20 Network is a switched network.

T1 – A transmission line is a bundle of 24 twisted pairs. Your home phone uses a twisted pair.

Task bar – An area that lies along the bottom of the PC screen and lists what windows are currently open.

Touch Panel – Touch sensitive controller for the VC system

Touch Screen – See Touch Panel

Transmission speed – The data rate for video conferencing, usually expressed in kilobits per second.

Universal Conference Control – UCC is a feature that supplements the various conference types. It works via a telephone cal into the multipoint. By using various, short number sequences on the phone’s key pad, you can give instructions to the multipoint unit for example to over ride switching, toggle between full screen and continuous presence, drop sites and end conferences.

V.35 – The transmission interface between the codec and the transmission link that permits switched 56 connectivity. Network communication standard that is used by some videoconference systems.

VC – Videoconference

VCR – Video Cassette Recorder

VGA – Visual Graphics Array – The signal from a computer’s CPU to its monitor.

Videoconferencing – Two-way, full motion, full color, electronic form of communications that permits two or more people, in two or more different locations to engage in face to face audio and visual communication.

Voice Activated Switching (VAS) – This is the most common type of MCU switching. It simply means that the multipoint switches to whoever is speaking. If more than two sites speak or make noise at the same time, the multipoint will switch to the loudest site.

WAN – Wide Area Network

Whiteboard – Allows sharing of a variety of data (pictures, sketches, spreadsheets etc.) in an information window which is part of videoconferencing system.

Window – An onscreen box that contains information on a computer.

WSIPC – Washington School Information Processing Cooperative

Educational Videoconference Websites

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