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e/pop Web
& Video Conferencing FAQ
Note: please see also the e/pop Web Conferencing systems requirements
document, which covers server, presenter and participant requirements, with and
without video.
- Does e/pop Web & Video Conferencing support Windows Vista? Yes,
however, special care is still required with audio and video
peripherals, some of which may or may not have device drivers for this new
operating system. For more details, please visit
systems
requirements and
Windows Vista compatibility.
- Does e/pop support HD video conferencing? Yes, e/pop is HD-ready and supports high
definition video cameras such as the Sony EVI-HD1. As above, this type of
peripheral requires a PCI video capture card with Windows DirectPlay device
driver. In addition, the capture card must support HD signaling and the display
monitor must be XGA or WUXGA, otherwise the high definition image won't fit
(although you could shrink the e/pop application or floating video window, but that would
defeat the purpose of using HD equipment). High def requires exceptional
bandwidth. For more information and screen shots, please see
e/pop HD video conferencing or
click here to
schedule a live HD demo! Please mention HD in your demo request.
- What about enhanced definition (ED)? Yes, e/pop supports enhanced
definition too. Unlike high def, enhanced definition is a loosely defined term, and
generally means 720p or higher resolution, but lower than HD frame rates (e.g.,
6 to 12 frames per second). The Logitech Fusion and Ultra Vision are good
examples of enhanced def devices, they produce startling high-resolution images
at perfectly fine business-class frame rates.
e/pop Screenshot - ED Logitech Fusion.
e/pop Screenshot - ED Logitech Ultra Vision.
- Is e/pop available as on-premise software AND hosted service? Yes. Either way it's the same e/pop product whether you provide your own server,
or we provide it and host it for you.
- What's the best way to go, on-premise software or hosted service?
Good question, and we encourage you to
contact WiredRed.
We make customer-specific recommendations every day. For limited bandwidth,
hosted services is the way to go. Large private networks generally prefer
on-premise software. Please click here for
more pros and cons of video conferencing software versus hosted services. We make this easy,
you can always start with hosted services and switch later on if needed.
- What is a concurrent user? Concurrent user is an industry
standard term that refers to the number of users (or TCP/IP connections)
attached to an application or web service at any one time. It has the same
meaning with e/pop as it does with Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and Novell. For
strict counting and other details, please visit our illustrated
concurrent user
page.
- What ports does e/pop Web Conferencing use? Unless configured
otherwise during installation, e/pop Web Conferencing will check and use ports
80 and 443 (standard web services ports); port 1270 (standard Microsoft
communications port); port 37000 (e/pop default port for internal conferences);
and two or three additional default ports it may find available. It will also use any port you specify during the server software installation.
Warning: changing default ports, especially standard ports 80 and 443, may
dramatically reduce your conferencing connection success rate, especially among
external users on networks you do not control. Changing port settings will create problems and is not
recommended.
- Can I change the port settings? Yes, you can change the port settings very
easily during the server software installation and/or after installation via
the admin console (click on system, general). However, port 80 is REQUIRED,
and removing the other DEFAULT ports is not recommended! While changing port
settings may be useful for you and your
employees, chances are your external web conferencing participants are
connecting over networks, firewalls and proxies over which you have no
control. Most likely, these external connections will not permit conferencing over ports other than
port 80 and 443. Changing port settings will create problems and is not
recommended.
- Can I secure my web conference sessions? Yes, e/pop includes
support for SSL (version 3) and TLS. For details, login to your e/pop Web
Conferencing server as admin, click on system, and then click on security. SSL/TLS
encrypted connections are used by all leading banks, online retailers and
other secure online services.
- Can you tell me more about e/pop web conferencing security? e/pop
is among the most secure web and video conferencing solutions available today. First and
foremost, it is available as an installed server solution, so you have control over
physical security, routing access to the server, and access to server event
logs. In addition, e/pop supports the leading standards for corporate and
government security policies, including the ability to require encrypted SSL3/TLS
connections on your conferencing server. e/pop also supports integration with your
on-premise or 3rd party public key infrastructure (PKI).
Details:
e/pop uses SSL3 and TLS, which are encryption standards used to secure the
communication between two computers, typically a client and server. SSL3 and
TLS are IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standards adopted industry-wide
for online services. SSL3 and TLS
are commonly used when communicating over the Internet, but sometimes
implemented when communicating on private networks as well.
System administrators can use a standards based X.509 security certificate
provided by companies like Verisign, an existing Certificate Authority within
their company and/or the software will be able to produce them itself.
The e/pop SSL3/TLS implementation provides RC2, RC4, IDEA, DES, 3DES, AES, RSA
encryption as various options to the SSL3/TLS standard and SHA or MD5 hashing
for signing. This is configurable at the server, as well as key length for
high security scenarios.
There is a nominal penalty for higher levels of security. Depending on key
length and application, it may use additional RAM at the server (do NOT use a
server below specification), and for larger key lengths, additional CPU cycles
may have a noticeable impact.
Secure web & video conferencing screenshots ...
- What are my server requirements? How much RAM and CPU speed do I need?
The minimum server requirement is Windows 2000 or later, on a static IP
address, a 1.2Ghz P3 processor, 256 MB of RAM , and port 80 available to this
application. There are no server
software prerequisites such as databases and web servers, everything else is
included, and e/pop installs in just a few clicks. For more details, please refer the e/pop
systems requirements
page, or
contact WiredRed for
data center, or large-scale
applications.
- How much bandwidth does e/pop Web and Video Conferencing use? Hosts and
participants require a broadband connection. As a general rule, video
participants will use 56 kbps/each at low settings, and 128 kbps at medium
settings. Other features will use less. PowerPoint and document sharing use
almost nothing, because the material is sent only once, thereafter, only
page change commands go over the wire. The software adjusts bandwidth
dynamically, there are host/presenter manual controls (for audio, video and
desktop sharing quality). In addition, e/pop features server-side controls
for IT staff that need to limit users, features and bandwidth consumption.
We have many customers on all kinds of networks including T-1, small
office/home office DSL connections and more. We successfully support all of
these customers using on-premise software or hosted servers as needed by the
customer. For additional details, please refer to e/pop
systems requirements
and
video conferencing bandwidth which cover these topics in more detail. See
also our illustrated
typical configurations
page, which covers various on-premise and hosted service scenarios. We hope
these pages are helpful, but strongly recommend
contacting WiredRed
for a quick Q&A session. We can easily give you a live, multiparty demo, and
you will see right from your own desktop the bandwidth used (the software
has a display). You can also ask as many questions as you like, and we have SEs
on staff
that can assist with large-scale data center guidelines.
- What about e/pop and QoS? e/pop has admin controls for limiting users
and features, in particular features such as desktop sharing, application
sharing, VoIP, and video. Strictly speaking, quality of service (QoS)
prioritization is implemented on your routing equipment, not e/pop. Please visit
video conferencing QoS for a complete discussion of this topic, or feel free
to contact WiredRed
and schedule a technical Q&A session.
- I have a medical imaging device ... tabletop document camera ...
factory floor camera ... DVD player ... handheld video camera ... will this
video device work with e/pop? The e/pop conferencing client can
use almost any USB 2.0 webcam. In addition, almost any video device with an
S-video out cable can be mated to a Windows compatible video capture card. So long
as the capture card has a DirectX/DirectShow driver (i.e., is Windows
compatible), then the video input may be used in a conference. For examples,
please click here (conference
rooms & audio/video equipment), for DirectX details click here (systems requirements),
or contact WiredRed for assistance. We have several of these devices and we
can easily demonstrate them for you.
- Can I run e/pop Web Conferencing on Citrix MetaFrame? How about Windows
Terminal Services? e/pop web conferencing works fine for PARTICIPANTS
running on Citrix MetaFrame and Windows Terminal Services. However, the
PRESENTER must be running on a standard Windows PC. For additional details,
please refer the e/pop systems requirements document.
- Do you have a best practices document? Not yet, but we do have a
desktop video conferencing best practices web page, which includes many
helpful suggestions from our customers in this regard. As online meetings become
more commonplace, this material will evolve into a more formal document.
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