Part 2- The Commonwealth
Conference Room Model

Model Components:

H.323 System: H.323 systems, commonly referred to as a H.323 endpoint, may be used to provide connectivity to other H.323 capable Commonwealth Conference Rooms or to other VCCS H.323 endpoints serving the Commonwealth Classrooms or other VCCS facilities. All participating endpoints must support the ITU H.323 and H.264 standards. The Conference endpoints should be a "set top" or "appliance" model that has been validated and identified as the standard unit associated with the Commonwealth Conference Room.

Gatekeeper: A system wide H.323 gatekeeper device is deployed and supported at the Enterprise level to assist with the management of system wide video conferencing services. It provides two main functions. The first is address management. The gatekeeper is a central repository for addressing and alias information much like a Domain Name Services (DNS) server resolves addresses to names. Alias names are assigned to allow IP addresses to be changed without the need to propagate the change to all endpoint dialing facilities. The second is bandwidth management. Bandwidth limits may be established and managed to ensure proper allocation to endpoints during calls.

Multi-point Control Unit (MCU): The VCCS provides H.323 video bridging (MCU) services that may be used to provide multi-point connectivity among H.323 capable Commonwealth Conference Rooms and H.323 capable devices anywhere on the Internet. This service is used when 3 or more sites are to be included in the conference.

Network Infrastructure: Each H.323 system or endpoint is an independent entity, just like a telephone. Each endpoint is also a native IP device, with direct connectivity to the campus network using a fast Ethernet interface. Since these systems have access to NetworkVirginia via the college’s local area network, they are able to connect to any VCCS endpoint in either a point-to-point or a multi-point call using the enterprise MCU. The Commonwealth Conference endpoints will all have limited multi-point communication capabilities built within the codec.

Conference Scheduling: A Web based H.323 client/server scheduling system is available that can be used to avoid conflicts in the use of both Commonwealth Classroom and Conference Conference Room endpoints and to automate the conference connections.

Proprietary Systems: Commonwealth Conference Rooms may be equipped with proprietary video conferencing systems or other equipment for special purposes. Connectivity requirements will depend on the system used, and may or may not be interoperate with standard equipment outlined in this document.

Security:

All video resources are to be protected, by their owners, in accordance with the Virginia Community College System security standard and the VCCS Distributed Security Model.
The colleges are responsible for providing physical security for their Commonwealth Conference Room and access authorization to the local video services and equipment.

Support:

ITS Technology Services provides the overall leadership and support for VCCS compressed video services. This office is responsible for identifying product trends, validating new software releases/versions, administering the enterprise bridge and scheduling application, and maintaining vendor relations. The colleges and System Office work together with the Information Technology Office to provide a comprehensive support organization for all compressed video services.